Well obviously this all depends on the question if Mikko wants to sign here long term. If he does, I don't think he really has that much leverage. The team could and should say to him that this is what we can offer, it's not as much as you can get as a free agent but this is what fits our structure.
If by this you mean what he would get as a UFA then absolutely, not disagreeing there. But it shouldn't be more than MacKinnon on this team. Yes, the deal will be signed 2 years later than MacK. Yes, the salary cap has increased. But I also think the perceived value inside (and TBH outside) of the team still lands him bellow MacKinnon. Or identical. But not above. MacKinnon is still playing the premiere position, and while their production is similar MacKinnon is still seen as the superior player.
Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. That's my point about extremes.
I'd be over the moon if that posture worked, but if Mikko's camp accepted that logic, he wouldn't have signed his current deal for ~$3m more than Mackinnon's deal at that time. If Cmac takes that tact, Rantanen's gone.
Not comparable. Rantanen was an established 30 goal scorer, +PPG winger when he signed that deal. MacKinnon was far from that, he didn't break out as a superstar (or even a star) during his ELC. He was more like 2nd line C when signing his 2nd contract.
Every player/agent is pushing for as much money as he can. Yet it can still be considered a hometown discount. See MacKinnon, who incidently also signed few days before training camp.
*a season prior to his deal ending
UFA vs RFA, usually RFA's don't negotiate that much beforehand.*a season prior to his deal ending
MacK has never been a difficult negotiator. Yet he still is the highest paid player for a season. He might have given a half mil discount. Rants will probably be the same, just that the market moved up.
I’m just saying signing 12 months before you start that contract on the ice is very much different than 12 days.
I think it was more about the market itself that dictated how long the negotiations with Mikko went. Mikko, Marner, Point, Tkachuk... All of them were RFAs in the summer of 2019, and all signed deals in September. It was a game of musical chairs (except the other way around I guess?) where agents were watching who goes first and wanted comparables.
He did say himself he is no MacKinnon. I doubt he would ask for more.
Cheese signed in July and Mikko was the very last to sign (IIRC Connor was hours before, but could be wrong here). IMO you're giving him way too much benefit of doubt there. Marner was two weeks before. Cheese was months. Point was forced into a bridge and signed before. Rants wasn't in camp on time and was holding out to get that contract.
All of these high profile RFAs held out 'till September, and signed within days of each other except Marner 15 days before, which is nothing in this context. It wasn't just Mikko and his agent "holding out", there was no established market yet and it took until September to get it going when Marner signed. It's quite obvious that Liut then wanted to use Marner as a comparable, but Sakic didn't budge and they took the offer a bit into training camp.
It is clear that Rants still tried to maximize every dollar he could get. Why would it be different on the next go round?
Please give me an example of a player (or rather an agent) who didn't try to maximize every dollar he could get? Not talking about veterans signing for cheap, but actual good players.
I think he played his best hockey early in this past season, when he carried the team in MacKinnon’s (and everyone else’s) absence.
I put Bergeron in this category.
Oh, man. I may need a few therapy sessions.
