RightTurnClyde
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 26 Jan 2014
- Messages
- 1,484
There isn't just "a" draft system, there's about five. They have a draft for young players entering the league, a draft for expansion teams to fill their squads, a draft for when teams go out of business, a draft for players who are released...
And yes, all players in the league are eligible for the draft. It is noticeable, however, that all US players coming in from outside of the league have to go through the "allocation order", which means that teams with the highest pick get to opt to sign them over and above any other team that might have negotiated with them.
They can sign any player - even DPs, although DPs used to be exempt. Each team got to protect 11 from being picked, and once a team loses a player they can't lose any more in the draft. Each of the two new clubs get five picks and five only. Other than that, it's a free-for-all.
That said, each player then does have to negotiate a contract with their new club, and they can refuse. However, in order to prevent clubs from hanging onto their players by persuading them to refuse to sign for the new team, if they do refuse then they become effectively a free agent, but one which is not allowed to sign for any other club for a certain time limit and has to go through another draft to find a new team, so their chances of returning to the old club are slim. The old club does have the option of trading back for them if they're really desperate, however.
Honestly the whole system is nuts. I understand the rules, but I just can't see any virtue in it at all over our system.
Interesting! Cheers for that. A crazy system indeed.