2006 picks & contracts

The June 1 deadline for NHL teams to sign their 2006 draft picks or lose their rights is approaching just over two weeks away. From my calculations, there were 21 2006 NHL draft picks playing in the WHL this season. Of those 21:

• 9 have signed with their NHL teams
• 11 have not signed
• 1 has had his rights relinquished by his NHL team (Jordan Bendfeld of Medicine Hat, a Phoenix 5th rounder)

The players who have signed are:

Leland Irving (Everett) - 1st rd - Calgary

Ty Wishart (Moose Jaw) - 1st rd - San Jose

Riley Holzapfel (Moose Jaw) - 2nd rd - Atlanta

Ben Maxwell (Kootenay) - 2nd rd - Montreal

Robin Figren (Edmonton) - 3rd rd - NY Islanders

Bud Holloway (Seattle) - 3rd rd - Los Angeles

Ryan White (Calgary) - 3rd rd - Montreal

James Reimer (Red Deer) - 4th rd - Toronto

Levi Nelson (Swift Current) - 6th rd - Boston

The players who have NOT signed (as best as I can determine anyway) are:

Ondrej Fiala (Saskatoon) - 2nd rd - Minnesota

Keith Seabrook (Calgary) - 2nd rd - Washington

Brady Calla (Kamloops) - 3rd rd - Florida

Ben Wright (Lethbridge) - 4th rd - Columbus

Juuso Puustinen (Kamloops) - 5th rd - Calgary

Dane Crowley (Everett) - 6th rd - Tampa Bay

Jesse Dudas (Swift Current) - 6th rd - Columbus

Cameron Cepek (Edmonton) - 7th rd - Montreal

Evan Fuller (Moose Jaw) - 7th rd - Vancouver

Logan Pyett (Regina) - 7th rd - Detroit

Viktor Sjodin (Portland) - 7th rd - Nashville

(Sjodin was released by Portland midway through this season and is no longer with Portland, but he did play in the WHL this year so I left him on the list)

Of those names, Logan Pyett is said to be very close to a deal with Detroit, while Dane Crowley was signed to an amateur tryout by Tampa Bay after Everett's season ended (to enable him to play in the AHL for the rest of this year), so they must have some interest in him although he has not signed an NHL contract yet.

Calla and Puustinen are known to be negotiating with their NHL teams as well. The rest.....I have no idea whether there's any interest from the teams or not.

If I'm not mistaken, Fiala and Crowley will become unrestricted free agents if they do not sign by June 1st. With the exception of Seabrook, the rest (including Bendfeld) will all re-enter the 2008 draft. Europeans used to be exempt from this rule but under the new CBA, starting with 2005 picks NHL teams must sign European players within two years as well.

Seabrook is a special case; he was drafted from the Jr A/NCAA ranks and as a result, falls under rule 8.6(c)(ii) of the NHL CBA:

"If a Player drafted at age 18 or 19 is a bona fide college student at the time
of his selection in the Entry Draft, or becomes a bona fide college student
prior to the first June 1 following his selection in the Entry Draft, and does
not remain a bona fide college student through the graduation of his college
class, his drafting Club shall retain exclusive rights for the negotiation of
his services until the fourth June 1 following his selection in the Entry
Draft. The Club need not make a Bona Fide Offer to such Player to retain
such rights."

Seabrook was drafted from Jr A in June 2006 and became a "bona fide college student" in September 2006. He did not remain a college student through the graduation of his class, which means this rule applies to him and the Capitals own his rights through the fourth June 1 after his drafting, which will be June 1, 2010.

The same rule also affects a player like T.J. Fast of the Americans, who was picked in 2005 but left school, like Seabrook. The Kings own Fast's rights until June 1, 2009. Obviously Fast is too old to play in the WHL next year anyway but I think this rule pretty much guarantees that Seabrook is going to be in the WHL next year as an overager. He didn't blow the doors off anyone with his play this year and the Capitals have the luxury of waiting another couple years yet before they have to make a decision on him.