The UK ice hockey off-season seems to stretch on forever for fans. However, for the backroom staff of clubs, it surely goes by in the blink of an eye. The rarity of multi-year contracts, and the ease with which they can be broken (something Hull have been reminded of this week), means that it is not uncommon for a team to need to sign their entire roster over the summer months. There are players that wish to stay with their club, but the need to renegotiate their deal can make this even harder than bringing in a new player.
There is certainly pressure in trying to build an entire team in a summer. If September is on the horizon and you still don’t have a goalie then things could get a bit tense. So the big question is: Do you sign up your team as quickly as possible, or do you play the waiting game and try to pull off some bargains? You may even want to adopt Edinburgh’s recent approach of waiting to play a few games with only a handful of imports to gauge other teams’ rosters before making those last few signings.
The best way to ensure a relaxing summer would be to get a squad signed up as soon as possible. Once a roster is complete, coaches can work out their systems and take a bit of time off to enjoy their break. It is also advantageous to get players into the country in good time for the start of the season – something that the longwinded registration process can make difficult for last minute signings.
On the other hand, there is logic to holding back on a few signings. A player may have several options open to him at the start of the season. If clubs were to track a player they may be able to negotiate a far better deal at the end of the year when he may be beginning to get anxious about finding employment for the year.
Some coaches have openly stated a desire to wait for the AHL training camps that take towards the end of the off-season. There will be players who won’t make the cut that would be excellent signings for the elite league team. In addition to this, the instability of some European teams, such as the DEL’s Kassel Huskies, may lead to a spate of high quality players looking for teams.
However, these strategies carry with them a risk. It may be possible to pick up a player who would excel in this league, but would use a British club as a stop-gap before moving on to a better team, leaving that team with a top-end slot vacant. Dan Tessier and Jeff Ulmer are two examples of high-impact players who have moved mid-season in search of better opportunities.
The main problem with keeping this flexible attitude and waiting to see who becomes available is the imbalance it can create in terms of budget and team chemistry. It’s all well and good snapping up a player with extensive NHL experience, but not if it means having to compromise the quality of two or more other imported players.
The chance to sign of Matt Myers to Nottingham was clearly not part of coach Corey Neilson’s plans. He decided it was too good an opportunity to miss, but with so many players already signed it could prove to be a problem. The Elite league is a three lines league, and while the idea of resting players by rotating four lines sounds like a luxury, in reality it’s hard to imagine it working.
Players would have been signed with three lines in mind, and places on the special teams will now be hard fought over. The tendency in the league is to shorten benches in key situations, and star players are conditioned to be able to log a huge amount of ice time. Neilson is arguably the worst culprit for not using his whole bench (just ask Nick Toneys last year) especially when games are tight. It will be interesting to see how the morale of the Nottingham dressing room is after a few weeks.
Six of the ten elite league teams will have a player coach next season and it’s certainly plausible that the Steelers could now end up with one. It would also be no surprise to see Doug Christiansen lace up his skates again. As a player coach it is even more beneficial to get a team signed in order to prepare for the playing season ahead. With coaches needing to spend hours and hours per day on the phone, it would seem unlikely that they would then find the time to stick to an ideal training schedule. It would also be of benefit to know the role that they will need to take within the team as a player to best prepare mentally for the coming season.
Perhaps the prevalence of player-coaches is why we have seen so many early signings this off-season. There are already three full squads announced, with other teams most of the way there (and doubtless signings made but not yet announced). It would appear that teams are deciding not to gamble on waiting this year, maybe because nobody else is which would make the risks all the greater.
by Luke Catterson 
