Top Prospect Auston Matthews opts to turn pro

[conundrumed]

Auston Matthews, ranked by many as the #1 prospect for next years draft, has signed to play pro hockey in Switzerland next year.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/auston-matthews-top-nhl-prospect-opts-for-swiss-team-over-whl-1.3182984

 

And I must say, I don't blame him.

I've long had issue with the NHL's draft cutoff being Sept. 15. So along comes a great player born on Sept 17.

Always in school with kids his birth year age, always in sports his birth year age. All of it collapses at the NHL draft, most of his peers drafted, he doesn't qualify due to a later in the year birthday.

He's 17 when camp starts, I get it. But he's also expected to deal with it, when it is an injustice.

Good on 'em, I hope he proves that it didn't matter that he did that. "All of my grade 12 buddies got drafted, I feel like I'm in Grade 11".

Tough pill to swallow when you're one of the best of all of them. Screwed out of a yr of pro development, why not make the move?

[cross16]

Agreed 100%. If Mathews has a chance to go and make some money with this skill set while he "waits" ont he draft he's fully entitled to do that. At this point the liklihood he does anything to jeopardize his number 1 status is minimal so why not play some pro hockey and bank some money. I give him creidt for having the guts to pull this off.

[420since1974]

I have no problem with his decision at all.

 

He'll still be picked high in the NHL draft.

[AlbertaBoy12]

Im curious to see what kinda numbers this kid puts up in the swiss league. He broke patrick kanes record in the the NDTP, which is a pretty insane point total. Im not saying hes going to blow the league away like 3 points a game or something but I wouldnt be suprised if he is close to a ppg player out there.

[jjgallow]

dangerous for the NHL, imho.

 

Meets a nice girl, gets offered a better contract, all of a sudden there's a competing league.

 

Unlikely, but this kind of thing has happened before.  Surprised the NHL didn't protect itself a bit more by making an exception for him.

[conundrumed]

They'd have to pay him to protect him. Freedom of choice...the NHL only protects themselves by evening out yrs to Dec. 31st.

They are wide open by not doing that.

The "shoot yourself in the foot" clause.

Glad he's brought it to attention, and taken advantage of them not obsessively calling the shots.

It pays to be really good, lol.

[cross16]

dangerous for the NHL, imho.

 

Meets a nice girl, gets offered a better contract, all of a sudden there's a competing league.

 

Unlikely, but this kind of thing has happened before.  Surprised the NHL didn't protect itself a bit more by making an exception for him.

 

What do you do, make an age expception for him and allow him to play under 18? How do you determine that, does he got into the draft? is he a FA? You are opening up an extermely dangerous door there.

 

The NHL has zero reason to be concerend. the only league who has ever come close to being able to pay players the same amount you will make in the NHL is the KHL and that league isn't in fantastic shape right now. Mathews and his reps are smart enough to know that their earning potential is significnatly better in the NHL then any other league and if he is willing to pass that up for a "nice girl" and a better short term contract that so be it.

[Flyerfan52]

What do you do, make an age expception for him and allow him to play under 18? How do you determine that, does he got into the draft? is he a FA? You are opening up an extermely dangerous door there.

 

The NHL has zero reason to be concerend. the only league who has ever come close to being able to pay players the same amount you will make in the NHL is the KHL and that league isn't in fantastic shape right now. Mathews and his reps are smart enough to know that their earning potential is significnatly better in the NHL then any other league and if he is willing to pass that up for a "nice girl" and a better short term contract that so be it.

The draft age in the NHL was 21 until rival league WHA started signing kids like a then 17 year old Gretzky. That was followed up by players like Mark Messier.

When a door opens things happen. CHL has the exceeptional player thing to let kids in a year early so expect the same from the NHL soon.

[cross16]

The draft age in the NHL was 21 until rival league WHA started signing kids like a then 17 year old Gretzky. That was followed up by players like Mark Messier.

When a door opens things happen. CHL has the exceeptional player thing to let kids in a year early so expect the same from the NHL soon.

