Work permit rules

[dave92]

Work permit rules have been relaxed and that means all Elite League teams will be able to sign players from Germany's Bundesliga, plus leagues in France, Sweden, Denmark and more.

Teams will also be able to sign players from the American and Central hockey Leagues in North America after being restricted to scouring East Coast and NHL talent in the past.

Rule changes have been given the go-ahead by the Government and that means the standard of hockey in Britain, particularly in the top level Elite League, will rise.

'The pool of players available to British clubs is being multiplied 10 times,' said a leading British ice hockey official. 'This is tremendous news for the Elite League.'


This could mean Coventry could get Dan Carlson back and Cardiff could get Jon Cullen.

[totallyrandom]

Good news for the clubs over here given the level of skill in some of the leagues that have only now become available to scout players from... The question for the 2 players mentioned above, however, is whether they would really want to come back to a lower skill level league where they get paid less. Hey ho- sounds like good news to me

Edited to add: The quote above is from an article that states that Cardiff will move to re-sign Cullen when the rules are "officially" changed, as he has made it clear that he would like to come back and has already told his club in Germany that he will not be returning

[PW]

I always thought the work permit rules allowed signings from the AHL anyway...?

The second tier in Germany has some very good players indeed...it's used like the NHL use the AHL by DEL teams...and many of the Germans in it have either played DEL or will do...

The imports aren't bad either..

[naffer]

This change of rules sounds very sensible whats going on?

Apart from a greater choice of players i would think it will also stop players demanding higher wages from the previous supply leagues mainly ECHL.

[Claret & Blue Army]

To be honest I'd rather have Cullen than Carlson.

Anyway to the matter in hand about the relaxing of conditions.
Hopefully parity will still prevail and it won't be that it gives license for those who can afford the full wage cap (And beyond) to put together a roster that will walk away with the honours as some will be able to take advantage of initial creases and loopholes

[naffer]

That is always a worry but will one coach from an Elite team have better contacts in one of these new markets and exploit it to his advantage and walk the league.