Guest ilove_#51 Report post Posted May 26, 2007 Ok I am a pretty new fan. I have been watching since December of '06. I see people typing of free agents. Well what does that all mean? I am terribly sorry if that is a stupid thing to ask. I get the game of hockey and the stats and all that. But I can't seem to get drafting and free agents. Thanks for your help! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Seraph 240 Report post Posted May 26, 2007 (edited) Players sign contracts with teams that commit them for X number of years. After X number of years, they are free to accept contracts from new teams. Each year, several players' contracts run out and they become eligible to receive contracts from new teams (=free agency). Teams spend the off season trying to acquire these players. Edited May 26, 2007 by The Nephilim Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BringHomeTheCup! 0 Report post Posted May 26, 2007 Ok I am a pretty new fan. I have been watching since December of '06. I see people typing of free agents. Well what does that all mean? I am terribly sorry if that is a stupid thing to ask. I get the game of hockey and the stats and all that. But I can't seem to get drafting and free agents. Thanks for your help! It sounds complicated, but once you get the general idea, it's pretty simple. The entry draft is used to draft players who have never played professional hockey before. Generally speaking, these players must be 18 years of age. The teams then own the rights to sign that player. They can either sign that player, or trade the rights to another team. Free agency is a little more complicted. You have 2 types of free agents, Restricted Free Agents (RFA), and Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA). RFA's are players who have played out the length of their contracts, but haven't played enough games and/or aren't old enough to be UFA's. In order for a player to be a UFA they must be (I think) 27 years of age, or played something like 8 or 10 profession season. When a player has reached either RFA or UFA status, any team is eligable to sign that player. In order for a team to sign a RFA, they must present him with an offer sheet. This offer sheet, if accepted, is signed by the RFA. Here is where it gets a little tricky. For example, we will use Jiri Hudler, this off season he is a RFA. Let's say the St. Louis Blues present an offer sheet to Hudler, and she signs it. Since his former team is the Red Wings, the Wings would have the option to match the offer sheet, which is equivelent to Detroit offering him the same contract. In this case, Detroit would have signed Jiri Hudler to a contract based on the terms of the offer sheet. If Detroit were to decline to match the offer sheet, then St. Louis would have signed Jiri Hudler to a contract based on the terms of the offer sheet. In this case, St. Louis would then be subject to 'compensate' Detroit for signing Hudler. The amount of compensation is based on the value of the contract, and if I am correct is limited to draft picks. When a player is an UFA, any team can sign him without providing any compensation to his former team. I hope that all makes sense. If you want a good site to hear about rumors, and signing, check this out, My Webpage Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SouthernWingsFan 854 Report post Posted May 26, 2007 Ok I am a pretty new fan. I have been watching since December of '06. I see people typing of free agents. Well what does that all mean? I am terribly sorry if that is a stupid thing to ask. I get the game of hockey and the stats and all that. But I can't seem to get drafting and free agents. Thanks for your help! Also, free agents are a part of every professioal sport...Major League Baseball, National Football League, National Basketball Association, etc. If you are at home channel surfing or read the sports page sometime in the future and hear about free agents in other sports, it's the same principles more/less if you look at it in a more generic sense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HockeyCrazy3033 168 Report post Posted May 26, 2007 Yep. Everyone's pretty much got it right on. Also, if you need help with anything else hockey related just send me a PM and I can help you out! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
