Apparently, the Toranto Maple Leafs has been attempting to get Tavares signed to its AHL team. Does anyone think they Leafs have a realistic chance at signing him this way? Will they suck enough to get him in the 2009 draft?
2007-10-31 18:46:27 · 8 answers · asked by Royfan 2 in Sports ➔ Hockey
P.S. I am not a Leafs fan, so don't think I want any of these scenarios played out.
2007-10-31 18:47:26 · update #1
According to Tavares and his agent, and according to MLSE and their lawyers, there is no truth to the story. Everybody seems to be pointing their fingers at Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun as the source of the rumour.
David Andrews (president of the AHL) has talked to the Marlies who deny it.
Bill Daly has talked to MLSE and they deny it
and the NHLPA has talked to Bryan Deasley, and he denies it.
Here are the facts
- the AHL has the same age requirement as the NHL, and 75% of the teams in the AHL would have to waive it...and since it doesn;t benefit 28 of the 29 teams, unlikely to happen (Deasley's words)
- once drafted, the CHL/NHL agreement becomes legally binding (i.e. once drafted he cannot legally play in the AHL without agreement from both the AHL and CHL, which was not granted in Spezza's case (but was granted in the case of Tlusty))
Deasley's not denying that his client would like to play in a more challenging league, they just haven't found one yet.
Personally, if I were Tavares, I would be thinking of improving my game where I am before I get embarrassed elsewhere. He isn't on record pace in the OHL. Mario Lemieux has stated several times that the Q was perfect for him.....so, if the Q was perfect for a 17 year old Lemieux (who was miles beyond Tavares as a 17 yr old) the O is good enough for Tavares.
To your last question.................the Leafs won't suck enough to have a shot at first overall. Whether they get Tavares is another story. When Daniel Cleary was 16, he was going to score more NHL points than Gretzky and Lemieux combined. He ended up 6th, and is only in the NHL because of his defensive play (and he's established himslef as one of the best). One year ago, Angelo Esposito was going to be an NHL Hall of Famer by his 20th birthday..................and he fell to 20th in the draft (despite being ranked 8th). Tavares has two years to play before he's draft eligible...........a lot can happen in that time.
He could be the next Alexandre Daigle!
2007-11-01 02:22:43 · answer #1 · answered by Like I'm Telling You Who I A 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Won't work. The NHL has stated that they have no problem if the AHL allows him to sign for a one year deal and play. However,a multi year deal they would find illegal and would not allow it by legal means because it would violate the CBA (which contains a clause saying that attempting to circumvent the CBA is against the CBA- nice catch all eh?)
If the marlies tried to sign him to a multi year deal the NHL would use legal means to block it since the Marlies are owned by the Leafs which are subject to the CBA. if an AHL team that was unaffiliated with an NHL team signed him the NHL could petition the AHL but would have no direct legal recourse to stop it.
In short, the Collective Bargaining agreement makes that against the rules because of a passage that says any attempts to get around this are against the rules.
But the leafs might get him anyways... in 2009.
2007-11-01 09:15:30 · answer #2 · answered by The Big Box 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Leafs are trying to bring back Jesus as usual. And as usual, it's not going to work.
Tavares and his agent have been trying to get permission to play in the NHL BEFORE he is 18, whereas the Leafs want him to forego the draft, play in the AHL and wait to play in the NHL (for the Leafs) when he is 21. Why would Tavares ever agree to that?
No amount of money (and wouldn't other teams pay Tavares?) could convince an elite player like Tavares to agree to play for a mediocre franchise with bad ownership and give up his dream of becoming dominant in the NHL. Do you think Gretzky or Lemieux would have done that?
John Ferguson Jr. is just desperately trying to prove that he is doing his best to improve the Leafs. It's rather pathetic.
2007-11-01 03:02:22 · answer #3 · answered by gam 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not a chance. Tavares wants to be in the next draft but he will be a few weeks too young to be eligable, so he has to wait untill next years draft. He is still trying to get into this year's draft. The plan with the Leafs was to play for the Marlies for the next 3 seasons. So, whatever team drafted him next year, he could refuse to sign with them and after 2 years he would be a free-agent and could sign with the Leafs. This will not happen, first because tavares wants to play next year, not 3 years from now. So if he isn't allowed into this years draft, he will only have to wait a season, not 3. Secondly, the Leafs are hated enough by everyone anyway. Certain teams have done things in the past that were not popular with other GM's...like how St. Louis used to be with the signing of restricted free-agents, even this year with the war of words between Burke and Lowe. So it won't happen, but it is a nice story to distract us Leaf fans from the fact that our team really sucks.
2007-10-31 21:01:12 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't see why the AHL would change it's rules for Tavares when it's not what the NHL wants. On the other hand Maple Leaf Entertainment is filthy rich and money talks, bullshit walks. MLE could pay more for an undrafted Tavares to play for the Marlies than any NHL team would be allowed to pay Tavares as a rookie player.
2007-11-01 02:13:37 · answer #5 · answered by michinoku2001 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
He is trying to get the rules changed so that he can get into the next draft but I doubt that it will happen. We don't need hockey to be like the other sports that allow special players to petition the league to let them in early. The same age rules will keep him from joining the AHL as well so that won't happen either. The AHL and NHL have a good relationship and they aren't going to rock the boat and allow him in. He will have to wait for the 2009 draft if he wants to play in the NHL period. If he is hell bent on playing for big $$ now then maybe he needs to head to Europe and play there with an out clause for when he is drafted by an NHL team.
2007-11-01 00:17:35 · answer #6 · answered by The Captain #19 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I agree with LITY-he is not ready anyway. He failed to make the Team Canada squad last year and in the Super Series, he looked quite average. If he was ready, he would have dominated. He needs time, if he feels it will hinder his development (which I don't buy) then he can go to Europe.
2007-11-01 04:47:08 · answer #7 · answered by Bob Loblaw 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
not going to happen
2007-11-01 06:53:00 · answer #8 · answered by Siggy 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