Season just around the corner

It's been too long since I posted but in this part of the off season there's very little going on. One important note is the first few Bruins players have made there way back to Wilmington. Reports say so far Andrew Alberts, Bobby Allen, Zdeno Chara, Matt Hunwick, Matt Lashoff, Mark Mowers, Marc Savard, Mark Stuart, Tim Thomas, Nate Thompson. Obviously the surprising names there are Savard and Thomas, seeing as they have very little to prove going into the upcoming season, but it is good to see some team spirit from the big guns. Timmy T usually goes to a goalie showcase in Chicago with his agent, Bill Zito, this week, but this year he is choosing to spend it with the team in Boston. Maybe Thomas can get a leg up on Manny before camp even begins, that would be nice.

Eligibility Rules: Part II

(Note: read Part I below first) Hopefully this clears up some issues with eligibility in juniors. Below is Part I about College Players and Europeans.

The start of the NHL season: A junior-aged player who is not signed to an NHL contract by this time must return to his junior team (the official deadline is usually a day or two before the opening games). That player is essentially gone for the year. He is not eligible to return to the NHL until his junior team's season is over.

The 10-game mark: A junior-aged player with a contract can play up to nine NHL games as a trial period. If he is returned to junior before the tenth game, his contract is effectively put on hold: when he goes to training camp the following season, he will be in the first year of his contract.Once the player appears in his tenth NHL game, his contract kicks in. He can still be returned to his junior club after that. But at season's end, a full contract year will expire.

The 40-game mark: This is when the clock starts ticking on a player's free agent status. Under the 2005 collective agreement, a player are eligible for unrestricted free agency after seven years in the NHL. But if he returns to junior hockey before playing 40 NHL games, the season does not count as an "accrued season," which means it doesn't count towards free agency eligibility.So an 18-year-old rookie who plays at least 40 NHL games can become an unrestricted free agent at the age of 25. An 18-year-old who is returned to junior hockey before game 40 will not be eligible for free agency until he's 26. (Assuming both go on to become NHL regulars every season after that.)

Note: also that a junior-aged player with an NHL contract cannot be sent to a minor pro league like the AHL unless he has already played four seasons of junior hockey. He must either stay on the NHL roster or return to junior.

Eligibility Questions: Part I

Sorry it's been so long aince the last post, but I've been researching this article that I'm putting up now. To me, the rules governing players after they are drafted are very confusing to me. After seeing some questions I've been asked, it seems almost no one really has a good grasp on what happens. This bothered me until I found, over many different sites, the answers to just about all of the eligibility questions.

Eligible Players
-Players who turn 18 by September 15 and are not older than 20 by December 31 are eligible for selection. In addition, non-North American players over the age of 20 are eligible.

-A North American player who is not drafted by the age of 20 is an unrestricted free agent. All non-North Americans must be drafted before being signed, regardless of age.
Re-entering the Draft

-A player not signed by his NHL team within two years of being drafted can re-enter the draft, as long as he is 20 years old or younger at the time of the subsequent draft. Players over 20 become unrestricted free agents.
-NCAA players are an exception: NHL teams retain the rights to a college player until 30 days after the player has left college.
-A team that does not sign a first-round draft pick is awarded a compensatory pick in a future draft upon losing the rights to that player.

-A player who has been drafted a second time cannot re-enter.

Recent Changes
European Players - Prior to 2005, NHL teams retained the rights to a European player until that player turned 31. Drafted Europeans must now be signed within two years, the same as North Americans, or the team loses the rights to the player.

NCAA Players - As of 2004, 18-year-old players from NCAA Division I schools can be drafted and retain their college eligibility as long as they don't play for a pro team or hire an agent. In previous years, an 18-year-old who opted into the draft lost his NCAA eligibility.

-A Post about Junior Eligibility to follow-

Random Wrap-up

This is my last post for a little while. I will be be away from tommorow (sunday) until this friday, therefore you will have to get your Bruins tidbits elsewhere. Since many of this sites readers will be on the trip with me, it may not be an issue. I leave you in the capable hands of Lyle Richardson of Spector's Hockey, who covers all the bases. I leave you till next weekend with a few random notes.

* Mike Milbury will be a NESN TV analyst next season, taking the position vacated by Tom Fitzgerald who has accepted a position with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

*THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS HAVE DEALT FORWARD RADIM VRBATA TO THE PHOENIX COYOTES IN EXCHANGE FOR CENTRE KEVYN ADAMS.

*Scott Fitzgerald (New England H.S. and College), Wayne Smith (Ontario and Quebec), Alexei Dementiev (Russia), Grant Sonier (North America and Europe), and John Weisbrod (US minor leagues) are all joining the Bruins scouting staff this season.

Chistov defecting for '07?

