Wickin' Out and a Post Game Haiku

Written by Nichols on Wednesday, 24 March 2010 01:43.

UPDATE:

After my last Roman Wick article, I know there was still some confusion as to why Wick was still Ottawa Senators property. To help alleviate this confusion, I've corresponded with Jay Grossman who explained the situation as:

Without looking at the specifics of Wick’s case, this would be logical since the NHL has taken the position that any player that has been drafted from a Euro country that does not have a transfer agreement with the league (currently only the Finns do, but the Swedes are to follow shortly, confidentially) would be qualified for defected status under the rules of the old CBA, effectively giving clubs rights in perpetuity to those players, subject to an offer sheet (you may remember this happened years ago when Teemu Selanne received an offer sheet the Jets matched on his first contract).

Hopefully this alleviates any questions that you readers have.

With all due respect to tonight's ongoing action between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Ottawa Senators, the most interesting thing to come out of tonight's game was a detail slipped by Sportsnet's Sam Cosentino during the second period intermission.

And please note that I'm paraphrasing this...

Cosentino spoke with Tim Murray about possibility that Roman Wick, a 24-year old draft pick from 2004, will partake in next fall's training camp to try and earn a spot on the Senators.

While he was drafted by Ottawa in the fifth round, 146th overall, Wick will be recognized by most hockey fans for his performance in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics where he notched 2 goals and 3 assists in 5 games for the Swiss. Besides his strong showings against the vaunted Canadian and American teams, the combination of Wick's size (6'1", 195 lbs), speed and offensive awareness raised some eyebrows. (Ed. note: In Pierre McGuire's case, it raised something else.)

Consentino's comments definitely piqued my interest. I had always assumed that as a 2004 draft pick, Wick's rights had expired and he was no longer exclusive property of the Senators. According to USA Today's NHL Free Agency Primer, Wick would qualify as a restricted free under two circumstances:

Restricted free agents - Group IV: Players who have never signed a contract, are considered "defected" and whose club retains the right to match due to the club making a qualifying offer; or
Restricted free agents - IPE: Players with insufficient professional experience to qualify for free agency but have received qualifying offers from their clubs, who retain their exclusive rights.

I tried rummaging through the NHL's CBA for some more clarity. Since Wick will have played three professional seasons overseas, I don't that he fits the criteria for the IPE qualification for restricted free agency. Instead, Wick must be a defected restricted free agent. As long as he's exclusive property and isn't defective, that's all that matters. (Ed. note: If you want to read up on Wick's numbers, you can click here.)

For a franchise that is completely devoid of offensive prospects who could foreseeably make the jump and have an impact within the next year or two, it's fantastic news to hear that a guy like Wick may be coming to camp to earn a job. (Ed. note: Yes, even if it means more Pierre giddiness between the benches.)

Post Game Haiku:

elliott_et

Elliott shutout

Wear visor? Don't instigate.

Two in a row folks.

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