The recruitment "upgrade" obsession ...

kingmo19.1

Well-Known Member
Thread starter #1
Something that has made me laugh (a lot) over the past month is the (some fan) obsession in using the term "upgrade" in relation to recruitment, ie, is player x an upgrade on player y.

Firstly, there are so many variables in play this is impossible to categorise.

Secondly, and this is an important factor, most of the teams simply cannot afford to "upgrade" 4-5 players each season, if they did that on a continual basis, within 10 years the NHL would be based in the UK !

Looking at the rosters announced to date, in my humble opinion the league looks weaker at the moment that it did last season!
 

Finny

Well-Known Member
#2
That second point is very important but largely overlooked.

Arguably in recent years most teams have upgraded year after year and that is why we now have the level we do. But it can't continue for ever else we'd be repeating the ISL and more teams would be going bust.

Obviously other than Sheffield the rest of the teams still have signings to be made but at the moment it does look like this year will be the first in a while where we don't see upgrades in the numbers of previous seasons. There could also be two further reasons for that:

-The introduction of two new teams. There are probably only a certain number of players looking to join a UK team each summer. With MK and Guildford needing 28 new imports the availabity is going to increase.
-The value of the pound has dropped a lot in the last year. The exchange rate in previous years meant we could afford a better quality player without increasing our pay. Now the opposite of that is likely to be true.
 

ASHIPP

Well-Known Member
#3
Both excellent explanatory posts above. And endorsed by comments from coaching interviews from earlier this off-season where several Elite League coaches have admitted that recruitment has been more difficult than recent seasons.

The pool of players wanting to come to the UK now has more suitors with 2 more clubs. The players available won't neccesssarily fit the positions or other club criteria. For instance, many clubs rely upon the sponsorship/funding of university packages - that pool of players amongst thos wanting to come to the UK will be small.

Perhaps the term 'complimentary player' is more appropriate than 'upgrade'. We woild always hope a new player will compliment the set up. It's not always about the best, most experienced individual, but rather how those individuals contribute to the team performance.
 

DevilDom

Well-Known Member
#4
I think the exchange rate factor is a huge. The pound has lost around 15% of its value since Brexit which can't just be replaced by paying more. To put this into context, a player getting £500 a week was getting the equivalent of around $725 last year. At the moment this equates to $625 a week.

Unless we all want to pay significantly more for our tickets then all teams are going to struggle to attract higher grade players.
 
Last edited:
#5
I guess it comes down to money and Todd and Lords knowledge of player movement within other clubs. Even if the money was grown behind the IAW, simply turning up with a large expensive bench of NHL prime beef is a complete waste if the "others" have recruited lower quality.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

solelace84

Active Member
#6
I know this league is improving year on year, but I think people get carried away when expecting players straight out of the KHL or even AHL to be signing in a hurry to the EIHL... some people need to check them selves a little ...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

KaneDevils

Well-Known Member
#7
It's also about finding the hidden gems. An upgrade doesn't have to mean more money.
Some of the best players in recent years haven't looked that big a deal by their CV's.
Who'd have thought our own Michel, matzka, and mccrae would of turned out to be as good as
they were?! On the flip side, many feeling disappointed by so-called upgrades, bordelaux,
Salters, etc.
 

Ocko

Well-Known Member
#8
I get the impression that it's almost like the fans want a warning about the signing. Like this week; '3 signings, don't get your hopes up though, fairly boring ones this week - not much to see, catch it only if the paint your watching dry has finished up'.

Of course they'll build up every single signing they can, it's as much a PR business as sport these days. They want to generate the buzz to get people who maybe arent the most die hard expectant fans to buy season tickets.

The likes of Bordy, Jansen and McGratton havent helped expectations either. Fans want NHLers now . We only had those guys because they were goons who weren't wanted anymore by any NHL, AHL or ECHL team or anywhere in Europe. They're a dying breed and once they're gone the real 4th liners in the show will get deals in better European leagues because they can do more than fight; so chances are we'll see less NHL vets as the years go on.
 

