Sudbury Wolves GM Papineau enters busy off-season
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With a hectic holiday weekend at Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex, the Sudbury Wolves will unofficially drop the puck on a busy OHL off-season, during which changes to NCAA eligibility rules and the league's own import draft could have wide-ranging impacts.
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One need only a glance at the Pack's latest draft class, which includes an unprecedented contingent of U.S.-based and college-committed talent, to know this year's prospect orientation camp, set to run on Saturday and Sunday, will have a different look from those of the past.
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A desire for an early look at those new prospects, as well as an opportunity to sell youngsters from all over the map on Sudbury's major-junior program, was certainly a part of what prompted Wolves general manager Rob Papineau to host the first spring prospect orientation camp since COVID-19.
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Each preceding prospect camp since the pandemic, beginning with the 2021 orientation event, was held immediately prior to the Wolves' main camp at the end of summer.
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'We're excited to bring it back in the spring,' Papineau told The Sudbury Star. 'COVID changed things, but then again, we saw more changes this year, some of the rule changes. Where in the past, we were limited to a 48-hour training camp, because of some of the rules that were in place back then, that restriction is gone. When it comes to the fall camp, we want to be able to dive right in and get started with the veterans involved.
'Orientation camps across the league are great for players to come in, learn about the league, learn about the city and the team and the coaches and really get comfortable in that environment, but showing up in August now, you want to be able to get right into it and we're hoping to be able to play a few more exhibition games this year, because players will be able to play in those, so the dynamics have changed a little bit. And for our coaches, too, they're really excited to see these players. Our scouts know them well, they have watched them all season long, but the coaches haven't had that luxury, so they're anxious to get their eyes on them and to start to get to know them.'
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A roster has not been released yet for the camp this weekend, but a majority of players from the 2024 and 2025 draft classes are expected to attend, including those who dressed for OHL games as rookies in 2024-25. Exceptions will include players who have to attend regional or development camps as part of the USA Hockey development program and players who are currently overseas, such as recently signed second-round pick Vladimir Provorov.
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'That's a big thing with our staff, because they really relate well to players, so getting to know these guys before camp will allow them to start those relationships,' Papineau said. 'They have been talking and texting and communicating already, but now you'll add that personal element to it.
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'You get excited to see the 2008s, how they developed over the year since they all went off and played. We have watched them, but it's nice to get them back in this environment, under one roof and seeing how they have taken steps. Some of them had the privilege this year to come in and practise and even get into some games, so we'll see how they have separated themselves. And the '09 group has just got so much talent and speed, so we're really excited to see them, as well, and how they do against guys who are one year older, a little bigger and a little stronger. For a lot of them, that will be the first time they are in that environment.'
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There are also the issues of collective bargaining and whether athletes should flat-out be considered employees, a notion the NCAA and schools are generally not interested in, despite Tennessee athletic director Danny White's suggestion that collective bargaining is a potential solution to a lot of headaches. NCAA President Charlie Baker has been pushing Congress for a limited antitrust exemption that would protect college sports from another series of lawsuits but so far nothing has emerged from Capitol Hill. ___ AP college sports:
Toronto Star
21 hours ago
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A $2.8 billion settlement will change college sports forever. Here's how
A federal judge has approved terms of a sprawling $2.8 billion antitrust settlement that will upend the way college sports have been run for more than a century. In short, schools can now directly pay players through licensing deals — a concept that goes against the foundation of amateurism that college sports was built upon. Some questions and answers about this monumental change for college athletics: Q: What is the House settlement and why does it matter? A: Grant House is a former Arizona State swimmer who sued the defendants (the NCAA and the five biggest athletic conferences in the nation). His lawsuit and two others were combined and over several years the dispute wound up with the settlement that ends a decades-old prohibition on schools cutting checks directly to athletes. Now, each school will be able to make payments to athletes for use of their name, image and likeness (NIL). For reference, there are nearly 200,000 athletes and 350 schools in Division I alone and 500,000 and 1,100 schools across the entire NCAA. Q: How much will the schools pay the athletes and where will the money come from? ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW A: In Year 1, each school can share up to about $20.5 million with their athletes, a number that represents 22% of their revenue from things like media rights, ticket sales and sponsorships. Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne famously told Congress 'those are resources and revenues that don't exist.' Some of the money will come via ever-growing TV rights packages, especially for the College Football Playoff. But some schools are increasing costs to fans through 'talent fees,' concession price hikes and 'athletic fees' added to tuition costs. Q: What about scholarships? Wasn't that like paying the athletes? A: Scholarships and 'cost of attendance' have always been part of the deal for many Division I athletes and there is certainly value to that, especially if athletes get their degree. The NCAA says its member schools hand out nearly $4 billion in athletic scholarships every year. But athletes have long argued that it was hardly enough to compensate them for the millions in revenue they helped produce for the schools, which went to a lot of places, including multimillion-dollar coaches' salaries. They took those arguments to court and won. Q: Haven't players been getting paid for a while now? A: Yes, since 2021. Facing losses in court and a growing number of state laws targeting its amateurism policies, the NCAA cleared the way for athletes to receive NIL money from third parties, including so-called donor-backed collectives that support various schools. Under House, the school can pay that money directly to athletes and the collectives are still in the game. Q: But will $20.5 million cover all the costs for the athletes? A: Probably not. But under terms of the settlement, third parties are still allowed to cut deals with the players. Some call it a workaround, but most simply view this as the new reality in college sports as schools battle to land top talent and then keep them on campus. Top quarterbacks are reportedly getting paid around $2 million a year, which would eat up about 10% of a typical school's NIL budget for all its athletes. Q: Are there any rules or is it a free-for-all? A: The defendant conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12) are creating an enforcement arm that is essentially taking over for the NCAA, which used to police recruiting violations and the like. Among this new entity's biggest functions is to analyze third-party deals worth $600 or more to make sure they are paying players an appropriate 'market value' for the services being provided. The so-called College Sports Commission promises to be quicker and more efficient than the NCAA. Schools are being asked to sign a contract saying they will abide by the rules of this new structure, even if it means going against laws passed in their individual states. Q: What about players who played before NIL was allowed? A: A key component of the settlement is the $2.7 billion in back pay going to athletes who competed between 2016-24 and were either fully or partially shut out from those payments under previous NCAA rules. That money will come from the NCAA and its conferences (but really from the schools, who will receive lower-than-normal payouts from things like March Madness). ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Q: Who will get most of the money? A: Since football and men's basketball are the primary revenue drivers at most schools, and that money helps fund all the other sports, it stands to reason that the football and basketball players will get most of the money. But that is one of the most difficult calculations for the schools to make. There could be Title IX equity concerns as well. Q: What about all the swimmers, gymnasts and other Olympic sports athletes? A: The settlement calls for roster limits that will reduce the number of players on all teams while making all of those players – not just a portion – eligible for full scholarships. This figures to have an outsize impact on Olympic-sport athletes, whose scholarships cost as much as that of a football player but whose sports don't produce revenue. There are concerns that the pipeline of college talent for Team USA will take a hit. Q: So, once this is finished, all of college sports' problems are solved, right? A: The new enforcement arm seems ripe for litigation. There are also the issues of collective bargaining and whether athletes should flat-out be considered employees, a notion the NCAA and schools are generally not interested in, despite Tennessee athletic director Danny White's suggestion that collective bargaining is a potential solution to a lot of headaches. NCAA President Charlie Baker has been pushing Congress for a limited antitrust exemption that would protect college sports from another series of lawsuits but so far nothing has emerged from Capitol Hill. ___ AP college sports:
