On Saturday, Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reported that Minnesota Wild prospect and Boston College center Jack McBain is looking to see what is out there as his rights set to expire on August 15, 2022 with the Wild.
Let me clear something up with some CBA stuff because I’ve seen a lot of bloggers out there saying the Wild have 30 days to sign McBain once his season ends.
McBain was drafted as an 18-year-old in 2018 and began college the for the 2018-2019 and was therefore a bona-fide college student and is graduating. So, this is the section of the CBA that pertains to McBain’s status:
Section C (i)
If a Player drafted at age 18 or 19 is a bona fide college student at the time of his selection in the Entry Draft, or becomes a bona fide college student prior to the first June 1 following his selection in the Entry Draft, and remains a bona fide college student through the graduation of his college class, his drafting Club shall retain the exclusive right of negotiation for his services through and including the August 15 following the graduation of his college class. The Club need not make a Bona Fide Offer to such Player to retain such rights.
Marek’s words:
“Jack McBain is another name we should be keeping our ears and eyes on very much. A third-round draft pick of the Minnesota Wild, we saw him play for Team Canada at the Olympics. He plays at Boston College, 17 goals in 21 games, he’s ripping up Hockey East. But he’s in his last year of college and not unlike players like Adam Fox or Jimmy Vesey or Zach Hyman, he could chart his own course here, set his own future if he decides to test free agency and come out on August 15th.”
Marek even mentioned the August 15th date, but that didn’t stop people from hitting their keyboards.
And it didn’t stop fans from hitting Twitter, chat rooms and other media demanding their GM (multiple teams) acquire his rights immediately. Marek went on to add:
“There is some speculation here that Minnesota may end up, at trade deadline, trading his rights. This is a go for it season for the Minnesota Wild, we know they have a cap crunch coming up and that’s as early as next season. We’ll keep our eyes on what happens here with the son of Andrew McBain, former NHLer, his son at BC (Boston College).”
I don’t want to put words in Marek’s mouth, but to me he is suggesting here that the Wild would trade his rights in a deal to improve the team now to make a run in the playoffs.
But today, this tweet came out and again it has fans from many franchises begging their GM to acquire McBain’s rights:
As for McBain: Every year I do a ranking of Ontario Hockey League (OHL) players for the NHL Entry Draft. And in 2018, for the first time, I had to include an Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) player and that player was McBain. I ranked him 10th on the list at the time and I would have had him higher if not for the fact that he was going to complete college and would not be available for 4 years.
This is what I wrote about McBain in 2018.
I know McBain to be an honest and loyal person. He said he was going to college and he did. But that didn’t stop the Barrie Colts from drafting him in the first round of the OHL Priority Selection. He said he wanted to get his degree and he stuck to his word even though he was enticed to leave school early. Which is why I was surprised to hear that he may not sign with the Wild. But only he knows what type of influences helped him come to the decision.
If it is indeed fact that Wild GM Bill Guerin is looking for a second-round pick for McBain, then Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney needs to get on the phone and make that deal. I would even be tempted to add a prospect in order to get ahead of teams that would potentially have higher picks. With all due respect to Jack Studnicka, Brett Harrison, John Beecher and any other prospect you can name, McBain would automatically become their top prospect at the center position.
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Dom - Hockey 