Portland Winterhawks' NHL Draftees: Seven Back, One to Go.

Good for us/maybe not so much for him: The Columbus Blue Jackets have returned Ryan Johansen to Portland. We are awaiting word as to when we'll see him back on our ice. He had made it clear he wanted to stay with them, as any draftee would. And I have no doubt he put 150% effort into doing so. But timing is everything, and Ryan's turn will come. Try telling him that this weekend, though. On the upside, Portland is ecstatic, which hopefully will take the sting out of it for him when we welcome him back.

That just leaves one: Nino Niederreiter is still with the Islanders and by all expert accounts is expected to remain there for at least the nine games it will take for his contract to kick in. Alas, tonight we will have to settle for his wobbly likeness in the form of a Nino bobblehead. It's not the real thing, but we will think of him whilst standing in line waiting for our turn to pick one up. And I for one will think nothing but good things for him wherever he is tonight.

Now that I've decrypted most of it, on with the CBA: Article 10, Free Agency. 10.2, Restricted Free Agents. (ii) Hey look, I finally get this one: In order to receive a Right of First Refusal or Draft Choice Compensation (at the Prior Club's option) with respect to a Restricted Free Agent, the Prior Club of a Restricted Free Agent must tender to the Player, no later than 5:00 p.m. New York time on the later of June 25 or the first Monday after the Entry Draft of the final year of the Player's SPC, a "Qualifying Offer" which shall be an offer of an SPC, for one League Year, which is subject to salary arbitration if such Player is otherwise eligible for salary arbitration in accordance with Section 12.1, on at least the following terms and conditions: to paraphrase, you basically get to make more with you new team, but it is limited. And nowhere does the limit allow $100 million over several decades.

Morals of the story:

The game: So, since it is New York time and there is such a thing as a New York minute, what happens if you tender the deal to the player at 5:01 New York time? No deal? This also makes you wonder how they could even attempt the Kovaluchuk deal. Or any similar long term deal, but they did and it's allowed. But darned if I'm smart enough to figure out why. Somewhere between Ryan and Nino's entry level deals, and the ridiculous long-term deals floating around the NHL, the truth lies. But maybe we can find it here:

Life: What if there was a life version of a "Qualifying Offer" and it required us to only take the very best deal in which we followed our bliss, got paid what we're worth and forbid us under pain of death from giving in, giving up and only taking what we're given instead of asking for what we want? Would it force us not to take the middle of the road? Or would we just give up altogether if things didn't turn out the way we wanted? In sports there is no in between and there shouldn't be in life either. Maybe that's why we get so tweaked at athletes and the game...because we expect them to do what we did not in life...be perfect, be a superstar and never make a mistake. When really, we should be spending all that energy and time being the superstars of our own lives. Let's try it, shall we?

Next up: the CBA's definition of a "Defected Player" and what it means for said players.