The way CJHL teams do business has been changed dramatically this season. The CJHL is requiring their Junior ‘A’ teams to have their players sign off on trades via a “player consent/refusal form” in order to receive league approval.
Ultimately, as long as the teams follow league protocol, this means every CJHL player has a no-trade clause. It gives a lot of power back to the players when previously they could be traded from one end of the country to the next without their consent.
“It’s good and bad,” said a Junior A coach. “The players now cannot get traded from Alberta to Ontario without their consent. That’s good for them and not fair when that happens. But now I can’t even trade a player an hour down the road without him approving it. This gives a lot of authority back to the players and makes it tough to make trades now.”
The protocol will likely handcuff teams to trade players to their preferred destinations or release them if they want to free up their card. It should also put a stop to coaches who sign players for the purpose of later trading them for a player-development fee to another team.
“Now coaches can’t just go out signing players thinking they will get cash for them in trades,” said another Junior A coach. “Those players will probably just get released now. That part I like because I know coaches who sign guys they know won’t make their team. They just do it because they can ship them to the SIJHL for a player fee in September. This should make it tougher for them to do that now.”
It is not clear what the consequences will be for teams who do not follow this regulation. It is with good reason to believe trades would be voided once brought to the attention of the CJHL.
@IceExposure