GDT: 1st July 2019 - free agent frenzy

[Vagrant]

i will admit to being a petty man, but the fact that ferland is one of the guys who fell off the merry go round of free money seems so poetic to me. i wish we had gotten some leaked numbers about how much he turned down from carolina in the early season, because it's almost certain he's going to have to take less now.

 

[cptjeff]

So everyone's been talking about taxes lately, so a couple quick notes on that- with the regular per game salary, taxes are paid in whatever jurisdiction the game is played in. Bonuses are paid in whatever jurisdiction the team is headquartered in. From Aho's perspective, with all those bonuses he would lose probably 20-30% more off the value of this contract if it's paid in Montreal than if it was paid in North Carolina, or if it was paid in salary, where half your taxes are paid at the home jurisdiction rate and half at more or less the average of all jurisdictions in the league. With Aho's contract, all but an insignificant portion of the taxes will be paid at the home jurisdiction rate.

Obviously for most contracts tax planning is not anywhere near as large a deal as many fans think it is, but for the son of a GM, I wouldn't be shocked if that's a thing Aho is thinking about. And if he is, that's a structure that only makes sense if he's fully expecting to stay in Carolina. It'd be a gigantic windfall for the government of Quebec if he actually played for the Habs.

 

[Identity404]

There is really no reason to make the Habs wait. Like many have already have said they have plenty of wiggle room to sign any remaining ufa with them being allowed to exceed the cap by 10%. Who cares if they can't put out another offer sheet.

I'd really rather not have a week in limbo where Habs fans dream of their lineup with Aho and we sweat the possibility of Dundon not matching. Too much anxiety.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

Habs fans going full ‘he want go back montreal’ is spectacular. I really wish that thread was still around.

 

[A Star is Burns]

Would have been pretty badass if we'd pretty much matched immediately.

 

[DaveG]

Would have been pretty badass if we'd pretty much matched immediately.

More badass is letting it drag out before smashing the hopes and dreams of morons. And anyone that thinks Aho leaving is a realistic possibility? Well, no other descriptor for it.

 

[A Star is Burns]

More badass is letting it drag out before smashing the hopes and dreams of morons

To each their own

 

[DaveG]

To each their own

what can i say, despite my persona there are times where I'm absolutely ruthless.

 

[Canes]

There is really no reason to make the Habs wait. Like many have already have said they have plenty of wiggle room to sign any remaining ufa with them being allowed to exceed the cap by 10%. Who cares if they can't put out another offer sheet.

I'd really rather not have a week in limbo where Habs fans dream of their lineup with Aho and we sweat the possibility of Dundon not matching. Too much anxiety.

As long as we match, I'm good.

In a way, it would be funny to see crHabs fans pencil him in their lineup all week only for us to announce we're matching at the last minute.

 

[A Star is Burns]

Canes (Michael Smith) just published an article that paints it as pretty obvious the Canes will match. Unless he and the social media guy went rogue, seems like the obvious will happen sooner or later.

 

[Syckle78]

More badass is letting it drag out before smashing the hopes and dreams of morons. And anyone that thinks Aho leaving is a realistic possibility? Well, no other descriptor for it.

The longer it goes the more obnoxious they'll get too. I look forward to amazing theories about the owner selling his plasma trying to raise cash to match etc.

 

[Novacane]

Canes (Michael Smith) just published an article that paints it as pretty obvious the Canes will match. Unless he and the social media guy went rogue, seems like the obvious will happen sooner or later.

https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news...stian-aho/c-308157008?tcid=tw_news_content_id

FeelsGoodMan

 

[My Special Purpose]

No, now it will be with the Avs

Nope. Will be Kadri-Slavin threads now that Colorado is involved. Y'know, Avs pajamas and all that.

If Ferland comes back, I bet that McGinn-Pulju gamble would look mighty fine to experiment with.

It all just seems to make sense when you actually think about it, and avoid the narratives, doesn't it?

(Not implying that you buy in to the narratives, just agreeing with you.)

Now that the dust has settled a bit I think we are a slightly worse team that the one that ended the season. Lost DeHaan, and Fox, our backup situation is worse IMO. I assume we will lose William and/or Ferland. We're going to need Necas to step into the lineup and Svech to improve and while both certainly likely I hate risking a season on youth. Haula only real add. Yeah I know early and all that.

Upside is NYI, CBJ, Pens are worse. NYR, Devs are better. Philly I dunno.

I like our team more than I did at the end of the season, but we need to replace Ferland/Williams. I like the forwards more. I still don't like Pesce on the left side, but eh, what can you do.

So help me connect some dots here.

We know that, in all likelihood, we're going to match. We also know that you can go over the cap during the summer, as long as you get into compliance before the season starts.

How would we actually be screwing Montreal by dragging this out for a week? If they know we'll probably match, what's to stop them from making other moves and taking the (minimal) risk that they end up with too much salary?

I've seen Marc Bergevin spend money. I think it may benefit us more to give it back to him so he can make an even bigger mistake with it. Preventing them from making moves could be inadvertently helping them.

More badass is letting it drag out before smashing the hopes and dreams of morons. And anyone that thinks Aho leaving is a realistic possibility? Well, no other descriptor for it.

