GDT: 1st July 2019 - free agent frenzy

[Cardiac Jerks]

Lucky me I’m back in Quebec this morning for work. Equal distance between Montreal and Quebec City. Woke up to one text already on my work phone about “the habs getting Aho”. Can’t wait for the rest of the comments today.

 

[Cane mutiny]

He had exactly one negotiating chip and he used it. Anybody here would do the exact same thing in his position. Or, at least, anybody with the stones and the smarts to risk moving to a new place and starting over even if you didn't really want to.

I think I would have brought it to Waddell and said "this is what I want, I told them I need 3days to think it over. You have three days to get me not to sign this". I would have respected that a lot more, but like I said, my views are probably different than most.

 

[Svechhammer]

Guys, they actually think the Canes can't afford to match this offer sheet, and if they do it will be the literal DEATH OF THE CANES FRANCHISE AND WE'LL HAVE TO CEASE OPERATIONS

Can you imagine being so delusional to actually think that's a realistic possiblity?

I literally saw someone say yesterday that while the Canes will match, this financials of this offer sheet are so severe that it'll end up being the single impetus for hockey returning to QC.

 

[Wolfpuck]

I literally saw someone say yesterday that while the Canes will match, this financials of this offer sheet are so severe that it'll end up being the single impetus for hockey returning to QC.

Guys, they got us.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

The goalie coach left *before* he had a bench coach job lined up though, and that's an important distinction. Losing some of these guys isn't the end of the world to me, but the reason they're leaving is at least a bit troubling

Actually no. He couldn’t get out of his contract until he had a promotion lined up. He had an out clause in his final year for a promotion. Just because Buffalo took a week to announce it doesn’t mean he left before he was hired.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I’m starting to think the trading of de Hann has more to do with an expected offer sheet than balancing the Marleau deal. Marleau’s main sslary hit is this year. Next year, de Hann and Faulk account for $10m in real money though, which is about what Aho will make.

They are probably banking on Faulk moving on and in two years, thinking one of Fleury, Bean or Sellgren shows they are top 4 capable.

A little bit risky, but not terribly unreasonable either.

Also, when does the expansion money come in?

 

[Chrispy]

I hadn't thought about the expansion money. I assume that comes in around the expansion draft in June 2021, before Aho's second signing bonus. If not, it's soon after.

And the expansion fee ($650M/31 teams) completely covers this poison pill of Aho's contract.

 

[Lempo]

I literally saw someone say yesterday that while the Canes will match, this financials of this offer sheet are so severe that it'll end up being the single impetus for hockey returning to QC.

Fools! Then Sebastién Aho will be playing for their local rival!

 

[Chrispy]

I've come around on the matching date. Don't wait the full 7 days.

Do it Thursday. Call in the media. Hang an American flag behind the podium. Have Dundon walk out to Proud to be an American, and promise Aho as he signs the contract that he'll never have to speak French for the next 5 years.

Go full Jerk.

 

[Lempo]

I've come around on the matching date. Don't wait the full 7 days.

Do it Thursday. Call in the media. Hang an American flag behind the podium. Have Dundon walk out to Proud to be an American, and promise Aho as he signs the contract that he'll never have to speak French for the next 5 years.

Go full Jerk.

Is it too short notice to get Bruce and the band there?

 

[Chrispy]

Is it too short notice to get Bruce and the band there?

I wonder if Toby Keith would change "boot in your ass" to "stick in your eye".





Too soon?

 

[Bub]

I've come around on the matching date. Don't wait the full 7 days.

Do it Thursday. Call in the media. Hang an American flag behind the podium. Have Dundon walk out to Proud to be an American, and promise Aho as he signs the contract that he'll never have to speak French for the next 5 years.

Go full Jerk.

Fullest Jerk = doing it in QC. Or Montreal.

 

[Finnish Jerk Train]

I've come around on the matching date. Don't wait the full 7 days.

Do it Thursday. Call in the media. Hang an American flag behind the podium. Have Dundon walk out to Proud to be an American, and promise Aho as he signs the contract that he'll never have to speak French for the next 5 years.

Go full Jerk.

It'll be like that time the entire building chanted USA when Faulk got in a fight with somebody from Toronto right before the Olympics.

 

[DougieSmash]

Honestly i'm little afraid of all the talk that we talk Aho trade with Habs.

 

[Chrispy]

Fullest Jerk = doing it in QC. Or Montreal.

With honorary notary Shawn Michaels

 

[Joe McGrath]

Honestly i'm little afraid of all the talk that we talk Aho trade with Habs.

They can’t trade him for 1 year after all the upfront money is paid.

Once they match there is no incentive to trade him whatsoever unless he won’t re-sign 4 years from now.

 

[NotOpie]

This is not the type of move in want in who I assumed would be our future C. How do you command the locker room when you're teammates know you were willing to walk away completely?
I don't like this one bit and it wouldn't surprise me to see him traded well before this contract is up, if we match.