One player who wont be worried about winninga spot on this years Bruins team is Stan "Don't Call Me Stanislav" Chistov. According to various media reports, Chistov has signed a contract with Salavat Yulaev Ufa of the Russian Super League. This is a strange move be Stan, seeing as he was now on a team where he was going to get playing time. Also, the timing here is a bit odd, seeing as Chistov had one year left on his NHL contract with the Bruins. Since the Russian Super League doesnt have a transfer agreement with the NHL (most European leagues do) then Russian teams can sign players even with time left on there contracts. The player will be added to a suspended or "defected" list, and, good news for Boston, that players salary will not count against the salary cap. Since Chistov would have been a free agent at the end of next season anyway, this will only apply for one season. This isnt much of a loss for the Bruins seeing as Chistov was part of Boston's growing collection of "Wily Mo Pena's" (guys who just never live up to their potential, for you non baseball fans). This list includes Chistov, Brandon Bochenski, Chuck Kobasew, and to a degree Manny Fernandez.

Could you sign please?

As the Bruins continue readying for the season, they signed number one draft pick (8th overall) to an entry level contract and resigned goalie Jordan Sigalet, who to this point, has played his entire pro career with the Providence Bruins. Hamill wont wear a Boston Bruins uniform, and probably wont even don the Providence yellow and black this season. Barring an amazing performance in training camp, he will probably rejoin his junior team, the Everett Silvertips, for another year before joining the ranks of the AHL. Through his agent, Hamill said he was very happy to have his contract settled before another season on the ice began. Here's a clip from the Boston Globe describing the financials:

"First-round pick Zach Hamill signed a three-year entry-level deal today that will pay the center the CBA-mandated maximum of $875,000 per season. The salary includes an $87,500 signing bonus. The 18-year-old Hamill signed a two-way deal, so he will earn $65,000 per season in the AHL, although he's expected to return to Everett, his junior team, in 2007-08. Hamill could also earn a total of $500,000 per season in Individual A bonuses (categories include goals, assists, points, plus/minus, points per game, All-Rookie Game appearance, All-Star Game appearance), $75,000 more than No. 7 pick Jakub Voracek agreed to with the Columbus Blue Jackets last Friday. "

As I mentioned above, the team also resigned goalie Jordan Sigalet. He is slated to back-up prodigy Tuukka Rask and help acclimate the Finnish youngster to the game and life in general on this side of the pond. Sigalet's accomplishments in goal are often overshadowed by his battle with MS, which although certainly noteworthy, should not under mind his play between the pipes. Last season in Providence, Sigalet was slated to carry the load, and looked good early, but a struggling Hannu Toivonen forced Jordan to a backup role for most of the year. (Wow, now doesn't Scott Gordon wish he had Sigalet in there, rather than the newest Boston castoff) Still Sigalet finished with good numbers finishing with a 15-5 record, a 2.39 GAA, .915 save percentage and THREE shutouts. Not too shabby! Sigalet must be very comfortable in Providence, seeing as Boston had tremendous depth in goal and Jordan will probably never patrol a goal at the Garden. (I said depth, not quality depth)

Player Profile: Tuukka Rask

Tuukka Rask was born in Savonlinna, Finland on April 10, 1987. At only 16 years old, Tuukka left home to play for Ilves Tampere of the SM-Liga. He played in the World Junior Championships and the SM-Liga's equivalent of juniors, where he clearly stood out from all the other goalies his age.

2004-05: Rask faced new challenges behind poor defenses and against strong opposition in both SM-Liiga and the WJC. He collected most of his minutes in Finnish Jr. A where he won the championship after a beyond-perfect performance, 9 wins in 10 games with a GAA of 0.87 and saves at .973. The magic wore off by the year's U18 WC, however, where Rask was disappointing.

2005-06: The pecking order at the goalie position expectedly went through changes over the course of the season. Rask with his very limited experience wasn't ready to take over Juha Pitkämäki at first. The fall season was about backup duties, but once Rask returned from the WJC's, he excelled in a couple of games. Soon it became apparent that he wasn't just riding a hot streak but given a start after another, quietly taking over the starter's position. He finished with a strong 2.09 GAA and .926 save percentage in 30 games.

2006-07: Ilves headed into the year with a teenage goalie tandem Tuukka Rask (BOS) and Riku Helenius (TB). Helenius suffered a shoulder injury in practice early in the season before he got to play and the recovery took longer than anticipated. In turn, Rask had more than enough work to deal with. He played 49 games and faced the second most shots in the league, taking care of WJC duties on the side. Rask performed commendably, saving Ilves on many occasions by winning close games when the team couldn’t score. His GAA of 2.39 and the save percentage .928 were among the league’s finest. Rask streched a gap to the team’s second best player perhaps wider than in any other SM-liiga organisation. (Yearly Summaries courtesy of hockeysfuture.)

2007-08 Prediction: Starting Goalie - Providence (AHL) (though a strong camp could raise questions on where he should be)