 

Are you suggesting that the Swiss league will soon rival the NHL league in recruiting thier stars? If there was a rival league that I believed could actually compete with the NHL and steal their talent, aboslutley i would suspect the NHL would make rules to accomodate but my point was there is no need becuase that league doesn't exist.

 

Let's also remember why Matthews is acutually allowed to do this, its becuase he was born a mere 2 days too late for the last NHL draft. If anything, this may force the NHL, and probably rightfully so, to look at their cut off date for the draft, but i think to suggest that this is going to lead to many junior players option for this route i think is getting way too ahead of things. there are very, very few prospects that can take advantage of this opporutnity because eyou need to be 18 to actually play in the Swiss league. Matthews is even going to have to wait 4 or 5 games into the season to turn 18 before he can play.

[jjgallow]

What do you do, make an age expception for him and allow him to play under 18? How do you determine that, does he got into the draft? is he a FA? You are opening up an extermely dangerous door there.

 

The NHL has zero reason to be concerend. the only league who has ever come close to being able to pay players the same amount you will make in the NHL is the KHL and that league isn't in fantastic shape right now. Mathews and his reps are smart enough to know that their earning potential is significnatly better in the NHL then any other league and if he is willing to pass that up for a "nice girl" and a better short term contract that so be it.

 

I never said it was likely.  All I said was that unlikely things do happen.

 

As mentioned by Flyerfan, the age used to be 21.

 

Maybe what they need to do, is introduce special player status but up the age to 19 (you couldn't up it more than that in one go, imho).

 

Honestly, how many 18 year olds can play in the NHL?  1-2 per year, on average?   5 in a really strong draft year?  (and usually followed by regrets).

 

As mentioned above, right now the entire draft makes an exception for 18 year olds just on the off chance one of them is Wayne Gretzky.

 

How this could have, and probalby should have been handled, is with exceptional player status.  Thereby allowing them enforce a more reasonable age restriction on the 99.9%,

[Flyerfan52]

I never said it was likely.  All I said was that unlikely things do happen.

 

As mentioned by Flyerfan, the age used to be 21.

 

Maybe what they need to do, is introduce special player status but up the age to 19 (you couldn't up it more than that in one go, imho).

 

Honestly, how many 18 year olds can play in the NHL?  1-2 per year, on average?   5 in a really strong draft year?  (and usually followed by regrets).

 

As mentioned above, right now the entire draft makes an exception for 18 year olds just on the off chance one of them is Wayne Gretzky.

 

How this could have, and probalby should have been handled, is with exceptional player status.  Thereby allowing them enforce a more reasonable age restriction on the 99.9%,

Yup.

Cross overlooked that part.

I mentioned it's done in the CHL & for the rare cases might as well be allowed for pro hockey.

[conundrumed]

I'm not a fan of "special status". Sounds like a line easily abused.

I'm more in the line of thinking, if you're a 2000 baby, you're a 2018.

The Sept. 15 cutoff, yeah I get it in regards to season start and age. I believe that's what has to be worked out.

You leave kids a yr out of their usual progression, because they were born 3 months too late.

It didn't matter in PeeWee or Bantam or Midget, you were always with your 2000 buddies.

It's silly to bring them up one way, and then, SLAM, sorry, late birthday for legal age.

I've never gotten that, it's gotta crush some spirit.

A yr behind their buddies and rivals. It's gotta hurt.

[Flyerfan52]

I'm not a fan of "special status". Sounds like a line easily abused.

I'm more in the line of thinking, if you're a 2000 baby, you're a 2018.

The Sept. 15 cutoff, yeah I get it in regards to season start and age. I believe that's what has to be worked out.

You leave kids a yr out of their usual progression, because they were born 3 months too late.

It didn't matter in PeeWee or Bantam or Midget, you were always with your 2000 buddies.

It's silly to bring them up one way, and then, SLAM, sorry, late birthday for legal age.

I've never gotten that, it's gotta crush some spirit.

A yr behind their buddies and rivals. It's gotta hurt.