As Haley said....Joe Sakic....had a long and glorious career as captain of the Avs.

It definitely makes me look at Aho differently. They could have continued negotiations like the other 5+ high-end RFA's that have yet to sign.

I think that's the point. He wanted to be done with the negotiations. He knew he was sticking to his guns on the 5 year deal. He knew that the only leverage Montreal had was the signing bonuses and after looking at the financials of that, the realization of the tax benefits probably surfaced. He also realized that he needs a team around him and the sooner the Canes got some sense of financial certainty, the better.

How about don't be mad at anybody? This is business.

Here's the lesson, boys and girls: you don't get what you're worth in life. You get what you negotiate for.

....and what you work hard for and earn.

I don't think this at all. He knew signing it that there was a zero percent chance the Canes won't match (in fact the Habs were idiots for even offering it) so he basically forced Dundon to pay him what he deserved. I think everyone in the locker room knows that.

My guess is he gets a standing O when everybody returns from the Summer. They will all realize that he took less money to leave a million or a million and a half to help bolster the team.

So in discussing with Mrs. Hank, she asked a good question: what inducement could Aho's agent offer to Bergevin that wouldn't compromise his other two client's interests to some degree? And wouldn't his other clients know that, and be upset about it?

The benefit to Aho was the 5 year term. The benefit to his other Montreal clients was the lower AAV.

If you draft and develop properly, you don’t need to sign all three in the same off-season.

Yes, and you'll still have 3 players in their prime that you'll likely want to re-sign. However, you'll also have valuable assets that can be used to garner other players/prospects/picks. I still feel it is a problem they would have liked to avoid, but it isn't the "be all, end all" of salary structure/negotiations.

 

[spockBokk]

They can’t trade him for 1 year after all the upfront money is paid.

Once they match there is no incentive to trade him whatsoever unless he won’t re-sign 4 years from now.

The idea being floated out there is that CAR agrees not to match, MTL gets Aho, but then CAR trades the picks received back in compensation for players off the MTL roster. I don’t think that’s likely and feel there’s no other option for the Canes to match, but I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if this is something they explore.

 

[Joe McGrath]

The idea being floated out there is that CAR agrees not to match, MTL gets Aho, but then CAR trades the picks received back in compensation for players off the MTL roster. I don’t think that’s likely and feel there’s no other option for the Canes to match, but I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if this is something they explore.

That would be without a doubt the stupidest thing anyone has ever even considered. What if the Canadiens just say, nah go f*** yourselves we won’t trade you what you want after they didn’t match the offer sheet? There’s nothing stopping them from doing that.

 

[Wolfpack Cane]

Sebastian Aho's agent thinks it won’t be easy for...

“I don’t think it is easy for Carolina,” Johannson said. “I can tell you for sure, it’s not easy for Carolina. Anybody who says this is easy is wrong. You can armchair quarterback any decision, but I can promise you this is an aggressive move … It’s a lot of money, and it’s a lot of front-loaded money.

“Who knows? Carolina is going to do what they’re going to do, but trust me, this is not an easy decision for them.”

...

“I think that Sebastian 100 percent wants to play in Montreal,” Johannson said. “He wouldn’t have signed an offer sheet if he didn’t want to play in Montreal.”

Can we throw out the "this is just a negotiating tactic" narrative yet?

 

[spockBokk]

That would be without a doubt the stupidest thing anyone has ever even considered. What if the Canadiens just say, nah go **** yourselves we won’t trade you what you want after they didn’t match the offer sheet? There’s nothing stopping them from doing that.

Agree, they should just match and deal with it, but I believe under the current CBA, that’s basically the only option for a trade in the next 12 months.

 

[The Faulker 27]

The idea being floated out there is that CAR agrees not to match, MTL gets Aho, but then CAR trades the picks received back in compensation for players off the MTL roster. I don’t think that’s likely and feel there’s no other option for the Canes to match, but I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if this is something they explore.

That's a convoluted mess that would/will never happen.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

That would be without a doubt the stupidest thing anyone has ever even considered. What if the Canadiens just say, nah go **** yourselves we won’t trade you what you want after they didn’t match the offer sheet? There’s nothing stopping them from doing that.

FLYERS FINALLY GET GRATTON, AT A PRICE

This famously happened over Chris Gratton in the 90s. Not sure if the NHL would enforce it or if it would just be a handshake deal that would be a bad idea to go back on, but it's common thought around the NHL that this is a possibility with any offer sheet.

The main reason this is dumb is because this is a great contract and we should match it, and also because Montreal has nothing worth trading Aho for.

 

[spockBokk]

Sebastian Aho's agent thinks it won’t be easy for...


Can we throw out the "this is just a negotiating tactic" narrative yet?

What else can the agent say to the Francophone media up there?

Conversely, he knew those comments would be published so it’s a direct jab at management in CAR any which way you slice it.

 

[CanesFanBudMan]

I'm sure Dundon does not like all this "Dundon does not have enough money to match"