Well he will be playing the game he loves but somewhere he likes too! :P

The NCAA free agency is the problem here IMO, I just don't get why they have the luxury to be free agent at the end of their college career and others from all other leagues don't.

VERY easy to answer. I wouldn't sign if I were him either. Frankly, I'm surprised more people don't bolt either. You have to put yourself in their shoes and not your own. Getting drafted is an amazing experience...yes. NHL players have a VERY small window to earn their money. Having the chance to pick your team better sets yourself up for NHL ice time vs AHL and your future contracts. He's taking the 1st step toward a successful NHL career. BUT WITH THAT SAID...The rule should be changed to prevent this. Too many teams already lose out on their draft picks. My team the Blackhawks lost Kevin Hayes. Just imagine how different their past few seasons could have been with another STRONG center?!?!

Totally agree.... when you haven't even played in an NHL game you should not have the benefit of playing where you want. That benefit should only be open to players who have played for many years.

Opposite argument:

How can some people be so self centered? Adam Fox got into Harvard, an amazing experience that few get to have. And he's thinking about leaving early and not finishing? Seriously? It makes me so sad.

God forbid he finishes college

You are being given the chance to graduate from HARVARD, which not many get to do.

Who is more. self centred? Fox, who was drafted but has options as a young man to dictate where he going to play for the next 7 years of his life. Or is the NHL (the owners) self centred to expect a 17 or 18 child to succumb to their wishes and property of one team up to age 25,26,or 27.

I'll take the Fox side here. It's the NHL rules, and he's following them. Good for him for having the freedom of choice.

I know someone who went to Harvard and they said that getting in is the toughest part. Once you are in, it is actually fairly easy. I think the recent scandal proves this to be true.



The NHL should force these guys to play for the team that drafted them no matter when they come out of college. 25 and still want to play in the NHL...better sign with ARZ who drafted you or have fun in Russia!

SO a promising Dman didnt wnt to sign with 2 teams who....shockingly have 2 of the Deepest bluelines in the league and maybe isnt seeign a spot for him to jump into the NHL right away. Its a broken NCAA system that he can do this, but its his right and its probably a safe assumption he is doing it bc he wants to play in the NHL right now.

No different than Will butcher with the Avs. He didnt sign with them bc there was not an NHL spot for him to jump in right away. Kerfoot did it to the Devils bc of they were locked in iwth all their fwds.

The NHL and any pro sports would face anti trust litigation. All players need an "out" from the draft. The NHL is quite happy to have a few players every draft not sign to avoid anti trust rulings. Worse thing that could to the NHL is the draft ruled illegal, so ALL entry players are UFAs.

Make it so that you have to declare for the draft. If you don't declare for a draft before you are 20 you can't become a UFA and play until you are 25.

It's not so cut and dry. The CBA. In its current form, the CBA allows this to happen, and this was something the owners signed off on, when some might argue they really did not need to. So, perhaps your qualm is not so much with the player but with the CBA. Teams, players, everyone tries to find loopholes to benefit their situation, and who can blame players like Fox, or Vesey, before him, that have taken full advantage of it. If you were a life-long fan of a specific team, were currently enrolled in a great school with a great hockey program, why would you concede your last season, when playing it out gets you your degree and then allows you the freedom to decide where you start your career? You really shouldn't blame the player when its the CBA that causes this issue and allows this to happen. Carolina knew what they were getting into full well when they traded for Fox's rights in the blockbuster offseason deal. Fox was purely an asset, and at no point prior to or after making the deal, that Fox was a sure sign.

Problem is, Don Waddell has known for some time that Fox was non-committal about signing with them at any point this season, yet he chose to remain optimistic and hold onto him. At this point, I doubt many, if any teams, would be willing to trade for this kid, since they could get him for free after next season.

You can't blame the kid though, this right was given to him.

Everything being equal money wise, why not pick the ideal situation for life away from the rink and the coaches and gms, you respect and a place that doesn’t continually bring in veteran players to get in your way to the nhl, ie leafs and rangers of the late 90s early 2000s, in that generation the devils probably led to the best opportunity. Right now I would go some of the cap crunch teams like Vegas or leafs possibly Tb

In not going to begrudge a kid from finishing his degree at Harvard. It's GD Harvard.

Also can you blame the guy for wanting to go somewhere with less NHL competition on the blueline?

Honestly think about it this way.

Players coming from other leagues that opt to NOT get a college degree can come into the league at 18 or 19 and get paid up to 925k per year (obviously in the NHL). By the time they are 22, they can make upwards of that. The system currently rewards those that put academics FIRST, rather than making money. They enter usually at almost age 23, putting potentially 5m on the line (between the salary lost between ages 18 and 24 since they have to sign an ELC). Yes it is unfortunate for the teams that draft these players yes, and there should be some discussion on compensation picks depending on what round the player was drafted in (I'd be okay with it being 2 rounds later, i.e. if its a 1st rounder you get a 3rd if they sign with a different team, 2nd gets a 4th, and so on). He's opting to get his degree and getting rewarded for that and forfeiting millions of dollars. Here is hoping Cale Makar wants to finish college lol-- the frenzy that would ensue for his rights

He’s going to one of the best schools in the country and graduating so he can do something after hockey and this also lets him pick where he wants to play earlier then he would if he signs. Just like your favorite Leaf John Tavares, he finally got to pick where he wanted to play and chose to go home.... can’t fault a guy for wanting to pick what team he plays for.