How about if you can draft them @ any age but they can have 0 contact with the team (prospect camp, coaching, etc.) until the day they turn 18. Some draftees are 17 but turn 18 before camp so it's an arbitrary line.

To avoid teams drafting 12 year old "next 1s" allow each team to have 1 underage player they can have exclusive rights to. If that 12 year old doesn't put up double digits @ 15 he's still yours until he's 18.

[AlbertaBoy12]

Ive always thought the NHL should implement a thing similar to the NBA where you can declare that you are entering the draft, it would make things alot more interesting I think. The exceptional players might enter the NHL when they are 18 but the the ones like hunter smith for example might wait a year or two to declare etc etc. It would make drafts very interesting I would assume.

[Khrox]

This is definitely an interesting scenario. I see this being an option for some players, though I see it more likely people going to Sweden  (where it is hard but not unheard of for 16-17 year olds to play in the SHL). I think this works for Auston Matthews because of his high-skill level and the fact that his birthday was 2 days off the draft cutoff. If it were even 2-3 weeks, I doubt he could have done this (at least not with the Swiss league where you have to be 18 to play). But if it turns out that you are just 7-14 days out, I could actually see some players trying their hand in Sweden (but even that is iffy, you might very well end up in the Allsvenskan league instead of the SHL, still a good league but not quite the upper tier pro). If nothing else, it might force the NHL and the IIHF to come to some sort of agreement on this scenario if it becomes a bit more common (if not the IIHF, with the individual European Leagues)

[cross16]

Yup.

Cross overlooked that part.

I mentioned it's done in the CHL & for the rare cases might as well be allowed for pro hockey.

Didn't overlook it at all I just don't agree with you guys. I don't think the NHL should make an exception rule because I think when you make exceptions you open up a bigger can of worms and don't see the benefit. I fail to see why making Mathews wait and develop a year is bad for the NHL. Again look at the birthdate and age cut off I'm fine with that but also keep in mind this is the first time this has happened in how many drafts? Non issue IMO.

[TrippinVdUb]

Didn't overlook it at all I just don't agree with you guys. I don't think the NHL should make an exception rule because I think when you make exceptions you open up a bigger can of worms and don't see the benefit. I fail to see why making Mathews wait and develop a year is bad for the NHL. Again look at the birthdate and age cut off I'm fine with that but also keep in mind this is the first time this has happened in how many drafts? Non issue IMO.

Agreed, changing the date isnt going to help and there is no reason to make an "exceptional status" rule... These kids have plenty of time to play pro, let em be and play Jr while they can and enjoy the end of their adolescence. 

[Crzydrvr]

IIRC the draft age was 20 until the WHA started signing underagers, then they started picking players at 18. Created one of the best draft classes of all time the one year (I wanna say 1979?) they started implementing this change, as the best 18, 19, and 20 year olds were all in the same draft.

 

They didn't make an exception for Tavares, they wouldn't for Matthews. It's for insurance purposes, and it sucks, but that's a lot of money and legal wrangling that would be tied to employing an underager in a workplace with a high chance of injury occurances.

 

Im curious to see what kinda numbers this kid puts up in the swiss league. He broke patrick kanes record in the the NDTP, which is a pretty insane point total. Im not saying hes going to blow the league away like 3 points a game or something but I wouldnt be suprised if he is close to a ppg player out there.

 

If he's close to a PPG, then I would say he has top pick locked up. Only the elite of the elite NHLers put up those numbers in the Swiss league.

 

Logan Couture had 23 points in 22 games during the lockout season. Rick Nash had 18 in 17 games. Joe Thornton had 36 in 33 games. Patrick Kane had 23 in 20 games. Spezza had 30 in 28 games. Those are/were all top line players at the time.

 

Highly regarded top 6 forwards in the NHL failed to put up PPG stats, like Dustin Brown (the still-decent version), Tyler Ennis, and Loui Eriksson. So Matthews putting up near PPG stats like those of established top-6 forwards would be incredible (as well as the best season by a draft-eligible and/or under-20 player in NLA history).

