London Knights 2018-19 Season Thread (Part 3)

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Maxxim1

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Oct 17, 2005
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From the Hamilton site:

Heard from a very reliable source today that Robert Thomas has been talking to his teammates and that he believes that he is going to be sent back to the Bulldogs.
At least until he is traded...


Discuss...
 
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zman77

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The St. Louis Blues Thomas Conundrum
By Stephen Ground October 22nd, 2018
The St. Louis Blues played their seventh game of the season on Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and for the second straight game, top prospect Robert Thomas was scratched from the lineup. Despite the Blues’ victory, it’s a concerning trend for the 19-year-old, who was consistently ranked amongst the league’s top prospects entering the season.
The repeated scratches have led some fans to question whether head coach Mike Yeo is falling into an old pattern. Yeo has frequently been criticized for mismanaging young talents, and some fear that Thomas will be just another victim of that mismanagement as long as Yeo remains the coach in St. Louis. But is that a fair evaluation of either Thomas or Yeo? Or is there more to the story?
Thomas’ Season
So far, Thomas has played in five of the team’s seven games, averaging under nine minutes (8:51) a game. That number would be even lower but for the fact that Thomas was deployed for 11:12 in the first game of the season against the Winnipeg Jets. Thomas has understandably been relegated to a fourth line role, as the Blues’ busy offseason brought in two centers in Ryan O’Reilly and Tyler Bozak.
But early in the season, there were hints that a fourth line role wouldn’t mean paltry minutes for players like Thomas. He and his young line mates Sammy Blais and Ivan Barbashev were expected to form a “new look” fourth line that would be given 10-plus minutes a game and would be used in a more significant and dynamic role than a typical fourth line.
That has not been the case. In his limited minutes, Thomas has gathered only one point, an assist, and has posted a very poor CF% of 36.4. Still, it’s difficult to know whether that’s due to a lackluster start from Thomas himself, or the roles and opportunities he’s been deployed in.
Whatever the cause, Yeo decided after five games that Thomas needed a break, and has scratched him for the first two games of the Canada trip. The coach hopes that Thomas’ time in the press box will help him build confidence, something that may be lacking with an important deadline.
Thomas’ Dilemma
Like many 18 and 19-year-old players in the NHL, Thomas finds himself somewhat handicapped by a pair of rules about young players. First, the Canadian Hockey League (CHL, the umbrella organization that oversees all three Canadian major junior hockey leagues) and the NHL have an agreement which states that any player whose rights belong to a CHL team must play for that CHL team unless his NHL team wishes to retain him. This means that Thomas is not eligible to play for the Blues’ AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, this season.
But another rule makes things even trickier for Thomas and the Blues. NHL teams are given some flexibility with “the slide rule,” which allows them to “slide” a player’s contract back to his CHL team (or another affiliate such as a European team or the AHL club) as long as the player does not exceed nine games played in the NHL. Sliding the contract back allows the NHL team to not burn a year of the player’s contract, a huge value in a salary cap league.
https://thehockeywriters.com/st-louis-blues-robert-thomas-decision/
 
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ReLyT

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Jul 28, 2005
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I was wondering that myself recently.
Is the no trade backsies rule a full calendar year?
The Knights traded him on January 8th.
I believe the deadline was the 9th last year. Is there an official date this year?
Say it's the 9th or 10th this year. Is there a weird window that we could re-aquire him?
 

GangGreen

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May 27, 2012
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I was wondering that myself recently.
Is the no trade backsies rule a full calendar year?
The Knights traded him on January 8th.
I believe the deadline was the 9th last year. Is there an official date this year?
Say it's the 9th or 10th this year. Is there a weird window that we could re-aquire him?

Nope it’s 13 months. No way the Knights can re-acquire Thomas
 

sbpointer

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I wonder if they really wanted him if they could whip up a three way deal.. If such a loophole exists you'd probably only be able to expliot it once but this might be a good reason.
 

EvenSteven

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Sep 3, 2009
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I wonder if they really wanted him if they could whip up a three way deal.. If such a loophole exists you'd probably only be able to expliot it once but this might be a good reason.

Can't be done. The rule is worded in such a way that the player cannot land back on a team he was traded from for a minimum of 13 months. The only way that Thomas could find his way back to a London lineup this season as if he were to be put on waivers and go unclaimed. And we all know that he would never go unclaimed.
 

zman77

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Midwest Division

[TR][TH]#TeamGPWLOTLSOLPTSPCTROWGFGAStreakP10PIM
[TR][TH]#TeamGPWLOTLSOLPTSPCTROWGFGAStreakP10PIM
1Guelph Storm127410150.625748451-0-0-07-3-0-0109
2Kitchener Rangers126420140.583641340-2-0-04-4-2-0102
3London Knights116410130.591640332-0-0-05-4-1-0130
4Owen Sound Attack126501130.542644483-0-0-15-4-0-1135
5Erie Otters11461090.409339443-0-0-03-6-1-091
[TBODY]
[TBODY] [/TBODY][/TH][/TR][/TH][/TR][/TBODY]
[TBODY][TR][TH][TR][TH]West Division

[TR][TH]#TeamGPWLOTLSOLPTSPCTROWGFGAStreakP10PIM
[TR][TH]#TeamGPWLOTLSOLPTSPCTROWGFGAStreakP10PIM
1Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds138320180.692846365-0-1-06-2-2-0112
2Saginaw Spirit127410150.625751451-0-0-06-3-1-087
3Windsor Spitfires125601110.458536430-1-0-14-5-0-1122
4Sarnia Sting11461090.409441450-3-0-03-6-1-0136
5Flint Firebirds110110000.000021650-11-0-00-10-0-0120
[TBODY]
[TBODY] [/TBODY][/TH][/TR][/TH][/TR][/TBODY]
[/TH][/TR][/TH][/TR][/TBODY]
 
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