Speculation: Why Does Martin Chromiak Remain Unsigned?

[Ray Martyniuk]

What do think is the reason why he remains unsigned? Because if the Kings are already signing Helenius and Clarke years ahead of their reserve rights expiration, why not Chromiak? I do believe that he has no intent to sign with the Kings. That he intends to re-enter the NHL draft in 2022, and that the Kings will ultimately wind up trading his signing rights before losing him for nothing. That was the whole point of starting this thread.

I hope Martin Chromiak signs with LA soon! Watched him play 8-12 games last year and was impressed even though he saw little of the ice most games. At one point he had 14 pts in 17 or so games all playing "4th line" minutes!After that his minutes seemed to dry up even more for some weird,strange reason! Cheering for Martin to become a LA King and replace Dustin Brown already on the first line!!!

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Prospects sign at all different stages of development. I really don't see any reason to sound the alarms yet especially given he'll be in NA this year.

Not buying your logic. There is something up with Chromiak’s agent and it is not good for the Kings. It’s obvious that he doesn’t see a fast track to the NHL by signing with the Kings and that he would be a top 5 prospect on half the other team’s prospect pools. Chromiak has all the leverage. If he forces a trade, he could wind up in an NHL training camp this season and possible getting a 9 game cup of coffee this year before returning to the OHL.

Why else would he turn his back on the signing bonus?

With respect, I DONT think this is obvious, and I think you're reading too much into this. It could be an ongoing negotiation, it could be that they want to be in person (at camp?), it could be that they want to see how his game translates to NA, or any number of innocuous reasons that aren't "agent and player are holding the Kings hostage." Again, I'm just not sure why this is a sudden five-alarm fire. Don't get me wrong it's an interesting discussion and I appreciate that you brought it up--especially at this stage of the offseason haha--because of the nuance of how he was drafted and how he's playing, but I remain unconvinced that there's something bad in the air here.

I like him a lot as a prospect, and hold him in pretty high regard (as it's pretty clear the forum at large does reflected in the prospect votes), and can't imagine the organization would just let him walk.

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

Looks like we found the next andys.

LMFAO!!!There's another me,holy shite there is like a 10 to the power of 33 chance that can happen and its happened I feel privileged

 

[King'sPawn]

In the 2020 draft the Kings drafted Helge Grans (2nd round) Kasper Simontaival (3rd round) and did not sign them by the August 15th (2020) deadline, but did sign Grans before the June 15, 2021 deadline. But they didn’t sign Nousiainen. Simontaival chose not to sign with Kings (which he was free to do so) this past offseason. Instead, Simontaival signed a 3 year contract with KalPa in Liiga.

The 2020 draft was in October last year due to COVID. They couldn't sign any prospect in August they hadn't drafted yet.

He played in OHL, but was never "loaned" to Slovakia for the past season. So I don't know if he follows the same rules as others, like Brandt Clarke.

So:
1) I don't think tje same rules apply to him
2) he hasn't been in the organization for a calendar year yet.

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

Yes--I think I get the concept and how being drafted out of the CHL before returning to Europe is different--I guess I'm just not following why we should be so worried he hasn't yet signed an ELC when he's only a year out of his draft. We have all year. I guess there's a chance ANY European approaching their term could be leveraging their way out.

I guess in short I'm asking was there an event or news or something that happened that makes us think he's suddenly a flight risk more than anyone else? Or is this just because he's front of mind because of his recent showing and he's a draftee from the CHL?

Now that you've brought up his latest exploits...perhaps Blake isn't offering more than 5th round money and agent and Chromiak perhaps think they are worth a lot more...just saying for the sake of argument...hope Blake doesn't cheapo his way here like he did with my avatar

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

The 2020 draft was in October last year due to COVID. They couldn't sign any prospect in August they hadn't drafted yet.

He played in OHL, but was never "loaned" to Slovakia for the past season. So I don't know if he follows the same rules as others, like Brandt Clarke.

So:
1) I don't think tje same rules apply to him
2) he hasn't been in the organization for a calendar year yet.

Very interesting

 

[Statto]

He was drafted out of the OHL, so technically he falls under the CHL rules for draftees. Did you read the entire thread? He was drafted in 2020. The reserve rights for CHL prospects drafted in 2020 expire on June 1, 2022. Since Chromiak will still be a 19 y/o, he will re-enter the NHL Entry Draft in 2022 and the Kings will get nothing for the 5th round pick they burned on him in 2020. They can at least try to arrange a trade with a team that he would be willing to sign with and get compensated for trading his signing rights rather than lose him for nothing.

Thanks. I’ve learned something there.

 

[Master Yoda]

He's a 5th round pick.
It rare for guys picked in the later rounds to sign before their D+2 season begins.
And they usually sign during or after their D+2 seasons if they show the team that he's made enough progress to deserve the ELC.

Maybe he wants to re-enter the draft next year because he doesn't want to play for the Kings or he wants a better ELC?
He'll probably play with Wright so he'll have a big year and become the next Dany Roussin if he re-enters.
Or maybe the Kings don't think he's done enough to deserve the contract yet. Who really knows?
We can speculate about a lot of different things, but I'll start to worry if he has a big season and he's still not signed next May.