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" If you don't declare for a draft before you are 20 you can't become a UFA and play until you are 25.[/quote]" Not being able to be hired till age 25...sounds like collusion, freedom of employment, age discrimination. NHL would never win those law suits. Employment standards aren't set up in vacuum....And certainly big labour lawyers/agents would fight those rules and win big. Actually the NHL prefers their draft, salary restrictions for entry level players. They wouldn't want anything to upset the current system just because a couple of college kids and juniors don't sign entry level contracts immediately. Baseball and the NFL allow players to not sign win their initial drafts (not sure about NBA), and not wait for years to be be drafted or get big league employment Certainly the NHL isn't going fight that battle, that their draft is sacred.

It’s a privilege to play in the NHL, not a right. If you want to play you enter the draft. Doesn’t mean you have to get drafted. Anyone not drafted is a UFA. Anyone drafted MUST sign at least a 3 year entry level contract with that team. Doesn’t have to be right away but if they want to be a part of the NHL they sign the contract. From there they can be traded or if they refuse to play, they must wait until they are 25. There is no discrimination here. If you want to play you sign with the team that drafted you. None of this bs that Fox and guys like Vesey pull.

I never stated that’s what happens, I’m saying this is how it should be to stop these things from happening.

Idea, and it is just an idea, that I came up with a year or so ago, that puts the onus onto the teams signing the player a little more but still keeps some on the player as well. Obviously dates are slightly out of date now but it gives the idea still. I'm not saying the teams or players association would agree it in a future CBA, but could it work? It's a tad complicated but open to your thoughts?

To close the loophole whereby college players can leave college and just sign for any team, with compensation of a pick the equivalent or higher in the next draft, i.e. If the player was picked 123rd overall, (as in the case of Will Butcher), then the team signing them (New Jersey) must give up the 123rd overall or higher in the following year's draft. New Jersey's pick in the fifth round this year is 136th, therefore New Jersey would have to send their 4th pick, 110th overall to Colorado. This excludes picks acquired from other teams. If the pick is a former first round pick then the team MUST give up their first round pick for that year PLUS their first round pick the FOLLOWING year if their own first round pick is not equal to or higher than the player signed. For example if Cale Makar refused to sign for Colorado and a team wished to sign him then they would have to hold the 4th pick overall or higher or give up their first round pick that is lower in that years draft plus their first round pick in the following years draft, whatever position that pick may turn out to be. If Cale Makar's rights were traded to another team and he refused to sign for that team then the compensation would pass to that team. As further examples, in the case of Alexander Kerfoot (drafted 150th), the Avalanche would have to give New Jersey their 140th overall pick. In the case of Kevin Hayes (drafted in the first round, 24th overall), the New York Rangers would not have been able to sign Hayes as their first round pick for the following year had already been traded. Had their first round pick still been in their possession it would have been the 28th overall pick and thus the Rangers would have had to decide if Hayes was worth their 28th overall pick plus their first round pick the following year (which turned out to be 20th overall). In the case of Dominic Toninato (drafted by Toronto 126th overall), the Leafs did not offer a contract as they were unable to fit him on their roster, therefore no compensation would be due and the player is free to sign anywhere he so chooses. If Toronto HAD offered a contract (were they able to) then Toronto would have recieved the 109th overall pick from Colorado. Teams will not be able to sign players if they have no roster space to do so, purely to gain compensatory picks. As a final example, in the case of Jimmy Vesey (drafted 66th overall), had the Sabres not traded for Vesey and instead simply signed him, they couldn't have given the Predators the 76th pick (as in the trade) as firstly the pick would be too low and secondly it was the pick of the Minnesota Wild previously acquired by Buffalo. Thirdly they traded prior to the draft so this pick would have been in the wrong draft year for this proposal. Under these compensation terms the pick would have been in 2017. Buffalo's third round pick would have been too low (68th), so Buffalo would have had to give up the 37th overall pick to sign Vesey outright. As it happens Vesey signed with the Rangers. Had they compensated Nashville directly then they would have had give up the 52nd overall to Nashville, but this had already been traded to Carolina. This would have resulted in the Rangers being unable to sign Vesey or having to compensate the Predators with their first round pick, 21st overall in order to sign him. The Rangers would obviously have had to compensate Buffalo as the compensation would have passed to Buffalo due to the trade, had Buffalo been able to make it under these rules. I feel this would offer teams some limited control over college players in the season immediately following their college term, but also allow the players some control over where they choose to sign. Undrafted college players would of course remain unaffected by this rule. This rule could also possibly apply to European players in the future for purposes of parity. College players who still choose not to sign for the team drafting them, and are unsigned prior to the start of the season have the option to then either sit out the NHL season for 1 year, or play abroad, after which time they may sign with the team of their choosing.