I think the point was that Drouin has no choices if he wants to play in the NHL any time soon, its Tampa or nothing. You get drafted, told where to play and under their control for the next 7-8 years no matter the environment
- WhiteLie

Go play in the (frank)ing KHL if you have a damn problem with that. Since when did young hockey players (or employees of any kind for that matter) who haven't proven poop get to decide where they want to be employed by a specific employer (i.e., the NHL)?

That's accurate. But it's 2016. And it's Drouin. Tanner also is stating this without proof, he's stated that Yzerman is puppet controlled by an owner who actually makes the personal decisions. Let me also say that Tanner has anointed Drouin to an Elite leavel player. But again this isn't about Tanner's gut feeling. This is about the general masses demonizing a 20 year old player and his mouth piece agent.
- tomburton99

I understand Tanner's parallel as far as labor goes. Might be one that offends some, but I understand it. Really the CBA isn't as fair as many would like but it's a HELLUVA lot better than before the SOCIALIST union came to be. If this was 50 years ago Drouin, or any player, would become property of an NHL team as early as 14-15 yrs old and chained to that organization until death.

The CBA ain't perfect but nothing is and it's a helluva lot better than not being represented by the "socialist" union. ANY history book, not published in Texassistan, will show a half functioning mind that.

Yes he could play better, but who would he supplant in Tampa's top 6? Thats a tough environment to succeed in if you have to play 4th line with plugs when that isnt your skillset. I see both sides, but I am with Drouin wanting to find a better place to play. Arizona would have him first line tomorrow I am betting
- WhiteLie

I kind of see where you're going but you're not there. Killorn was top 6 last year, Callahan has been top 6, Namestnikov is top 6 now. The only two that have been steady top 6 all year are Stamkos and Kucherov. Palat for the most part too but there is and was plenty of opportunity for Drouin to play top 6. Starting out the year he was given top 6 along side of Stamkos and that was after he sat out basically the entire playoffs and Killorn played well up there, Killorn was moved to 3rd line so Drouin could have his shot.

Again, his point is that the players dont have a choice. To play in the best league in the world, he has to enter a draft, go where he is told and has to sign a mandated entry level contract. No choices, no free market value on his services, and if the opportunity sucks your future earning powers are extremely limited.

Entering his next contract negotiation Tampa will say, "well you were in the minors for that half season, so you're obviously not good enough to earn $2m so you can accept our much lower RFA offer or sit out"
- WhiteLie

Nobody is forcing Drouin to play in the NHL so you pretty much lost me at the very beginning of your argument. Also, nobody is forcing him to sign the entry level contract.

Drouin can go play for whichever league he desires, but expecting the league he chooses to give him special treatment relative to the rest of the young players is complete bullpoop and something that you and Jame's seem to be missing entirely.

If Drouin doesn't like the way UFA/RFAs are handled by the NHL then he shouldn't have signed on for the NHL. Simple as that. If he wants to play in the best league in the world then he will make the sacrifice and work hard to earn a spot (including playing in the AHL when told to). Just like everyone else in the league has had to do at some point.

It's an option worth being discussed and researchws. Kids in Canada that play Major junior almost always leave home to play in a different city/town. Now it's not that big of culture shock given you stay in the same province and or country, speak the same language etc. Moving to Switzerland to make some extra money is an idea I could that seems overwhelming to a 16, 17 or 18 year old kid. But if you're good enough, like Drouin was and wanted to break some of the control shackles placed on you by the NHL than it's gotta cross your mind. But this is now becoming more of legal issue. Something I'm no smart enough for.
- tomburton99

i think the kicker is you have to be 18 to sign in the Swiss men's league.

as a 16 year-old, i wouldn't have had the foresight to be packing my bags for the swiss junior leagues, by-passing the league i know in my backyard that develops the most nhl players.

i guess the path is what mathews did - play in the u.s. development program.

I support Drouin as well. But not for any of the reasons you give.

1. Its not relevant who owners are. That wipes out half the article.
2. He has to make it on merit. BUT perhaps the powers that be are not using him right.
3. This is months in the making. And there have been multiple issues with TB in recent years.
4. A side note is Stamkos. Wonder what affect this might have.

Do you really think Walsh made this move without having a plan B in his pocket. He's a a lawyer he has several other plans. Scratch that - lets call it plan Radulov. I'm certain Drouin has considered this. Hell 3 months in the KHL would be several Millions. If he signs there TB will get no trade bate for this years playoff.

