What if fantasy drafts were a reality?
All this talk of a fantasy trade involving Sidney Crosby and remembering how exciting the first transactions were post-lockout (when players were bought out by teams and every 5 minutes, a star player was donning a new uniform) have made me think of a way that this NHL could really become not only more exciting, but downright mainstream interesting.
Every 3 years, all the teams get re-drafted. I understand this will NEVER HAPPEN, but it just might be a great idea. Let me explain.My theory on the subject is this. Whether it was NHL video games, Madden video games, or whatnot, I loved to do fantasy drafts. I loved to draft the best team I could draft and then take that team on the ice or on the field and see what my general managing skills would show.
I propose that at the end of every 3rd season, every player on an NHL roster (or a player that has played a designated number of games with the NHL club) be placed into a draft pool, and every team in the NHL (similar to a fantasy football “snake” draft based on aggregate finish over those 3 years) re-drafts a new 30-man roster. Players who were drafted in the entry draft and have not made the NHL as of yet would remain property of the team that drafted them. Every other player would be moved around the league.
Think of the television ratings an event like this would get. Think of the ratings in New York, Toronto, Montreal, Detroit, Boston, and so on, to see an entirely new team take form!
There would still be the excitement of the trade deadline, especially during that 3rd year, when teams that are out of the playoff hunt would dump superstars to other teams in an effort to boost draft status, yet know that in a few months, that player might end up back on their roster.
A GM would have to be very skilled to build a roster using existing contracts and still maintain compliance with the salary cap. The beauty of the system is that a player can be signed to a max contract (where years and dollars would be determined by the CBA so that we don’t have another DiPietro deal) and that contract remains valid until it runs out. Teams drafting players currently under a contract would take over that contract.
Sure, it’s round 3, and you don’t have a goalie yet, and Marty Turco is staring you in the face, but what if you went big money in the 1st 2 rounds, and now you just can’t afford that salary and still fill the rest of your roster?
It wouldn’t be free wheeling and dealing, but rather a skillful formation of a new team under the constraints of both the salary cap and the existing contracts.
Imagine the media hype around such an event. Imagine if the NFL did something like this, the mass hysteria that would ensue. Look at what the NFL College draft has become in the U.S., imagine if every player was moved around the league! Every team would always have hope!
“With the first pick in the 2010 NHL Player Draft, the Phoenix Coyotes select Sidney Crosby, forward, Pittsburgh Penguins. The Chicago Blackhawks are now on the clock…”
Clearly this would NEVER happen, but neither would that Crosby trade in the other story. What do you guys think? Wouldn’t this be massively exciting?