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
#9
Nobody wants has beens that are only here for the ride, those guys you mentioned didn't do much to set the world on fire, and didn't do it for any of us. Maybe sold seats that would have remained empty may be, why would we want a warning about signings, it's about the surprise surely, as for watching paint dry whatever, think we all have lives that take up our time. Sometimes caring about our club can come back and bite you on the arse if you ain't clever with words,
 

Ocko

Well-Known Member
#10
You might've misunderstood my point, I'm an advocate of the way the club have done their business, they can't do it any other way IMO. I think there is a lot to be excited about in the 3 signings we made. We didn't expect to keep Murdy, Batch is a heavyweight and a Brit which makes him unique in this league and Mo was the captain of a championship winning team. It also means that we still haven't signed our 1st line winger, a tough guy, Assellin and Hotham, and maybe one more. Our exciting signings are still to come.
 

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
#11
Well explained bud, as you say exciting times still to come, good things are always worth waiting for, and they are still to come. Team looking pretty neat at the moment, we certainly will be the team to beat, that's for sure.
 

KaneDevils

Well-Known Member
#12
We're all passionate fans too. One title ain't enough, we want a decade of domination.
Some see it as moaning or whinging but I think it's just passion and a strong desire for
Your team to be the best.
 

Temme

Well-Known Member
#13
I see your point, however in ALL sport the goal year on year is to continually improve, and indeed this is the case 99% of the time.
We were one goal away from winning everything last year, and whilst that is only a whisker away over a very long season from a grandslam, it is not perfection, therefore there is room for improvement in our team.

That's just my take on it as a person who plays sports anyway.

on the subject of year on year "upgrades", if we re-wind a little:

Would the 13-14 Belfast roster fair as well last year as it did at the time? I think yes (they won the league by 23 clear points).

In my opinion, that team would still win the league today year on year & i do agree the standard has not increased as much as is touted.
 

Leighton

Active Member
#14
Andrew Lord made a specific point of mentioning the exchange rate at a recent sponsor's meeting with both the US and Canadian dollars around 14% less now than pre-brexit vote.
 

Paul Sullivan

Well-Known Member
#15
I do believe the League as a whole is of a higher standard. But for my 2p it's not everyone that's upgrading year on year. What I believe is that whilst the leading Clubs have deepened to four lines, the previous 'lesser' Clubs have significantly improved. For example, even when we weren't the powerhouse we are now we used to expect a minimum 4 points from a Scottish triple header.

I don't think you'll see another one scheduled, such is the improvement there and the difficulty of playing each of those Clubs individually, let alone in succession. I'm fairly sure most of us would not have expected some of the names that MK and GF have signed to have been in their year one EIHL rosters.
 

Leighton

Active Member
#16
I'm fairly sure most of us would not have expected some of the names that MK and GF have signed to have been in their year one EIHL rosters.
Very true.... with my limited hockey knowledge i fully expected them both to be the EIHL whipping boys and it certainly doesnt look thats gonna be the case based on some of their signings.
 
#17
Interesting point about the £/$ exchange rates. My question would be, seeing as our owners are all based in NA does that not play into our hands a little bit seeing as all other owners (to my knowledge) are UK based? In the sense that the money our owners are putting in is from $ to £ and on the same rate a player back home would get, but seeing as the £ has dropped, UK based owners would have to spend more to get a player of the same quality. I haven't phrased it too well, but I think people should be able to work out what I am getting at ...technically our owners will be getting more bang for their buck compared to other teams.
 

Ocko

Well-Known Member
#18
That would be the case if the owners were paying out of their own pocket and also if they were paying in Canadian dollars, which they were not exchanging.

But I'd be fairly certain that the Devils business pays the players and also in pounds. Because what are the players going to spend while over here? I think the issue is how it looks to new imports, we would obviously advertise in dollars but it just looks so much worse an offer than it did before, even though actually it is no different once they are over here (unless the UK is a big savings venture for them).
 
#19
It'll probably become more clear how the owners structure the business/es when KPS Holdings Ltd file their accounts in February 2018.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Top