Around the League Thread | Holiday Season!

[supercanuck]

To be fair, that extra 500k is 3 million dollars. Also, I don't know that Zadorov is necessarily in a better situation if he signs here anyway. He's a somewhat erratic, albeit very likeable, player who had a run in the playoffs, but was a pretty good candidate to have the shine come off of him, IMO.

To bring the discussion back to young players - sometimes we forget that a career can be over in an instant, and it is probably a prudent move to advise a talented young player that guaranteed money now is probably not a bad priority when a lot of these guys are one bad break away from being dropped into the world as a barely high-school educated dude who has always been the top of the pecking order with a blown out knee and the maturity of a 14 year old at 22. (yes, I know that's not the case for everyone, but a lot of young ultra-high-performance athletes in all sports have basically been required to be professionally selfish since childhood and are borderline useless outside of their niche.)

If my kid was ever in this situation, I would 100% advise him to guarantee himself the most money he can right after the entry level expires. You just never know what can happen.

 

[RobertKron]

If my kid was ever in this situation, I would 100% advise him to guarantee himself the most money he can right after the entry level expires. You just never know what can happen.

Yeah, like it's one thing if it's a young mid/low roster player opting for a good situation to establish a long-term career and the alternative is only going to be a slightly higher total anyway, but for a player like Bedard where the difference between an 8yr deal and a 3 year deal will be an absolutely humongous amount of money, it's kind of a no brainer.

 

[StreetHawk]

Yeah, like it's one thing if it's a young mid/low roster player opting for a good situation to establish a long-term career and the alternative is only going to be a slightly higher total anyway, but for a player like Bedard where the difference between an 8yr deal and a 3 year deal will be an absolutely humongous amount of money, it's kind of a no brainer.

You just need to look at Stamkos and the difference in leverage he has between how his 4 contracts went. ELC at 18. 5 year deal at 21. 8 year max deal at 26. 4 year deal at 34. At 34, TB was ready to move on.

But, if you do like McDavid and do ELC at 18, max at 21, then at 29, you can max again to 37, which ends 1 year before the 4 contracts that Stamkos signed. And at 29, you're getting the max term as the team will pay to keep you through your likely declining years.

 

[Rowlet]

Hughes is within 2 of Makar in 3 less games

 

[Szechwan]

Laughton with the Brian Rolston breakaway slapper earlier today, you love to see it

https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/s/rJ1VYdzJPj

 

[The Stig]

Calgary, Minnesota and Montreal had themselves a night. Dan The Man Vladar had the greatest game in the history of mankind.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

Oilers looking like they’re getting their stride again (just like last season).



Sigh..

 

[IComeInPeace]

Shane Wright has 6 goals and 11 points in his last 10 games.

He had 2 points in 18 games to start the season.

Good for him for hopefully finding his game.

 

[F A N]

The primary job of an agent is to get the best combination of situation and financial compensation for their client. But they aren't a neutral party and I think too often they push the player into solely a 'most $$$' position which also benefits the agent.

Zadorov loved Vancouver, the team loved Zadorov, Zadorov had been a guy who bounced around 5 or 6 teams in the last 6 or 8 years and *finally* found a fit for himself. And then he bolts over an extra $500k and is now in a situation that isn't great again. His agent should have been pushing hard to take a little less in order to stay in a better, known situation.

You say tomato, I say tomato.

Nobody is saying the top agents aren't properly advising their clients here. I'm surely not suggesting that Zadorov's agent, for example, didn't advise Zadorov of the value of "fit". Obviously players have different needs. A younger player without a famous hockey dad should value guidance and long term development. That's why big agencies sell a holistic approach that includes player development. But my guess is that most players don't pay a % of what they earned for a Jerry McGuire relationship if it means a whole less money. 9+ times out of 10 it's about the money no matter what the player and the player's agent says so ya the primary job of an agent is to get the most money for the client whether that is signing a long term contract or short term contracts like Matthews but obviousl before you get there the player has to be confident in his agent's competency and care and good communications help. Anyone who negotiates on behalf of a client and takes pride in their work should advise their client on fit as well as whether the deal is good money wise.

Back to Zadorov, before he demanded a trade out of Calgary there were reportedly some contract negotiations and he was certainly willing to sign. Reportedly, what Zadorov wanted was 5-6 years and Calgary wasn't even close. AAV was reported not to be the issue. Before the playoffs started Zadorov was certainly willing to sign. What he wanted was a 5 year term instead of the 4 the Canucks offered. AAV was reportedly not the issue. Clearly there is a theme here. He then put himself in a position to demand a bigger contract after the playoffs. Now at this point, there's no indication that Zadorov's agent didn't advise Zadorov of the importance of fit. I assume he advised Zadorov that he could get more on the open market. Ultimately that is Zadorov's decision to make. I think that his agent advised him that Vancouver is a good fit and he's likely to play a top 4 role. I think he advised him that he can get more term/money from another team but the fit might not be as good as they don't know which teams would have him as their #1 target. At the end of the day, Zadorov got more than what we offered. His agent did his job.