In a surprising move, the NHL decided to accelerate the addition of the league's 32nd team to the 2018-19 season. As expected the city of Seattle was the recipient of the new franchise. The Arizona Coyotes were shifted to the Central Division to let the new Seattle team have some natural west-coast rivalries. But what happened next came as some surprise to the hockey world, as the newly-christened Seattle Dragons announced they would not be participating the expansion draft.
The team released the following statement:
EDITOR NOTE
I wanted to come up with something a little different, perhaps a little more challenging, as well as something that had more of a classic expansion feel. So I came up with the idea that I would only draft UFAs and then release them all into the pool and build my team through the entry draft and free agency. (I did catch one RFA by accident because Ottawa literally did not have any UFAs that worked.)
Beyond that, I'll follow most of the same format I did with my Atlanta Firebirds franchise. Monthly updates, play one or two games by hand to generate some screenshots but sim the rest. I expect to have most of the book-keeping done today and start in earnest soon.
The team released the following statement:
We appreciate the league's willingness to help create a level playing field, but we believe there are higher principles of fairness at work here. The idea that the league should be able to just decide whose contracts are to be breached and whose are to be honored strikes us as an unfair arrangement for the players, even if this organization would be a direct beneficiary of those choices. We seek to cultivate an environment where people are here because they chose to be here; we don't want anyone feeling like their career was hijacked by a bunch of guys in suits deciding where to send them. In short, we don't want to participate in a situation where players feel like they're being "forced" to play for an expansion club. If that means it takes us longer to build our team and reach our destination, that only means the victories will be that much sweeter when we finally achieve our goals together.
I wanted to come up with something a little different, perhaps a little more challenging, as well as something that had more of a classic expansion feel. So I came up with the idea that I would only draft UFAs and then release them all into the pool and build my team through the entry draft and free agency. (I did catch one RFA by accident because Ottawa literally did not have any UFAs that worked.)
Beyond that, I'll follow most of the same format I did with my Atlanta Firebirds franchise. Monthly updates, play one or two games by hand to generate some screenshots but sim the rest. I expect to have most of the book-keeping done today and start in earnest soon.
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