Johnson Stays At Michigan

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

[quote profudge]I think this is needed maturation and a good thing  

On the other side -  w/ Bill T. from UNO  signing with Coyotes for reportedly somewhere in the 800 - 900K range a year    and now Ryan Potulny from Minn. signing pro with the flyers  I htink we willsee several more NCAA folks sign soon ...[/quote]

I know it's on USCHO, but nothing about Potulny signing on either the Flyers or Phantoms webpage, or on TSN.CA.

[Josh '99]

[quote 2tkCornell]Some possible teams that may sign McKee.  What do you think?

1. New York Islanders[/quote]The Islanders have such an overly inflated opinion of DiPietro (who, by the way, is a great big sieve) that there wouldn't seem to be any desire on their point to sign a new goalie.

[Josh '99]

[quote RichH][quote ugarte][quote Beeeej][quote RatushnyFan]No, they don't.  Look at their record and accomplishments (this season was really the first bad season since '87-'88).  Their coach is a great guy.  Teams that suck include:  Harvard (obviously), Michigan State (lots of talent, haven't done the job in NCAAs for a long time), Harvard (worth repeating), Minnesota (can't stand 'em even though I'm from MN) and BU.  Discuss.[/quote]

You forgot Harvard.

Beeeej[/quote]Isn't someone going to mention Harvard?[/quote]

I was looking for One-and-Done University.[/quote]Aren't they coached by Ted One-and-Done-ato?

[redGrinch]

[quote Jeff Hopkins '82][quote profudge]I think this is needed maturation and a good thing  

On the other side -  w/ Bill T. from UNO  signing with Coyotes for reportedly somewhere in the 800 - 900K range a year    and now Ryan Potulny from Minn. signing pro with the flyers  I htink we willsee several more NCAA folks sign soon ...[/quote]

I know it's on USCHO, but nothing about Potulny signing on either the Flyers or Phantoms webpage, or on TSN.CA.[/quote]
It's on NHL.com now.  2-year entry deal.

I think a lot of teams would be interested in McKee next season.  Because he was undrafted though, it's hard to figure what his value is.  As point of reference, LeNeveu, a 2nd round draft pick, is making $684k this season.  Jimmy Howard, a 2nd round pick, $640k.  Ryan Miller, a 5th round pick, is making $501k.  Doug Murray, an 8th round pick, is making the league minimum of $450k.  While some teams like Islanders rush their goalies into the NHL; most take a 3-4 year approach.  3-4 years out, unless a team has a stud young goalie, most, if they saw potential, would be willing to take a chance on a player like McKee....  I would agree that McKee needs a few years in the AHL/ECHL to mature and learn the pro game.  I think many on this board would think that Lenny was a better goalie than McKee, and he's kicked around the AHL for 3 seasons before being given a chance for the rest of this season with PHX.

[mgl11]

The contracts are also way more complicated than just the NHL salary numbers...for most players the entry level NHL contract is a two way contract which pays one salary at the NHL level and another salary at the minor league level (less common would be a one way contract which still pays the player the NHL $$s while in the minors or a three way contract which would split out salary levels for the AHL and ECHL). A player who is on an NHL mininum of 450K would prob draw 60K in the AHL...of course the signing bonus is gaurenteed regardless of where the player plays.

That being said, I have no idea what kind of structure on the contracts the team uses to draw players out of college early. But for somebody like McKee, I think that leaving early to draw whatever signing bonus (which would still be around the next year most likely) plus a salary of 60K, couldn't be that much of a draw. Unless a team is giving him a one way deal or telling him that he could spend some serious time in the NHL next -- I just don't see the financial reason for him to bolt.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Potulny announcement now on the Flyers webpage.  He's not listed on the roster for either team yet.

[jy3]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaah/news?slug=uwire-minnesotaspotulnytosigncon&prov=uwire&type=lgns
yep here too
maybe we should cahnge this thread title to 2006 defections

[calgARI '07]

He'll be joining the Phantoms at this weekend.

[adamw]

Potulny can't play for the Phantoms, due to something in his contract.  In speaking to him today, the idea is that he sticks around for insurance if Nedved and/or Gagne can't go - and would probably get a look.  But he won't be playing yet.