 

I expect Matthews to be a tier below those guys in production, but high enough to be one of the top scorers on the team, because he has that ability. ZSC is a strong team though. He could either thrive with quality players or be buried behind the depth chart.

 

As an aside, of the NHLers in Switzerland during the lockout, only John Tavares, Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin and Henrik Zetterberg scored at a pace beyond 1.25 PPG. That is some elite company right there. And Patrick Kane was "only" scoring 1.15 points per game.

[Zirakzigil]

Only risk here is if he gets a really bad injury playing against men, other then that its a smart move for him. 

[Flyerfan52]

You certainly can't blame the guy for wanting to earn some coin rather than ride the CHL buses.

I'm not sure what kind of $s he'll make in the Swiss (or any other Euro) league but we know that even as a 1st OA his maximum ELC is about 4.0 if he hits every factor. If a Euro league offers him a guaranteed 3.0 equivelent & the extras (use of a house, car, etc.) heard to be common he could say call me if/when you can guarantee a match.

If he pulls a J Schultz & awaits becoming UFA 3 years after being drafted in 2016 there's a fairly good chance the ruble has recovered so the KHL could decide to make a statement signing. Then Matthews could just outwait the NHL until they open a loophole if a SC is his goal sometime in his career.

 

Few underage undrafted prospects could pull this off but even among the drafted any unsigned player could. Every year there are college players drafted who are commiteed to university that the drafting team intends to be patient with. Say Kyle Connor (just an example) decided to play in Europe rather than play university or minor leagues.

It won't be a floodgate but when a door opens players & their agents notice.

******************************************************

As to the risk of a 17 year old playing against men it's not much different than an 18 year old playing against the meaner 1s in the NHL. Matthews has the advantage of the Euro leagues being more skill/less muscle friendly.

Gretzky, Messier, etc. took the chance of playing in a rather rambuncious WHA as 17/18 year olds when the NHL draft age was 21. All were highly talented & managed to survive.

[The_People1]

How good is the Swiss League compared to NCAA?  Or for that matter, the AHL?

[OilersAreHighlyFlammable]

How good is the Swiss League compared to NCAA?  Or for that matter, the AHL?

Well, as crzy said, top 6 players in the NHL during the lockout put up about a PPG. There are differences, obviously but I'd put it somewhere between the AHL and NHL. Maybe slightly better than AHL. 

[cross16]

I'd put it behind the AHL personally. Realy hard to compare leagues but i think using PPG of NHL pros is tough because Swiss league plays on international ice which IMO significantly reduces scoring. Its not a bit different, but I think the AHL is a bit better of a leage, but deifnelty better than the NCAA especially for Matthews. Becuase of Matthews size and speed i think he's going to be challenged physically better in Switzerland then he would have been in teh NCAA. i think the biggest advantage for Matthews though is Marc Crawford as a coach. Say what you will about him and personal opinions aside, fact is I think as a coach he's better then anything Matthews would have received at NCAA.

[robrob1974]

Does he have the talent to play in the NHL this year? His drafted buddies probably play in JR again this year.

Whaf I wonder is how this affects his AHL eligibility after he is drafted. Can he play in the AHL because he will be drafted by a European league?

This is where it could get tricky. Players could opt for Euro leagues and get paid more earlier by getting drafted out of one, instead of being made to play in JR if they don't make the big club out of the draft year.

[Flyerfan52]

Does he have the talent to play in the NHL this year? His drafted buddies probably play in JR again this year.

Whaf I wonder is how this affects his AHL eligibility after he is drafted. Can he play in the AHL because he will be drafted by a European league?

This is where it could get tricky. Players could opt for Euro leagues and get paid more earlier by getting drafted out of one, instead of being made to play in JR if they don't make the big club out of the draft year.

Good question.

He could have also bypassed juniors by opting for 1 year of college but this way he get's paid that year. What it does is give him the same option Euro born players have of returning to a different league if they look like they'll be sent to the minors. They still play against men as the develope but earn much bigger $s. If not interested in college it sure beats a room & board junior situation.