So who has more to loose at this point. TB
- akermack

Bold 1: Exactly! Not relevant at all who the owners are. Reading all that BS was a waste of time.

Bold 2: Yeaaah, the way things are going with the Russian ruble I wouldn't be so sure of that.

i think the kicker is you have to be 18 to sign in the Swiss men's league.

as a 16 year-old, i wouldn't have had the foresight to be packing my bags for the swiss junior leagues, by-passing the league i know in my backyard that develops the most nhl players.

i guess the path is what mathews did - play in the u.s. development program.
- Tumbleweed

Or the NCAA, BCHL, NAHL or ANY league other than the CHL where you serve under the Indentured Servitude Clause. It's the only league on earth where a 19 yr old can't play in the AHL.

Go play in the (frank)ing KHL if you have a damn problem with that. Since when did young hockey players (or employees of any kind for that matter) who haven't proven poop get to decide where they want to be employed by a specific employer (i.e., the NHL)?
- RonPielep

I get what you're saying but if you're considered good enough to do a job and other "offices" want you there, normal employees can choose the location of their work. They can shop their services around and select a location that best suits them, not have to go halfway around the world away from home

And, uh, the fact that they freely sign a collectively bargained agreement to work under said conditions with very expensive legal representation making sure the i's are dotted and the t's crossed.

Who has it better, an 18 yr old professional hockey player or an 18 year old enlistee in the military? Talk about signing your life away...
- Davewn

Speak for yourself!!! Some people actually WANT to serve their country to protect your freedoms to sound like a jacka** so don't diminish their sacrifice!

I get what you're saying but if you're considered good enough to do a job and other "offices" want you there, normal employees can choose the location of their work. They can shop their services around and select a location that best suits them, not have to go halfway around the world away from home
- WhiteLie

If you graduate from college and have yet to prove yourself you basically take whatever job you can get. Drouin did not prove himself to his employers yet and still has not.

anytime anybody ever compares professional athletics to slavery or exploitation in any way, shape, or form, they do nothing but make themselves look completely idiotic.
- chester97

Or the NCAA, BCHL, NAHL or ANY league other than the CHL where you serve under the Indentured Servitude Clause. It's the only league on earth where a 19 yr old can't play in the AHL.
- Mr Ricochet

well, where were you 5 posts ago?

edit: missed your post on the top of page 5

If you graduate from college and have yet to prove yourself you basically take whatever job you can get. Drouin did not prove himself to his employers yet and still has not.
- Kucherovski

He hasnt met the approval of the employer he was assigned after graduating. There are plenty of others that want him and he would meet their standards and probably do well (not that 40 points in 90 games is bad for a rookie). I know this is the way the league works, I just agree with Tanner that he shouldnt be vilified for wanting to be in a better position to succeed. He could have handled it a bit better, but I cant fault anyone from trying to get ahead

He hasnt met the approval of the employer he was assigned after graduating. There are plenty of others that want him and he would meet their standards and probably do well (not that 40 points in 90 games is bad for a rookie). I know this is the way the league works, I just agree with Tanner that he shouldnt be vilified for wanting to be in a better position to succeed. He could have handled it a bit better, but I cant fault anyone from trying to get ahead
- WhiteLie

The problem with that is it is, more or less, the word of the player vs the organization. Has he not been put in the position to succeed or has he not succeeded therefor not getting many more chances? Really it is he has not done well so he wants a change. Sending him back to Juniors to develop was his best interest, putting him on the 1st line to start this season was his best interest, sending him to the AHL to get more minutes playing against pretty good players was in his best interest. Because he does not like it and because he isn't doing well doesn't mean the employer is at fault, the fault on not succeeding is on Drouin.

I get what you're saying but if you're considered good enough to do a job and other "offices" want you there, normal employees can choose the location of their work. They can shop their services around and select a location that best suits them, not have to go halfway around the world away from home
- WhiteLie

He doesn't have to go halfway around the world, he could play in the (frank)ing AHL like he has been told to (but apparently he is too good for that). Or he can go play for some senior men's team (see Theo Fleury).

If those other offices are all under the control of one corporation (i.e. the NHL or Shell) and the head of that corporation has decided he doesn't want young inexperienced employees to have the ability to jump around to different offices whenever they see fit then you'd be SOL just like anyone else and just like Drouin is. This is much closer to reality. In a sense the NHL is a big corporation with competing sub-sectors as NHL teams and their competition is other leagues (i.e., KHL). If Shell doesn't want to allow me to go work for a different sub-sector in Vancouver as opposed to Calgary then tough poop for me. Especially if I signed a contract.

