 Leafs lose a 2009 4th round pick in Frogren signing.
Published: April 2, 2009 - By Brent|  Print  Email
Maples Leafs fined and forced to give up 4th round draft pick! Strange one… the CBA is obviously hard for most of us to understand but isn’t the entry level system described in Article 9 of the CBA? (Page 24 of the pdf.)
http://www.nhlpa.com/CBA/index.asp "A European Player who signs his first SPC at age 28 or older is not subject to the Entry Level System under any circumstance." How old was Frogren when he was signed? He was 28 was my understanding. So was the question,,,, was he a "European Player"? That is what this TSN article hints:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=242960 The league determined Frogren, 28, must be signed to an entry-level contract as a first-year NHL player despite his pro experience in Europe. The Leafs had signed Frogren to a standard contract. So… check CBA again.. hmm. Article 1: Definitions
"European Player" has the meaning set forth in Section 9.1© of this Agreement. Off to Section 9.1©… which is where I quoted the first part from. 9.1©
Notwithstanding the chart set forth in (B) above, a Player who at the time he was drafted was playing for a team outside North America or who meets the qualifications set forth in Article 8.4(a)(v)(a "European Player") who signs his first SPC at ages 25-27 shall be subject to the Entry Level System for one (1) year. "A European Player who signs his first SPC at age 28 or older is not subject to the Entry Level System under any circumstance." Ok, so maybe Article 8.4(a)(v) has more info?? Article 8.4(v)
a Player age 22 or older who has not been selected in a previous Entry Draft and shall be eligble to enter the League as an Unrestricted Free Agent pursuant to Article 10.1(d) So Article 9.1© should now translate to: 9.1©
Notwithstanding the chart set forth in (B) above, a Player who at the time he was drafted was playing for a team outside North America or a Player age 22 or older who has not been selected in a previous Entry Draft and shall be eligible to enter the League as an Unrestricted Free Agent pursuant to Article 10.1(d), (a "European Player") who signs his first SPC at ages 25-27 shall be subject to the Entry Level System for one (1) year. "A European Player who signs his first SPC at age 28 or older is not subject to the Entry Level System under any circumstance." Everything still points to Frogren as applicable under this rule "A European Player who signs his first SPC at age 28 or older is not subject to the Entry Level System under any circumstance." So lets check out Article 10.1(d)…. 10.1(d)
Draft Related Unrestricted Free Agents
(i)Any Player not eligible for claim in any future Entry Draft pursuant to this Agreement and not on a Club’s Reserve List shall be an Unrestricted Free Agent. Further any Player eligible for claim in the Entry Draft, but who was unclaimed, shall be an Unrestricted Free Agent subject to the provisions of Section 8.9(B) (ii) Each Player referred to in subsection (d)(i) above shall, during the period of his Free Agency in accordance with Section 8.9(B), if applicable, be completely free to negotiate and sign an SPC with any Club, and any Club shall be completely free to negotiate and sign an SPC with such Player, without penalty or restriction subject to the provisions of Article 9 of this Agreement, if applicable, and without being subject to any Right of First Refusal, Draft Choice Compensation or any other compensation or equalization obligation of any kind. So in reviewing again, Article 9, Frogren was a 28 year old Unrestricted Free Agent as far as I can see and not required to sign an Entry Level contract. I’m lost. Ok, so, keep researching.... what the heck happened here. The Leafs and NHLPA (filed grievance, nogo) agreed that Frogren was a UFA eligible for a standard contract but the NHL under some logic? Rule in the CBA?? determines he was to be a Entry Level System contract only? So what was the issue? Why was Frogren restricted an to Entry Level System contract? Finally found more details!
http://www.hockeyanalysis.com/?p=701 According to this article, Frogren was actually 27, NOT 28 at the time of the contract negotiations with the Leafs. HOWEVER, according to this next article we get a better explanation about the age: http://leafs.hockeyanalysis.com/2008/07/09/problems-with-the-frogen-contract-make-no-sense-if-you-dont-know-how-old-he-is/ The CBA apparently defines the "Age of Players": "9.2. Age of Players. As used in this Article, "age," including "First SPC Signing Age" means a Players age on September 15 of the calendar year in which he signs an SPC, regardless of actual age on the date he signs such SPC." Then it gets into the CBA and transfer agreements with IIHF/European teams... that is not it. After some more reading, the next red flag is discovered surrounding a different issue!! (leftover 1995 CBA scraps) FROGREN was drafted in 1998 by the Calgary Flames! Details discussed here:
http://www.hockeyanalysis.com/?p=702
http://puckstopshere.blogspot.com/2008/07/leafs-cba-mess.html Apparently Frogren is bound to contract restrictions per Article 9 of the 1995 CBA because he is a so called 'defected' player and this somehow carries over to the current CBA. What a bunch of crap and kudos to Burke for making the 4th round draft pick penalty as painless as possible with his aqquisition of the 4th from Tampa this year at the trade deadline. Of course we were looking forward to the extra 4th but now the optimist can just view it as status quo and the issue resolved. See:
http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=416257 Brian Burke: "The Toronto Maple Leafs acknowledge and apologize for the error of judgment. The club accepts the punishment handed down by the league and will not be commenting further on the matter."
The NHL released the following statement on Wednesday in regards to the Maple Leafs being fined by the league for the violations of league rules in the signing of defenceman Jonas Frogren.
Bill Daly: "We can confirm that the Toronto Maple Leafs have been sanctioned by the League for violations of League Rules in connection with the Club's 2008 signing of Jonas Frogren, and that one aspect of the League-imposed discipline requires the forfeiture of the Club's Fourth Round Draft Pick in the 2009 Entry Draft (previously acquired from Tampa Bay). We have no further comment on the matter." Wow! Done. At least we know Burke won't make these kinds of mistakes... if the NHL/CBA has any kind of BS for Brian I'm sure he'll shovel it right back into their faces and handle it. Properly.
Discuss this article in the Forum!
609 Views |
