Unrestricted free agent to remain at 31 in first year

[RangerBoy]

From Ken Campbell of the Toronto Star

As for unrestricted free agency, it will remain status quo for the first year of the deal, meaning any player who has reached his 31st birthday by July 1 will qualify as a Group III free agent.

Then it gets interesting. According to a number of sources, free agency will go down one year with each passing year, meaning it will kick in at 30 next summer, 29 in 2007 and 28 in 2008 and that is where it will stay for the duration of what's expected to be a six-year deal.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...ageid=968867503640&col=970081593064&t=TS_Home

Campbell confirms what Larry Brooks wrote on June 19

Unrestricted free agency will apparently remain at 31 this summer, though the age is expected to be incrementally reduced to 28 over the life of the deal.

http://www.nypost.com/sports/48630.htm

Click to read more...

 

[GKJ]

What this does is flood the market which is good for the owners. If I were the players I would have wanted it at one age throughout the whole duration so this doesn't happen. Now what happens is 2 years worth of UFA's are UFA's in 1 year

 

[Lard_Lad]

What this does is flood the market which is good for the owners. If I were the players I would have wanted it at one age throughout the whole duration so this doesn't happen. Now what happens is 2 years worth of UFA's are UFA's in 1 year

Yup, and there's going to be three consecutive years of that, plus the glut of extra UFA's this year. Are the players winning any concessions at all? It seems like every CBA rumor that comes out looks like it's straight off the owners' wish list.

 

[GKJ]

Yup, and there's going to be three consecutive years of that, plus the glut of extra UFA's this year. Are the players winning any concessions at all? It seems like every CBA rumor that comes out looks like it's straight off the owners' wish list.

It's what happens when you don't take the best deal offered to you

 

[WC Handy*]

If this happens, Chris Pronger is still Blues property!

 

[David Singleton]

And Steve Sullivan is still Nashville's property!

 

[leafaholix*]

If this happens, Chris Pronger is still Blues property!

no he wouldn't.

st. louis would have to offer him something around $10M before free agency officially begins to keep his rights. if they don't make a qualifying offer of around $10M, he's an UFA.

 

[AH]

Pronger: $10 million - 24% = 7.7 million qualifying offer.

Blues will qualify him and then trade him at the deadline to get some young assets.

Who are the other players who are NOT UFA because of this? Saku Koivu comes to mind from a Hab perspective ... Jeff O'Neill is another one, as well as Jason Arnott.

Basically, this affects players in the 1993 draft class. The only way they become free is if their teams dont present QO to these guys. Pavol Demitra is one guy from the 1993 draft currently free because he was unqualified by the Blues last summer.

 

[ranold26]

This means Joe Thornton is a UFA in three years.

 

[FlyersFan10*]

Let's not forget that not only will there be an unruly large number of unrestricted free agents, there will also be a lot of players who won't be qualified and will become free agents. This is going to be something else to watch.

 

[leafaholix*]

Pronger: $10 million - 24% = 7.7 million qualifying offer.

Blues will qualify him and then trade him at the deadline to get some young assets.

Who are the other players who are NOT UFA because of this? Saku Koivu comes to mind from a Hab perspective ... Jeff O'Neill is another one, as well as Jason Arnott.

Basically, this affects players in the 1993 draft class. The only way they become free is if their teams dont present QO to these guys. Pavol Demitra is one guy from the 1993 draft currently free because he was unqualified by the Blues last summer.

The rollback has no affect on Pronger.

He doesn't have a contract... the rollback is on existing contracts.

 

[AH]

No it's not ... it's the rate at which everyone played at the last time. It applies to everyone, except Unrestriocted Free Agents.

Leafaholix, your understanding of the 24% rollback is incorrect.

 

[leafaholix*]

No it's not ... it's the rate at which everyone played at the last time. It applies to everyone, except Unrestriocted Free Agents.

that would make sense.

post a link please that confirms that.

 

[AH]

maybe someone else can helop you.

 

[WC Handy*]

that would make sense.

post a link please that confirms that.

Go download the December 9th NHLPA proposal. Not only are salaries rolled back but qualifying offers for RFA's are rolled back. Pronger's official salary for 2004-05 was $9.5M (NHLPA shows $10M but 500K of that was a signing bonus) so his QO will be $7.22M.

As for trading him... you're delusional. The only way the Blues trade him would be at the trade deadline next spring if they don't think they're going to get him locked up long term.

 

[AH]

Go download the December 9th NHLPA proposal. Not only are salaries rollback but qualifying offers for RFA's are rolled back. Pronger's official salary for 2004-05 was $9.5M (NHLPA shows $10M but 500K of that was a signing bonus) so his QO will be $7.22M.

Thankx.

As for trading him... you're delusional. The only way the Blues trade him would be at the trade deadline next spring if they don't think they're going to get him locked up long term.

That's what I meant.

 

[gars59]

Who are the other players who are NOT UFA because of this? Saku Koivu comes to mind from a Hab perspective ... Jeff O'Neill is another one, as well as Jason Arnott.

.

koivu and théodore

 

[GSC2k2*]

Go download the December 9th NHLPA proposal. Not only are salaries rolled back but qualifying offers for RFA's are rolled back. Pronger's official salary for 2004-05 was $9.5M (NHLPA shows $10M but 500K of that was a signing bonus) so his QO will be $7.22M.

As for trading him... you're delusional. The only way the Blues trade him would be at the trade deadline next spring if they don't think they're going to get him locked up long term.

Plus no one who might want to take him would have the requisite cap room.

 

[missK]

That would be great news for the Lightning since St. Louis turned 30 last month!

 

[thinkwild]

Its going to be interesting to watch the UFA age drop each year and how that manifests itself. It will put more UFA's on the market, but for each extra UFA on the market, there is one extra team with a roster spot to fill. The age has to drop I guess if there is a cap to accomodate the flexbility required.

But 27 year olds are now 2 years away from getting free agency.

In 3 years players like Thornton Hossa will be UFA's in their primes. It will likely be 28 year olds that are the highest paid players now rather than 31 year olds.

Watching the effects of lowering the UFA age will be something very interesting to monitor.

 

[Enoch]

And Steve Sullivan is still Nashville's property!

Does that make Forsberg Avalanche property as well....This certainly puts a spin on all of these FA lists we have around here.

 

[V for Voodoo]

I really thought we may see unrestricted free agency at 26 or even 24, so i'm quite content with 28.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Does that make Forsberg Avalanche property as well....This certainly puts a spin on all of these FA lists we have around here.

Forsberg turns 32 July 20th, so he will be a UFA.

As for Sullivan, he turns 31 on July 6th. I wonder what the cut-off date will be? July 1 like in the past? or whenever they start the UFA signing period?

 

[MojoJojo]

If this happens, Chris Pronger is still Blues property!

good luck qualifying him

 

[HabsoluteFate]

I like the idea of being a UFA at an earlier age (eventually)...perhaps we will see players go to their childhood teams more often now...especially since salaries should be more "controlled"...until someone finds a loop around all of this