Examining a key change in the NHL’s transition agreement with Sweden
Earlier this month, the NHL and the Swedish Hockey Association reached a new Player Transfer Agreement. SportExpressen’s Gunnar Nordström has the details in the agreement, some of the highlights are the following:
- An increase of more than 45% of the money paid to Swedish teams whose players sign an NHL contract;
- The deadline for signing for previously drafted and free agent players is June 15 each year;
- The regular signing deadline for players drafted this year is July 15 with a $ 100,000 penalty if they wait until August 15;
- It is an eight-year agreement where both sides have an option to open it after four years.
However, there is a significant change that requires a closer look. According to the old agreement, players who were drafted in the second round or later and who are also signed in Sweden would be at least 21 before they could be sent to the AHL. If they were younger than that, they could be returned to their Swedish team. In the new agreement, that threshold has been raised to 24. All players from Sweden who sign an NHL contract will now be covered by the new agreement, while everyone who signed before the announcement will be covered by the old rules.
The purpose of this provision is to get players to stay and play in Sweden until they are ready to play in the NHL. It’s one thing for players to take the step to the NHL and this agreement does not prevent that from happening. But it has now become a little harder to get those players into the minor leagues.
NHL teams understandably want to get their future prospects into their farm system and work with their development coaches so this is something that will probably not fit well with teams like now, they will in practice be limited to development and rookie camps with the latter probably that be snatched when Sweden’s season kicks off at the time when NHL rookie camps are held in mid-September.
In addition, because there is a signed transfer agreement in place, the NHL team has four years to sign players to an entry-level contract that has not changed before. If the draft player is 18, that means he would be 22 at the end of that stretch and sign a two-year contract. During the duration of the agreement, teams can in practice face an NHL or Sweden situation depending on the players’ agreement situation in Sweden and the deal will count towards the limit of 50 contracts during that time even if they return abroad.
It is worth noting that there are no changes to the rule for first-round elections. If a Swedish player is selected in the first round, the NHL team can send the player to the minors without the approval of his team in Sweden being required.
Now, with the increased restriction for the selected after the opening round, it will be interesting to see if it has any effect on the draft. Is the team considering reaching for a player at the end of the first round who may be ranked a little lower on their roster for the ability to have full control over their development? And as the draft progresses, maybe teams are more hesitant to draft players from Sweden with the knowledge that it will be more difficult to get them into their farm system? We will find out the answer to these questions in three months.