Confirmed with Link: Robertson signed to ELC

Matthews34

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Oct 9, 2009
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Because in the case of younger ones like Robertson and SDA their ELC can slide for more years than the older ones, and therefore, should they blossom, they'll be cheaper for longer. And they don't count against the 50 man limit, so why not?

What if the bust? Then you're suck with their contact on the books for a player that will never develop.
 

Mess

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Feb 27, 2002
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What if the bust? Then you're suck with their contact on the books for a player that will never develop.

SDA (Semyon Der-Arguchintsev) might be the perfect example of why patience and caution is the best approach.

As a 3rd round pick and one of the youngest players in his draft class of 2018, the Leafs rushed to sign him to his ELC before returning him to junior last year. His birthdate of Sept 15th is the cutoff day for entry draft eligibility purposes and had he been born 1 day later he wouldn't have been eligible to this 2019 draft year.

However his play and production declined last year to the point where he scored only a mere 6 goals in junior, as he aged and developed. So his development curve declined post draft year +1, and as of now that contract is more questionable then the previous draft year.. Leafs would have had all this year his 19 year CHL campaign still to see if he rebounds from last year or where he is come June 2020. Would SDA even have been drafted coming off the season he did had he been in this draft class?

Was his decline the due to complacency on the players part knowing he already had his contract in hand guaranteed waiting for him, or was his draft year an anomaly over performance and he is simply regressing towards the norm or something else of which many possibilities exist.. We will never know but its the perfect example why the CBA is written to give teams as much time as possible to assess and evaluate the growth of that player from 18-20 years old before committing.

The NHL would even like to raise the draft age to 19/20 if they could so there is less guess work involved with 17/18 year old kids. Its self defeating if you ignore the guide rails put in place for a teams protection and you jump the gun for no apparent reason.

All prospects are suspects I always say, until they prove themselves one way or the other. So not sure what the rush is when you can make better decisions with more info to base it on, as there is no benefit to the NHL team by committing early because all rookie ELC contracts have their own cap limits, so its not as if the player can have an outstanding year in junior and it costs the team more like the recent Marner situation did.

The SDA example should have paved the way for the Robertson signing now to take a learning lesson from history as to why it makes sense to wait, even if that player is playing well outside the NHL.

So your not wrong really in asking "why the rush to judgement" when there is no benefit to the team to do so. :)
 
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Matthews34

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For the duration of this contract, he won't count against the cap if he isn't on the NHL team.

It's not an issue of cap . It's an issue of a wasted contract when there's a 50 contract limit and 7 players drafted per year and Euro and college potential free agents. We have two years to sign them we should take advantage of that. Like Mess said SDA is a great example of why you wait.
 

francis246

Registered User
Nov 16, 2007
12,662
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SDA (Semyon Der-Arguchintsev) might be the perfect example of why patience and caution is the best approach.

As a 3rd round pick and one of the youngest players in his draft class of 2018, the Leafs rushed to sign him to his ELC before returning him to junior last year. His birthdate of Sept 15th is the cutoff day for entry draft eligibility purposes and had he been born 1 day later he wouldn't have been eligible to this 2019 draft year.

However his play and production declined last year to the point where he scored only a mere 6 goals in junior, as he aged and developed. So his development curve declined post draft year +1, and as of now that contract is more questionable then the previous draft year.. Leafs would have had all this year his 19 year CHL campaign still to see if he rebounds from last year or where he is come June 2020. Would SDA even have been drafted coming off the season he did had he been in this draft class?

Was his decline the due to complacency on the players part knowing he already had his contract in hand guaranteed waiting for him, or was his draft year an anomaly over performance and he is simply regressing towards the norm or something else of which many possibilities exist.. We will never know but its the perfect example why the CBA is written to give teams as much time as possible to assess and evaluate the growth of that player from 18-20 years old before committing.

The NHL would even like to raise the draft age to 19/20 if they could so there is less guess work involved with 17/18 year old kids. Its self defeating if you ignore the guide rails put in place for a teams protection and you jump the gun for no apparent reason.

All prospects are suspects I always say, until they prove themselves one way or the other. So not sure what the rush is when you can make better decisions with more info to base it on, as there is no benefit to the NHL team by committing early because all rookie ELC contracts have their own cap limits, so its not as if the player can have an outstanding year in junior and it costs the team more like the recent Marner situation did.

