252 days ago the NHL announced Vegas as the league’s 31st franchise. Today, the NHL announced Vegas as officially the league’s 31st franchise. There’s a difference there, and it involved $500 million dollars of The Creator’s money, but we don’t have to worry about it anymore, thank goodness.
What we do have to worry about is what has changed between yesterday and 12:04 this afternoon when the Golden Knights sent out the press release confirming the final payment has cleared and have become a “fully operational member of the National Hockey League.”
With the announcement the league put out a list of rules and regulations about exactly what George McPhee and the Golden Knights are able to do now that they are fully operational. Unfortunately their rules are written in some sort of jibberish laywery talk which is nearly impossible for English speaking humans to understand. (Yes, I did just say lawyers aren’t humans.) Luckily, SinBin.vegas is here to translate. Here we go!
**There’s an acronym glossary at the bottom**
Bona Fide Transactions: Effective today, Vegas may now enter into Trades and Waiver Transactions or sign Players to NHL SPCs in accordance with CBA Section 50.8(d) or a Player Transfer Agreement (a “bona fide transaction”). Any bona fide transactions involving current Players must specify the identity of each and every such Player(s) at the time the transaction is entered into.
Translation – Vegas can make trades and sign players. They just can’t cheat the CBA and have to tell the league when they make trades or sign players.
Eligibility for Bona Fide Transactions: Only Players who have completed their 2016-17 season (except UDCs) can be included in a bona fide transaction completed between today’s date and the conclusion of the Expansion Draft (on Wednesday, June 21, 2017). A Player whom Vegas has agreed to claim or not claim in the Expansion Draft as part of a bona fide transaction will similarly be required to have completed his 2016-17 season before the transaction can be completed and approved. A Player will be considered to have completed his 2016-17 season if he played under an NHL contract for an NHL Club or one or more of the NHL Club’s Minor League affiliates during the 2016-17 season, and he is no longer eligible to play for his NHL Club or any of its Minor League affiliates in 2016-17.
Translation – Vegas cannot acquire any player who is currently under contract with an NHL team. McPhee can only sign players who are either A) Currently unsigned or B) Have finished the 2016-17 season. If Vegas agrees to a trade to either select a player or NOT select a player during the Expansion Draft, the deal cannot be signed off on by the league until the player has completed this season. A player “finishes the season” when the NHL, AHL, and ECHL teams affiliated to him are eliminated from the playoffs.
Waiver Priority Order: Vegas will be placed in between the 2nd and 3rd to last place Clubs in the Waiver Priority Order from today’s date until October 31, 2017, inclusive (although Waiver Claims by Vegas can only be made with respect to otherwise eligible Players).
Translation – Players are placed on waivers when they are re-assigned from the NHL to the AHL (full waiver explanation here). During the 2016-17 season Vegas cannot participate in waivers because (as the previous rule states) the waived player’s team’s season is not complete. After the Expansion Draft, Vegas is slotted into the waiver order in between the 2nd and 3rd to last place teams until October 31st, 2017. This means that when a player is “waived” the last place team has first rights to him, if they refuse, then the 2nd to last place team has the rights to sign him, if they also refuse, Vegas can choose to sign the player or refuse.
Continued Compliance with Expansion Agreement: A Club that has agreed which Player it will lose in the Expansion Draft pursuant to a bona fide trade transaction shall continue to be obligated to comply with all other aspects and requirements of the Expansion Draft Rules (e.g., protection and exposure rules, compliance with critical dates, etc.).
Translation – If a team agrees to an Expansion Trade (Vegas will select a player or will not select a player in exchange for a draft pick, prospect, etc) they still must follow all Expansion Draft Rules.
Transfer of Players between Reserve Lists: All Players who are Traded or claimed on Waivers in connection with a bona fide transaction will be placed on the appropriate Club’s Reserve List immediately. Players who are selected in the Expansion Draft pursuant to a bona fide trade transaction will be placed on Vegas’ Reserve List only after all Expansion selections have been approved by Central Registry.
Translation – Each NHL team is allowed to have 90 total players on their “reserve list” or complete roster. They can have 50 with contracts and 23 on the NHL roster, but can “own” up to 90 players. This rule states that any player acquired by the Golden Knights will instantly count on their 90 player list. This one means absolutely nothing because Vegas will not come close to having 90 players in Year 1.
Disclosure: For purposes of transparency, any bona fide transaction will be subject to the League’s usual disclosure procedures in the context of Player Trades (i.e., all Trade and Waiver-related details must be fully disclosed to the League and the NHLPA, but Clubs will maintain the discretion whether to disclose those details publicly).
Translation – Vegas must tell the NHL what they are doing with every transaction. The NHL must approve, then the Golden Knights can decide whether they tell the public.
Penalties for Non-Compliance: Any Club, including Vegas, that acts in violation of these provisions will be subject to the penalties set out in Article 26 of the CBA (“No Circumvention”).
Translation – If anyone cheats, at any point, they are f**ked.
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Acronym Glossary
AHL – American Hockey League (NHL’s highest minor league)
CBA – Collective Bargaining Agreement
ECHL – NHL’s second highest minor league
NHLPA – National Hockey League Players Assosciation
RFA – Restricted Free Agent
SPC – Standard Player Contract
UDC – Unsigned Draft Choice
UFA – Unrestricted Free Agent
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So there you have it. If anything doesn’t make sense, post it in the comments, we will try to clarify as best we can. If you believe any of the translations are wrong screw you please email ken@sinbin.vegas.
Phisig150
So we can go ahead and sign Josh Homicidal Healey now?????
Phisig150
Or do you prefer Josh the Kibosh Healey for his nickname? Get a poll started Ken. We have to sign this kid.
RJ
please no
PhiSig 150
Do you not like the nicknames or the player? Come on RJ let me have one bruiser/killer. I need a tiny bit of blood. Like 2% fighting, tooth loss, knock outs, and bleeding and 98% of the skating and puck handling you and Ken love so much.
Ken Boehlke
Don’t get me wrong, I love me some fighting as much as the next guy… just not in hockey. There will be plenty of UFC events (like the one this Saturday I’ll be at) to get your fix of fighting. Let’s concentrate the hockey team on putting the biscuit in the netting.
PhiSig 150
I don’t want just some dude who can fight. What I want us to sign is the NHL version of like a Ronnie Lott or a Steve Atwater. A guy who lay the wood. We need a guy that can dish out good, hard, legal but punishing hits. It’d be a big plus if someone wanted to drop the gloves afterward he could engage in fisticuffs with the best of them. All I’m asking is for one or two (or four horseman how cool would that be) badasses. You want to continue to grow hockey in Las Vegas. Yeah you target the youth and grow it organically. And yes high scoring always brings more people in (example the pussification of the NFL). Another angle is targeting the fight crowd. This may be the first pro sports team we’ve had but we’ve had pro sports for decades. This is the boxing mecca of the world where the majority of the big fights take place and the center of the MMA universe. Las Vegas loves combat. Throw us a bone. Embrace the violence.