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

I don’t believe it’s nothing. I honestly believe that if the Kings had a chance at signing Chromiak they would have by now. Nothing is what the Kings stand to get if they don’t trade him to a team that Chromiak is willing to sign with.

Chromiak was ranked as the highest value draft pick of the 202o draft because he was projected to be gone in the 3rd round and wound up falling to the 5th round. And let’s not forget that the Kings traded up to select him in the 5th round.

So if sound asset management is nothing? Then just go ahead and ignore that the Kings burned two draft picks on a player they cannot sign.

There is no good reason for him not to be signed with a $93,000 dollar bonus check in his pocket already.

In my mock drafts I had Chromiak going to the Kings in the 2nd round,35th overall

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

He's a 5th round pick.
It rare for guys picked in the later rounds to sign before their D+2 season begins.
And they usually sign during or after their D+2 seasons if they show the team that he's made enough progress to deserve the ELC.

Maybe he wants to re-enter the draft next year because he doesn't want to play for the Kings or he wants a better ELC?
He'll probably play with Wright so he'll have a big year and become the next Dany Roussin if he re-enters.
Or maybe the Kings don't think he's done enough to deserve the contract yet. Who really knows?
We can speculate about a lot of different things, but I'll start to worry if he has a big season and he's still not signed next May.

Martin Chromiak a helluva lot better than Dany Roussin! And besides he doesn't need to ride on coattails to make it!

 

[KingsFan7824]

If he doesn't want to to sign with the Kings, then he doesn't want to sign with the Kings. Ok, go. Why are we worried about it? Because Kubalik? Again, who cares? If he didn't want to be here, why is anyone still crying about it?

Sign the guys that want to be here, get rid of the rest. Easy.

 

[Ollie Weeks]

“The 5th round pick we burned”

 

[Fat Elvis]

I must have stumbled upon a high blood pressure medication commercial. I blame myself mostly. Good luck being hysterical 10 months out of Chromiak's signing deadline. Exhausting

 

[regulate]

Much ado about nothing. If the Kings like his progress (I suspect he has a big year in the OHL assuming the league plays, you never know with Canada), they will sign him from March on before the June 1st deadline. This happens all the time.

 

[johnjm22]

He should be playing with Wright again this season. They're going to put up fantastic numbers together.

It could potentially be a Dany Roussin type situation.

 

[Gjwrams]

Right. If Chromiak progresses, and there is no reason to believe he wont, the Kings will sign him and if the Kings do feel he does not want to sign with us for an unsubstantiated and speculative "being too low in pipeline?" the Kings will move him for a future asset.

Right now the Kings are at 49/50 contracts, and yes I understand there are some "slides" in play, but I think 3-4 roster slots will be moved by the start of the season, if even for future assets.

 

[Kurrilino]

No reason to panic.
The next season will see a lot of moves.

Blake will look really close at players who play themself out of the roster.
Players like Wagner, Lizotte or JAD, Luff, Wolanin, Dudas or Sparks would come to my mind.
Those guys will find themself on the choping block or not being renewed.

This coming year will be an outing who got what it takes or not.
I am actually excited to see if the what happens when the young guys are confronted with
actual opposition instead of those sure spots on the 3rd or 4th line because we didn't have anyone available.

 

[Docgonzo]

Didn’t Chromiak come over and play like 2 games for the Reign last season? Why would he come play for 2 games if he didn’t want to sign with the Kings? He just would’ve stayed in Europe.

Blake is probably just waiting for some players contracts to expire and then sign more prospects.

Also I thought I remember Hoven saying Nousiainen was coming over next season? Maybe I’m remembering wrong.

 

[BigKing]

Would he be a Top 5 prospect in 50% of the prospect pools around the league? That seems generous.

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

If he doesn't want to to sign with the Kings, then he doesn't want to sign with the Kings. Ok, go. Why are we worried about it? Because Kubalik? Again, who cares? If he didn't want to be here, why is anyone still crying about it?

Sign the guys that want to be here, get rid of the rest. Easy.

So its OK that the team low balls a player regardless of worth...good Luck with those kinds of negotiations...it will land the team in the "toilet bowl" for decades

 

[Trash Panda]

Would he be a Top 5 prospect in 50% of the prospect pools around the league? That seems generous.

Absolutely not.

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

Disagree.

I've noticed

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

No reason to panic.
The next season will see a lot of moves.

Blake will look really close at players who play themself out of the roster.
Players like Wagner, Lizotte or JAD, Luff, Wolanin, Dudas or Sparks would come to my mind.
Those guys will find themself on the choping block or not being renewed.

This coming year will be an outing who got what it takes or not.
I am actually excited to see if the what happens when the young guys are confronted with
actual opposition instead of those sure spots on the 3rd or 4th line because we didn't have anyone available.

JAD is a major League keeper the rest are mostly meh! Dudas(21) and Wolanin(26) have a shot

 

[bland]

Would he be a Top 5 prospect in 50% of the prospect pools around the league? That seems generous.

He is at least 9 spots too high in our poll.