The SDA example should have paved the way for the Robertson signing now to take a learning lesson from history as to why it makes sense to wait, even if that player is playing well outside the NHL.

So your not wrong really in asking "why the rush to judgement" when there is no benefit to the team to do so. :)

Peterborough was a tire fire last year, they were horrendous. I went to Trent University last year and watched a bunch of Pete's games. I'm sure they will be better this year. While I agree with waiting and seeing, there is nothing wrong with signing a prospect to an ELC. Their salaries don't even count towards the cap. Do they take a roster limit spot? Yes, but with MLSE being what it is, the leafs could probably release these guys and not worry about paying out the rest of their contracts.
 

francis246

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Nov 16, 2007
12,662
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It's not an issue of cap . It's an issue of a wasted contract when there's a 50 contract limit and 7 players drafted per year and Euro and college potential free agents. We have two years to sign them we should take advantage of that. Like Mess said SDA is a great example of why you wait.

He would simply be released. You think the leafs are going to worry about paying $400,000 to SDA over 4 years if they choose to release him? No, that's chump change to MLSE. You're really worrying about nothing, if they don't want him they'll release him. MLSE is not afraid to pay real money.
 

Deebo

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Jan 28, 2005
8,327
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Toronto
He would simply be released. You think the leafs are going to worry about paying $400,000 to SDA over 4 years if they choose to release him? No, that's chump change to MLSE. You're really worrying about nothing, if they don't want him they'll release him. MLSE is not afraid to pay real money.

Yeah, of all the trivial things that some fans seem to worry about, the 50 contract limit is the most puzzling. I can't think of one instance where the 50 contract limit has caused any problems for any team.
 
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Mess

Global Moderator
Feb 27, 2002
86,912
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Leafs Home Board
He would simply be released. You think the leafs are going to worry about paying $400,000 to SDA over 4 years if they choose to release him? No, that's chump change to MLSE. You're really worrying about nothing, if they don't want him they'll release him. MLSE is not afraid to pay real money.

FYI

ELC contracts can't be bought out per CBA & there is no way out of them other than dealing the player in trade as you can't simply release players with guaranteed contracts.
 

Menzinger

Kessel4LadyByng
Apr 24, 2014
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St. Paul, MN
The notion that teams have any difficulty dumping excess contracts if need be doesn't hold up to much scrutiny.

This is worrying about a problem that doesn't exist nor ever will.
 
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93LEAFS

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Nov 7, 2009
33,841
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Toronto
Robertson I get giving his ELC this early. He's a incredibly driven kid who works extremely hard. The SDA one was a bit of a head-scratcher giving him one so quickly after his draft. Either way, both off to a good start on the season.
 

hamzarocks

Registered User
Jul 22, 2012
20,122
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Pickering, Ontario
Huge difference in drafting between Dubas and Hunter.
Not everything has to be about Hunter. Hes been gon for over a year. Time to celebrate the leafs and observe the good and bad that Dubas does. Dubas has had two really nice picks so far in his two drafts in Sandin , Robertson(early). Hunter gave us great peices as well in well, lilijgren, bracco, dermott
 

stickty111

Registered User
Jan 23, 2017
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Not everything has to be about Hunter. Hes been gon for over a year. Time to celebrate the leafs and observe the good and bad that Dubas does. Dubas has had two really nice picks so far in his two drafts in Sandin , Robertson(early). Hunter gave us great peices as well in well, lilijgren, bracco, dermott
Your right, but I prefer Dubas' approach over Hunter's. Hunter picked many tall guys and all of them didn't work out.
Hunter deserves credit for hitting on Marner and potentially Lilly, but aside from Dermott and maybe Bracco, outside the 1st round he didn't do well. Woll and Scott are pretty solid and Lindgren has potential too though.
 

93LEAFS

Registered User
Nov 7, 2009
33,841
20,900
Toronto
Your right, but I prefer Dubas' approach over Hunter's. Hunter picked many tall guys and all of them didn't work out.
Hunter deserves credit for hitting on Marner and potentially Lilly, but aside from Dermott and maybe Bracco, outside the 1st round he didn't do well. Woll and Scott are pretty solid and Lindgren has potential too though.
Grundstrom is a good 2nd round pick. He looks like a long-time NHLer in a top 9 role.
 

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