I'd expect the new CBA would close up this loop hole of players being able to run away to Europe or the KHL to wait out their rookie and RFA periods and then come back to the NHL to cash in...
Except there is no loophole like that. That's why Radulov was under contract for $900k this season.
It's the loss of control over his future that's probably the more important thing. If he sits down and honestly doesn't know if he's got an NHL future, or that he would be an important player and get in the lineup every day, that's a big roll of the dice. If the Swiss league can give him a significant chunk of money (think $200-300k after taxes...that would be a nice savings piece for a kid with no college education) and give him stability, maybe that's important. I don't know if he's married, or expecting kids, or whatever.
It's an interesting decision. Most prospects we see as robots; we assume the #1 goal is to win the Cup and have a successful NHL career. Some players have different priorities.
Could be he is not movtivated entirely by money or the desire to play in the NHL. I know I would have killed for the chance to live and work in Switzerland for 3 years in my 20's. Fantastic country; maybe he just wanted an adventure.
Surprising, he had an opportunity to win a spot with the Wild this year. Probably would've been a constant with us last year if he didn't injure his back in the offseason. That back injury really set him back, maybe its not where it was and he wanted some security. Only would've gotten 1 year with the Wild.
Surprising, he had an opportunity to win a spot with the Wild this year. Probably would've been a constant with us last year if he didn't injure his back in the offseason. That back injury really set him back, maybe its not where it was and he wanted some security. Only would've gotten 1 year with the Wild.
Glad to see you've handled it well.
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Blog: First Round Bust: A Cast of Thousands celebrating a rather dodgy track record of Minnesota Wild Drafting.
"Will beats skill when skill doesn't have enough will."
-Doug Woog
But thats the thing, if he didn't make the Wild, he was waiver eligible so he could have had a chance with every other NHL team.
There are actually hockey player that wanna play. I was a borderline hockey player back in the day. I asked my coach to demote me. Cuz as a varsity player I had to do all the blood and sweat in practice like everyone else on the team but didn't get to reap the rewards of actually playing significantly when it came to glory time. When you love to play the game, weird thing happens. You want to play. Peculiar I know. Absolutely when you work and scrap for that brass ring you'll want that, but there are other semi precious metal rings out there to be had in the world of hockey. Google Switzerland VicSec and you'll see that his choice to sign there wasn't exactly a bad move.
I'm not saying it was a bad move. Just odd to pass up what could be a better opportunity, his make it or break it in NA. It was only one more year to see if he could do it.
Speaking with the wife about her cousin's boyfriend (who was a solid player in some Dutch league) she was commenting on how ultimately a lot of why he went back to Canada was because of his psycho then-girlfriend. There's a lot of factors like that involved.
Kind of the old risk vs reward scenario Victorious? That's why I suspect Almond went Swiss. He was struggling to make the bigs on thinner Wild organization. Now with all the hype of our prospects he may have felt his chances were too faded to risk his uncertainty for the future. He's still young enough that he isn't permanently closing the door to the NHL.
Interesting thing. I follow Cody on twitter and shortly after he announced his signing in Switz. He said something about he hopes he can find his way back to the NHL, and maybe the Wild. I looked to find it just now and looks like he deleted that sentiment. I swear I read that. Make me wonder what happened to make him scratch that thought based on Russo's comment. Maybe burned the bridge?
I wouldn't be surprised. Thats why I said earlier that he did it to revitalize his career. Most players go to the European leagues with the intentions of coming back in a better situation.
Interesting thing. I follow Cody on twitter and shortly after he announced his signing in Switz. He said something about he hopes he can find his way back to the NHL, and maybe the Wild. I looked to find it just now and looks like he deleted that sentiment. I swear I read that. Make me wonder what happened to make him scratch that thought based on Russo's comment. Maybe burned the bridge?
Read that too. Maybe his agent said something against posting that?
But remember Walz played in the Swiss league for a bit before coming back to the NHL!
Honestly outside of more or less losing an "asset", this doesn't bother me in the slightest. At no point since we've had Almond did I ever feel he was going to do anything but be an AHLer. Kid really did nothing to make me feel like he'd amount to anything of NHL quality. Ever.
