waymoresports KEN CAMPBELL
The Maple Leafs would have a 1.7 per cent chance of landing Sidney Crosby under the NHL's proposed lottery system for the next entry draft, while the New York Rangers would be one of two teams with the best shot of getting the junior superstar.
Multiple sources say the league's board of governors has in place the framework of a system that will allow each of the NHL's 30 teams a chance at the first overall pick in the next draft and the opportunity to select Crosby, who will be at the Memorial Cup with his Rimouski Oceanic in London starting Saturday.
The proposed system would skew the lottery in favour of teams that have finished out of the playoffs in the past four seasons and not had the first overall selection in any of the past four entry drafts.
Nothing has been passed by the board of governors and isn't expected to be for some time, but it's believed the lottery will work like this:
* Each team starts with four balls in the lottery.
* Teams lose a ball for each year they qualified for the playoffs in the past four seasons.
* Teams also lose a ball if they have had the first overall selection in any of the past four drafts.
* Each team is guaranteed at least one ball.
Under that system, there would be a total of 60 balls in the lottery. The Leafs, along with 12 other teams, would have just one chance, giving them a 1.7 per cent likelihood of winning the lottery.
The Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets would be the only teams in the league to have four balls in the lottery, giving them each a 6.7 per cent chance of winning.
The Blue Jackets had the first overall pick in the 2002 draft and selected Rick Nash, but they traded up for that pick with the Florida Panthers so that pick is assigned to Florida.
`The attitude of the large market teams is that they're going to be losing some revenues to small markets, so they want some kind of a chance (at Sidney Crosby)'
If Crosby were to go to the Rangers, it would be an enormous marketing opportunity for the league, which will almost certainly need all the help it can get after a lockout that could stretch into next season.
Sources say the draft order would be reversed each round, meaning the team that picked first overall would have the last selection in the second round.
The system likely won't be put into place officially until a collective bargaining agreement is reached with the players, but one league general manager said revenue sharing would be key to the lottery.
"If there is a system of revenue sharing, and I'd be shocked if there weren't, that's the way it will be," he said. "The attitude of the large market teams is that they're going to be losing some revenues to small markets, so they want some kind of a chance (at Crosby)."
But the proposed deal is sure to draw the ire of the more successful teams, such as the Maple Leafs, who would have shared a 3.3 per cent chance of getting Crosby with the 29 other teams in the league if each team were given a 1in30 chance.
Meanwhile, the Leafs are expected to be more involved in discussions with Crosby's agent after the Memorial Cup about the possibility of him signing with the new Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League if the lockout extends into next season.
AHL president Dave Andrews said yesterday there is nothing in the league's bylaws preventing a team from signing Crosby.
"Sidney Crosby is going to play where Sidney Crosby and his agent decide he's going to play," Andrews said. "Any player who has reached the age of 18 by Sept. 15 is eligible to play in our league if he is appropriately under contract."
The NHL's agreement with the Canadian Hockey League stipulates players in junior hockey must either play in the NHL or in major junior, but that agreement has expired.
Crosby's standard players' contract also stipulates that he must play junior hockey until he either plays in the NHL or his junior eligibility expires, but it has been widely expected Crosby will be allowed to leave the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League after this season for either Europe or the AHL.
Meanwhile, Crosby signed a $2.5 million (U.S.) deal to endorse Reebok's hockey line and it's doubtful that Reebok would want him playing in Moscow or Stockholm instead of Toronto. Len Rhodes, vice-president, marketing for The Hockey Company and Reebok Canada, said the company would have no input on where Crosby ends up.
"We haven't had any discussions with him or his agent in terms of where we would prefer him to play," Rhodes said. "We know that because of the fact he's a superstar, whatever league he plays in will want to showcase him. We want him to play where he gets the maximum exposure within a hockey market. Toronto is definitely is a true hockey market."