Speak for yourself!!! Some people actually WANT to serve their country to protect your freedoms to sound like a jacka** so don't diminish their sacrifice!
- rrentz

It came out wrong- I apologize for offending any vets out there and I am grateful for and respect your/their service.

My point was meant to illustrate that there are much higher levels of sacrifice and restrictive contracts that 18 year olds enter into all the time, for way less money than a high NHL draft choice.

Again, I apologize for any offense.

The kid has proven what he can with what he was given. Top 3 pick wasn't just given to him, he earned it. The attention of many teams around the league (up until today perhaps) was earned as well.

I can see a scenario where Tampa said around the draft "We love you, come play with us, here is what we are going to do for you, and in turn, your career, sign here". and in good faith JD signs the contract. 2 years later, JD doesn't feel like he is being given what was offered, and quite clearly doesn't like the way the coach was working with him (given the timing of Coopers extension and JDs original trade request).

This has been months, if not years in the making, and most of it has been private to the world. JD and his agent made the first public moves, but they were caused by something we can't see in Tampa, and likely never will.

You're giving a different opinion just for the sake of being different and collecting hits (aka being a troll). But this isn't news to anyone who has frequented this site.

Why give a different opinion if you can't even support it or back it up? The points you tried to make in your blog (comparing him to the owner) were incredibly weak and for the most part irrelevant. The better reasons you give still entirely miss the forest for the trees as you just prove that you don't understand the slightest about business management or law. You've given no reason whatsoever as to why Drouin should be given special treatment relative to other high end prospects (e.g. Nylander) and I don't think there is any good reasons you can give...

- RonPielep

I know I shouldn't respond to this kind of bait, but.......

give me a break dude. I provided a perfectly reasonable argument that Drouin shouldn't be hated by fans because he is not a bad guy, and not any worse than his owners or his GM. They have the advantage and the NHL treats kids like crap (not disputable). So what if he's breaking a contract? So what about the law, or precedent? He's acting in his own best interests and regardless of if it's a good idea, he's standing up for his principles and deserves respect.

I just find it hilarious how everyone does whatever they want, then they take a big old dump on anyone who doesn't "follow the rules" whatever.

Fact is, my argument wasn't bad - it just went over your head. Who said anything about special treatment?

a) It's blatantly obvious Tanner wrote this to get hits.

b) Getting paid millions to play a game you love is not exploitation. The owners are the only reason these athletes get a chance to play hockey for a living. If anything they're doing them a service by owning a team these players have the opportunity to play for. If you don't want to get "exploited", then go be a janitor at a school making $7/hr.

c) He has not proven "beyond a shadow of a doubt" he belongs in the NHL. The kid put up 3 pts in 7 AHL games. He put up 8 pts in 19 NHL prior to that. It's clear that TBL have better players than him and believe they have a better chance of winning without him in the lineup. Too bad Drouin, but that's the way she goes.

d) Sitting out of an AHL game because he's scared he will be injured? That is ludicrous. If Stevie says play, you play. If he's in the NHL do you think he's sitting out? Highly doubt it. His contract is guaranteed and he has an equal chance of being injured in AHL as NHL. It makes zero sense.

I don't think 7.6 billion are professional hockey players. And there aren't even 1000 players in the NHL. So he's worse than every other NHL player?

I can understand some of the points that you make James, but I respectfully disagree, and here's why:

1) No matter what, no matter the talent or the kid or the agent or the phase of the moon, playing in the NHL is a privilege, not a right.

2) He did sign a two-way contract. Despite him earning less than his NHL level 925k P/Y, he was still set to make 70K per year at AHL level (and he's already collected a big portion at NHL level prior); that's not a bad salary for a kid of his age.

3) In almost every situation in life, there's a period over which one must prove themselves. When I started grad school I was told right then and there that I was PhD level, however still had to spend ~5 years earning less than the poverty line to put in the work necessary to EARN the degree. The fact that I gave up a job paying me six figures to do this had no bearing whatsoever on the fact that I still had to meet all requirements for that privilege. Drouin is in the same situation; he has to EARN the right to call himself an NHLer, and neither him not his agent are the one's who make that call at this moment.

