This was first brought to my attention this morning over at Pension Plan Puppets.
Leafs Relinquish Rights to Joel Champagne
Toronto has decided to reportedly let Joel Champagne re-enter the draft this year. Why? I wish I could tell you.
At 6’4″, 220 pounds and over a point per game average in the QMJHL, you’d think he would at least be signed to an ELC. But it looks as though Burke and brass have decided to look the other way.
According to the NHL Re-entry Rules:
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.
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The Penguins have run in to the same scenario with their 2008 pick Nathan Moon. That story, from the Pittsburgh Gazette, can be found here.
According to the article, Moon wasn’t signed by last night’s deadline, so he will go back in to the draft on the 26th.
The same applies to Champagne, and now he too will go back in to the draft pool for another team to take a chance on.
This doesn’t seem like major news, but for a franchise with a bare cupboard of prospects, especially up front, this isn’t the thing you want to hear about as a fan.
I’m not sure what the reasons for this move are going to be, but I guess we’ll find out soon as someone will surely pop this question to Burke in his next interview.
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I am really pissed. I don’t like the idea of letting prospect go and he is one of the better prospects we had. It just makes no sense to me to just let this guy go…
Me either.
I had Champagne pegged as a solid prospect. Huge, major faceoff skills, puts up points. Seemed like he was at least worth a try. What’s the point of signing Brayden Irwin and letting Champagne leave? Weird…
I would think there is a problem on the player end rather than the team’s. Because it makes no sense to let a prospect walk away for nothing. It just doesn’t seem to be a Burke move , hopefully we get an answer from the man himself. BTW nice blog here I read all you posts, I tend to be a lurker so I don’t comment much but I know ur contribute to MLHS and PPP as well.
[...] Leafs Let Prospect Re-enter NHL Draft « maple stir-up [...]
Lyin Brian only wants Americans. Watch the draft this year and see how many players he takes from the OHL. Lyin Brians only job in Toronto is to promote himself as the guru of USA hockey.