Prospect Info: #61 Nikita Okhotyuk D
- Thread starter LastWordArmy
- Start date
I wanted Helleson too, but we lost our shot at him when we traded for Subban.
No. Okhotyuk is more physical and skates better. He plays a safer game with the puck. He's likely a third-pairing, safe/defensive/hard-hitting LD with perhaps some potential to develop into a 3/4 guy.
Caser
@RUSProspects
It is also clearly related to his last name, as 'Okhotyuk' can be basically translated as something like "hunter's son".
I caught up on a couple games of Okhotyuk's last night. Everything weve heard about him so far looked dead on to me. I think this got thrown out there on the live draft thread, But I cant help but be reminded of Anton Volchenkov when I watch him play. His style is very similar and he loves to hit guys and take the body. He also seems to be very smart. But, on the plus side, Unlike Volchenkov, I think theres a decent amount of offensive ability there. Hes got a better shot and actually has some soft hands. I saw him stickhandle around forcheckers nicley on a few occasions. Passes very well albeit nothing fancy.
Or maybe its just the fact that hes russian, simialrly sized, and wears 28.
Or maybe its just the fact that hes russian, simialrly sized, and wears 28.
They had to sign him by December 31st to keep his contract sliding next season, but this does start his waiver clock - he will be waiver-eligible in September of 2023.
Would imagine this would be the case.
Certainly a chance he could play in Bing this season if Ottawa's season unexpectedly ends early...but they're cruising with a 26-6-0 record, so that's not likely to happen.
He only just turned 19 so he'd really be on the young side for the AHL next season, but he at least qualifies for the AHL as he'll turn 20 a few weeks before the Dec 31st deadline.
Thank god, none of this Ty Smith bullshit. To be clear, if he's not ready for the AHL next season I have no problem with him going back to the OHL, but I'm glad he at least has the option. I do wish they would accelerate the end of the CHL season a little bit so drafted players could get a couple of weeks with their minor league or even NHL teams, but that will never happen.
TrufleShufle
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I don't completely understand it either but from @Triumph comment, it sounds like they had to sign him before the end of the year for his ELC to slide. In other words, whenever he finally plays for Binghamton or NJ that will be year 1 of his ELC, and it won't use a year this season (or even next season, as Ty Smith's season in Spokane is not costing an ELC year even though he's signed.)
TrufleShufle
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That's what I originally thought, but the article said it starts with the 2019-2020 season. Unless I understand ELCs less than I thought.
Yeah, it's a 3 year contract for this season, 2019-2020, so he's eligible for an emergency call up or to play AHL/NHL games at the end of the season. If he doesn't play any AHL/NHL games, it slides to next season, and if he doesn't play AHL/NHL games in 2020-2021, it slides again.
For example, Ty Smith signed his ELC in August of 2018. He played the entire 2018-2019 season in the CHL, and his contract slid. If he doesn't play in the AHL/NHL this year, his contract will slide again. You can see it here: New Jersey Devils - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps if you scroll to the bottom, Ty Smith is listed as non-roster defense, and one of the icons is "Entry Level Contract Slide Candidate". So if he plays in the AHL or NHL next season, that will be year 1 of his ELC.
TrufleShufle
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"What is an Entry Level Slide?
If a player who is signed to an entry-level contract and is 18 or 19 years of age (as of September 15 of the signing year), does not play in a minimum of 10 NHL games (including both regular season and playoffs; AHL games do not count), their contract is considered to ‘slide’, or extend, by one year. For example, if a player signed an ELC for three seasons from 2015-16 to 2017-2018, and their contract slides, their contract is now effective from 2016-17 to 2018-19. An exception to this rule is that if the player is 19 on September 15 of the first year of their contract, and turns 20 between September 16 and December 31, their contract does not slide.
Players who sign at 18 years old are eligible to have their contracted extended for 2 seasons. This extension does not apply if the player turns 20 between September 16 and December 31 in his signing year. Signing bonuses do not slide, and are paid to the player regardless of a slide, this causes the annual average of the players contract to change, and therefore the cap hit decreases for this player."
His birthday is December 4. So from this, it seems it would make no difference if they signed him or waited. This gives him a chance to play this year, but if he doesn't and he slides, he would be in the same position if they waited to sign him.
So basically signing him now changes nothing but giving him the slight chance to play 9 games this year.
If a player who is signed to an entry-level contract and is 18 or 19 years of age (as of September 15 of the signing year), does not play in a minimum of 10 NHL games (including both regular season and playoffs; AHL games do not count), their contract is considered to ‘slide’, or extend, by one year. For example, if a player signed an ELC for three seasons from 2015-16 to 2017-2018, and their contract slides, their contract is now effective from 2016-17 to 2018-19. An exception to this rule is that if the player is 19 on September 15 of the first year of their contract, and turns 20 between September 16 and December 31, their contract does not slide.
Players who sign at 18 years old are eligible to have their contracted extended for 2 seasons. This extension does not apply if the player turns 20 between September 16 and December 31 in his signing year. Signing bonuses do not slide, and are paid to the player regardless of a slide, this causes the annual average of the players contract to change, and therefore the cap hit decreases for this player."
His birthday is December 4. So from this, it seems it would make no difference if they signed him or waited. This gives him a chance to play this year, but if he doesn't and he slides, he would be in the same position if they waited to sign him.
So basically signing him now changes nothing but giving him the slight chance to play 9 games this year.
TrufleShufle
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Yea I think I got it now, it's basically "nothing to lose, so why not" move.
Thanks!
It's very hard to parse this stuff, and I've gotten it wrong in the past, so this could also be wrong, but - no, it does change something. You can see the exception I bolded. Okhotyuk falls into this group IF he had signed next calendar year. His contract would not have slid whereas now it will almost certainly slide twice. Here's the three scenarios with Okhotyuk:
Signs in 2019 -
Contract slides 2019-20
Contract slides 2020-21
Contract begins 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24. Waiver eligible in September 2023
Signs between March 1, 2020 and March 1, 2021
Contract begins 2020-21, runs through 2022-23. Waiver eligible in September 2023
Signs March 1, 2021-June 1, 2021
Contract begins 2021-22, runs through 2023-24. Waiver eligible in September 2024.
Almost every player who signs a contract like this goes to the AHL the next season - I'm not sure they will do that with Okhotyuk given his start to this one, but I have to think they would've considered waiting until March 2021 if they felt he couldn't handle the pros.
Ahh, I think that explains why Studenic's contract did not slide, because he didn't sign until the year after he was drafted.
Marian Studenic - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps
Thanks Triumph - this explanation makes the most sense. The fact that he was signed today means there is very likely some significance in getting him signed to an ELC deal this calendar year.
So basically, it benefits the Devils as they now have the option of him playing in the AHL next season and his contract can slide to begin the 2021-2022 season if necessary. Okhotyuk gets a signing bonus now, a potential better development path in the AHL next season and earlier waiver eligibility.
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