My advice to JD, for what it's worth, is to respect the process, however flawed it may appear, and knuckle down to earn his spot. Oh, and fire that (frank)ing rat of an agent as well, surely there's better out there...?
- lumlums

this isn't an idea, it's an opinion. there is nothing scary about people saying your opinion is misguided and foolish. nobody is limiting ideas. you aren't proposing anything new or interesting. you are saying a 20 year old kid should be treated a certain way, and the vast majority of people are saying they disagree with your opinion. whether they say it courteously or negatively doesn't matter. there are mods to deal with the worst of the worst.

you make it sound like the hockeybuzz populace is trying to "keep you down". it's the same way others like garth and clouts are/were treated. and spare the "offense" at the suggestion of click baiting. if you were unaware that a blog like that would get the reaction it did then, then as you called the lighting management morons, i'd suggest the same.
- chester97

You've completely missed the point. No surprise there. All I am saying is that if, whenever someone doesn't agree with you, you shout "TROLL" and accuse that person of just saying what he said for insincere reasons, then what you are in effect doing is helping to create a society where people are afraid to voice new ideas.

So, to reiterate, every time someone writes off an idea or different way of looking at something on the basis that anyone with a different idea is only saying it to say it, a little tiny fascist gets out his fiddle and plays a jig.

I know I shouldn't respond to this kind of bait, but.......

give me a break dude. I provided a perfectly reasonable argument that Drouin shouldn't be hated by fans because he is not a bad guy, and not any worse than his owners or his GM. They have the advantage and the NHL treats kids like crap (not disputable). So what if he's breaking a contract? So what about the law, or precedent? He's acting in his own best interests and regardless of if it's a good idea, he's standing up for his principles and deserves respect.

I just find it hilarious how everyone does whatever they want, then they take a big old dump on anyone who doesn't "follow the rules" whatever.

Fact is, my argument wasn't bad - it just went over your head. Who said anything about special treatment?
- James_Tanner

What other profession could a "kid" make almost a million dollars without proving one thing? Yzerman signed Drouin to a deal for about $800,000 per year without doing his job for one second. Yzerman has been paying Drouin that amount for doing a, arguably, crappy job. I think Drouin was treated better than the majority of working 18 year olds there.

He doesn't have to go halfway around the world, he could play in the (frank)ing AHL like he has been told to (but apparently he is too good for that). Or he can go play for some senior men's team (see Theo Fleury).

If those other offices are all under the control of one corporation (i.e. the NHL or Shell) and the head of that corporation has decided he doesn't want young inexperienced employees to have the ability to jump around to different offices whenever they see fit then you'd be SOL just like anyone else and just like Drouin is. This is much closer to reality. In a sense the NHL is a big corporation with competing sub-sectors as NHL teams and their competition is other leagues (i.e., KHL). If Shell doesn't want to allow me to go work for a different sub-sector in Vancouver as opposed to Calgary then tough poop for me. Especially if I signed a contract.
- RonPielep

halfway around the world was in reference to your suggestion he goes to Russia

I see what youre saying with entities, the draft was put in place by the league to ensure parity between all the teams and the league manages the competition between teams. But I dont see the issue with one player wanting to move, asking to be moved and then withholding services until he is moved. With the transfer rules in place he cant go play in other leagues, no one can take him in Europe and the KHL has a handshake agreement on this as well. He is trapped and probably has zero other skills by which to make a living. I dont blame him for wanting to be in a different opportunity to maximize his potential (whether thats just his opinion or reality)

I know I shouldn't respond to this kind of bait, but.......

give me a break dude. I provided a perfectly reasonable argument that Drouin shouldn't be hated by fans because he is not a bad guy, and not any worse than his owners or his GM. They have the advantage and the NHL treats kids like crap (not disputable). So what if he's breaking a contract? So what about the law, or precedent? He's acting in his own best interests and regardless of if it's a good idea, he's standing up for his principles and deserves respect.

I just find it hilarious how everyone does whatever they want, then they take a big old dump on anyone who doesn't "follow the rules" whatever.

Fact is, my argument wasn't bad - it just went over your head. Who said anything about special treatment?
- James_Tanner

Man you are completely clueless. Everything you are advocating for is special treatment.

Who cares about contracts, the law or precedent?


This has to be a (frank)ing joke James. And you are saying your argument went over my head? Keep dreaming pal, you've been called out multiple times about what a waste of memory your argument was and you have no reasonable response. You didn't have a (frank)ing argument and you still don't, you just keep responding with the above bullpoop that proves nothing and does nothing to further the discussion.

And since when does everyone do whatever they want? Last time I checked most prospects on UFA contracts play where the team thinks it is best for them to play and it is actually pretty much just Drouin who is trying to do whatever he wants.