This is how the NHL pays SM league clubs – the biggest pot for Tappara

In Finland, the SM league invoices the amounts from the NHL and then passes them on to the clubs.

The most significant is the so-called breeder compensation, which is 285,000 dollars, or according to the current exchange rate, the same amount in euros. It is divided between the clubs of the player’s last four seasons so that each season’s share is 25 percent.

For example, having played his entire career in KooKoo Peetro Seppälän, who signed a rookie contract with the Seattle Kraken in May, the breeder compensation will be paid in full to KooKoo. Ilves made a contract with Seppälä four days before signing the NHL contract, but it does not get any training money from him, because Seppälä has not played a single match for Ilves.

It doesn’t matter in terms of the compensation the club receives, that for most players the NHL remains a dream, especially at first. For example, Seppälä starts his season moving from SaiPa Ville Petman’s like, probably the AHL team in the ranks of the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

Signed a contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the spring Axel Rindell on the other hand, played last season on loan in Kärpi. Based on that, however, the breeder’s compensation is not paid.

75 percent of Rindell’s compensation goes to Jukurit, who owned his player rights for the last three seasons, and a quarter goes to HIFK, whose U20 team he played for in the 2018-2019 season.

Foreigners

In the case of a foreign SM league player, the compensation amount is distributed slightly differently.

The club of the player’s most recent season gets 40 percent, and the share of the three previous seasons is 20 percent. Parts of these previous seasons are often sent abroad.

For example Juraj Slafkovskywho was selected by the Montreal Canadiens as the first player in the NHL draft this year, represented TPS for the past three seasons.

TPS’ share of the trainer compensation is therefore 40+20+20, i.e. 80 percent, and 20 percent is shared between the Czech HK Mountfield and the Austrian RB Hockey Academy, represented by Slafkovsky in the 2018–19 season. His Slovakian breeding club HC Kocice is left licking its fingers.

Tappara pot

Instead, Tappara gets a contract with the Ottawa Senators Tomas from Hamara the breeder’s compensation in full. He came from Sparta Praha juniors to Tampere already four years ago.

– Tomas came to us as a young boy to develop. He’s a really smart guy, and I have to take my hat off for getting ahead so quickly, Tappara’s CEO Mika Aro praises the 18-year-old Czech pack.

Tappara gets the best training allowances from the league clubs, because from its ranks as well Anton Levtchi and Santtu Kinnunen have signed NHL rookie contracts, both with the Florida Panthers.

Levtchi, who won the points exchange in the regular season last season, was raised by Tappara, but half of Kinnusen’s compensation amount goes to his breeding club Pelicans, which he still represented in the 2018–2020 seasons.

Thus, Tappara’s pot becomes 285,000 + 285,000 + 142,500, or a total of 712,500 euros.

– It is a very significant amount of money, and it will be a very good support for this season, confirms Aro.

Record result

The NHL contracts speak well of the club’s junior activities. Aro has reason to smile anyway, because the result of Tamhockey Group, which owns the team, for the last fiscal year was 1.4 million euros in profit. It is the highest quote in the company’s history.

– When you remember what kind of season we had in terms of sports, you have to be able to make a good result in a season like that, Aro reminds us of the Finnish championship won by Tappara.

– In the end, that result accumulates in sports. The audience and partners will come with it.

The Nokia Arena, which opened last Christmas, has contributed to a good financial result for Tappara – as well as for Ilves.

– Of course, the risk levels are also high, because the transaction costs are also high, Aro points out.

He also thanks the government for the closure compensation.

– We received 965,000 euros, which practically compensated for the loss caused by the corona closures this year. In the previous period, the cost subsidy did not nearly replace it.

Time limits

The club of the player’s last season would receive an additional compensation of 100,000 euros on top of the training money, if the contract continued and the NHL contract was signed between July 16 and August 15.

The middle of July has been defined as the limit for additional compensation of one hundred tons – or rather damages – so that the construction of European teams would not become unreasonably difficult.

This year, there will be no additional compensation for the Finnish clubs, as no NHL contract was signed during the mentioned period.

After mid-August, league players under contract are no longer allowed to sign an NHL contract – until after the season ends.

Anttoni Honka signed a rookie contract with the Carolina Hurricanes on August 17. It was possible because his contract with JYP was no longer extended.

The NHL pays the breeder’s allowance and possible additional compensation only once.

Players who leave the League for the second time to the NHL will therefore not receive compensation. Such players are the one who is now moving from Tappara to the Columbus Blue Jackets Joona Luoto and moving to the Montreal Canadiens Otto Leskinen and moving from Kärpi to Winnipeg Saku Mäenalanen.

Correspondingly, for players who are now moving to North America and signed their rookie contract before this year, such as, for example, the player heading to the New York Islanders organization Aatu from Rädy, compensation is no longer paid. It has already been paid before.

Improvements

The NHL contract is the most significant, but not the only, criterion on the basis of which the NHL pays compensation.

Starting this year, Finnish clubs will receive compensation, so-called drafting feeincluding players booked by NHL clubs.

The compensation amount for first-round bookings is 35,000 bucks, and for players booked in the following rounds, 20,000 bucks.

– It will come to Finland, but we have not yet made a mutual decision on how to distribute it. We can decide it ourselves in Finland, and the final decision is still open, Liiga’s director of competitions Arto I. Järväla tells.

Another significant change is the raising of the age limit.

In the past, NHL clubs were not allowed to send a player under the age of 22 who was reserved after the first round to the farm, but he had to be primarily returned on loan to his Finnish club team, if the playing spot is not released from the NHL and the player has a valid contract with the starting club.

AHL games were only possible for the player if the starting club gave permission for it.

In the new contract, the age limit has been raised to 24 years, which is a small improvement from the previous practice for the SM league clubs.

Loan players

Many of the newly signed NHL players will continue on loan with their Finnish league team in the starting season. This is what this summer’s Finnish top pick, drafted by Nashville with number 17, does, among other things Joakim Kemellwho is still playing in JYP for the upcoming season.

There are also question marks, like the Winnipeg Jets booked in the first round Brad Lambert.

– I will go to training camp in Winnipeg in September and see what happens after that. Everything is still open, Lambert told STT at the beginning of August.

He has not yet signed an NHL contract.