I *love* the very extensive Twitter thread that is now wondering if it's such a slam-dunk match, why it hasn't happened yet. Like the fact that it's been *eight whole hours* lends credence to the Hurricanes not matching theory. "Why didn't they match it already?!?!?"

 

[robbieberns]

Aho wanted 5 years and wouldn’t budge. Unfortunate that it had to come to this, but we’ll match and this will all be forgotten about. No one likes that he’s a UFA in 5 years, but we don’t have to worry about that right now. He goes on to become the key piece to a consistent playoff team, maybe even gets the C during the span of this contract, and he signs a fair day for a player in his prime on the first possible day come summer of 2023.

 

[wolfofthesteppes]

Montreal fans on twitter are a special kind of stupid.

 

[Francis10]

I know this is a long ways away, but by Aho signing that offer sheet is he basically saying he doesn’t want to be in Carolina? So we really only have 5 more years left with him before he bolts to wherever? Why would he not just let the contract negotiations play out over the summer?

I really thought he was going to be a lifer (or very close to it) for us.

 

[A Star is Burns]

He may be a free agent in five years, but that's a problem for future us, and those guys suck.

 

[cptjeff]

I know this is a long ways away, but by Aho signing that offer sheet is he basically saying he doesn’t want to be in Carolina? So we really only have 5 more years left with him before he bolts to wherever? Why would he not just let the contract negotiations play out over the summer?

I really thought he was going to be a lifer (or very close to it) for us.

No, he signed a contract he absolutely knew we would match in order to get the term he wanted. Just savvy negotiation from the kid of a GM. He used the one tool available to him to get exactly the contract he wanted. Says nothing about his opinions of Carolina and everything about his opinion of his rights under the CBA. Ron Hainsey raised him well is all you can really read into it.

 

[Roboturner913]

I know this is a long ways away, but by Aho signing that offer sheet is he basically saying he doesn’t want to be in Carolina?

No, it was him saying he was only going to sign a five year deal.

He forced our hand with the only negotiating tactic he had. It means nothing more than that, despite the breathless reports from Montreal that would have you believe otherwise.

 

[DaveG]

I know this is a long ways away, but by Aho signing that offer sheet is he basically saying he doesn’t want to be in Carolina? So we really only have 5 more years left with him before he bolts to wherever? Why would he not just let the contract negotiations play out over the summer?

I really thought he was going to be a lifer (or very close to it) for us.

I hope you're wrong on that, can't say I know what's going on in his mind. But to me it's a statement that he wasn't going to accept anything more than a 5 year deal. And I do get that: get to free agency sooner or, more likely, position yourself to cash in since the new TV contract is projecting to be significantly higher. And if the later is his thought process? more power to you Seabass, cash in on that HRR ASAP man.

 

[Roboturner913]

You know what, it's annoying that it happened to us, but I'll admit that I'm impressed to finally see a team with a set of balls to actually send out an offer sheet.

Someone wasn't full of **** for once.

I can't wait until next year when somebody sticks them with an offer sheet on Domi, then again the next year with Kotka

 

[Navin R Slavin]

I know this is a long ways away, but by Aho signing that offer sheet is he basically saying he doesn’t want to be in Carolina? So we really only have 5 more years left with him before he bolts to wherever? Why would he not just let the contract negotiations play out over the summer?

I really thought he was going to be a lifer (or very close to it) for us.

Not necessarily.

Could be that it means he's betting on himself and a reworked CBA to be able to parlay his expected success into a much larger payday down the road.

Or could be that he just likes the idea of having options, should be need them.

If things go well, nothing precludes him from signing a great finish-your-career-as-a-Hurricane deal. But things don't always go well.

 

[SvechneJerk]

No, he signed a contract he absolutely knew we would match in order to get the term he wanted. Just savvy negotiation from the kid of a GM. He used the one tool available to him to get exactly the contract he wanted. Says nothing about his opinions of Carolina and everything about his opinion of his rights under the CBA. Ron Hainsey raised him well is all you can really read into it.

That brings up a thought - Is it possible Harri told Sebastian how to play this?

 

[Chrispy]

I know this is a long ways away, but by Aho signing that offer sheet is he basically saying he doesn’t want to be in Carolina? So we really only have 5 more years left with him before he bolts to wherever? Why would he not just let the contract negotiations play out over the summer?

I really thought he was going to be a lifer (or very close to it) for us.

Any RFA signing an offer sheet has to be certain of 3 things:

1) I want to play for this much money.
2) I am happy to play for the team offering me the offer sheet.
3) I am happy to play for the team owning the right to match.

If any of these 3 aren't true, an offer sheet is a bad idea.

I think Aho is happy to play in Carolina for the next 5 years, and he'd be fine playing in Montreal for the next 5 years. I can accept that. Because he'll have 5 more years in Carolina.

 

[Canes]

That brings up a thought - Is it possible Harri told Sebastian how to play this?

Perhaps he was in Aho and Aho's agent's ear, but I think most of this had to do with his agent. For whatever reason, he most likely didn't feel like the negotiations were going anywhere with Waddell and didn't want to negotiate with him any longer once a team could finally submit an offer sheet to their liking.