Ya maybe, but they are RFAs for another 6 to 8 years. Locked into their current teams.
While anything returned is an added value the cap savings could be the biggest return. Not for Allvin who would have a 7 year distraction or place to point blame for doing a really bad job. But then he might not last that long to worry about his mistakes here.
This is a "community" team, where who is on it is more important that the success of the team.
Summer training, what a load of crud that is, that was last year AND he has had 7 months of playing himself into game shape. A lack of training isn't a cause for not shooting or missing shots or slower shots or bad passing or .... Players used to come to camp to get into shape. The Summit Series it took the NHL players about two weeks to catch up to the Russians in conditioning and it didn't make them all forget how to score goals.
If all there is for hope with this team is keeping the same players doing the same thing and two mid level prospects in the system then why bother spending thousands of dollars to see the same stuff over again. Hughes on TV is better than Hughes in person at $500 because that is all they will have to show. Now Bure was worth the money to see because he was a scoring threat not because he did double axles or could just skate. Hughes has fan interest but not at thousands of dollars to watch losing.
Lost in a lot of suggestions is the concept that the game for the players has changed. Before they were driven by the paycheck some of them, some still are, the fringe, 3rd and 4th liners but others have generational wealth and might not mind letting a few million sit on the table to win a cup. The first we saw of this was way back when Selanne signed for a pittance to play with Colorado and his buddy Kariya. The NHLPA got quite upset but then it was really the NHL because players were starting to decide where they would play instead of the teams.
Once a player like say Pettersson has signed a guaranteed contract and has already earned 40 million with another 90 million guaranteed what could be his motivation? Personal pride? What if he realizes that his personal goals are not even secondary to what the team is doing? The team is now only concerned with putting bums in seats? What if the player's motivation extends to winning and winning in playoffs and winning a cup? Is that being juvenile because he refuses to accept "just playing and get paid" as an entertainer? When has Pettersson ever changed his comments about winning? Maybe poor play or lack of motivation stems from knowing he doesn't have a chance at his personal goals? What if that is his only way of behind the scenes wanting a trade without coming out and saying it in public?
The NBA for a long time was able to keep player movement control but then the players started making so much money they decided if they wanted to win championships and they got more freedom than the NHL, MLB or NFL they would form super teams just to scratch that itch.
The NHL isn't likely to get quite that far due to the CBA and RFA status but once players hit FA now they are wealthy enough to play where they want.
The MLB, NBA and NFL can cancel or buyout problem players or contracts, they have enough money to do that and it doesn't hurt the cap space very much. The NHL is only sport with guaranteed contracts in exchange for RFA, 8 years of contract and player control. Servitude, indenture.
IF Hughes wins or is a finalist again for another Norris trophy he is going to earn 150 million in his career, he knows that, winning or losing. So what is his motivation once he has control of his destiny? His family and kids? His love for a city he gets out of ASAP the season is over? His good nature? Or might it be winning a cup? Or playing with his family?
IMO Allvin pressured Pettersson into signing the contract and then Tocchet changed the system to a much more restrictive defensive type game. Pettersson is simply not happy. He is on the team, he plays against other winning teams and players, he has played on winners most of his life, he knows a good team compared to one struggling. Maybe he also knows his career is not going anywhere and he can't pull the rope all by himself and there isn't enough there to help him in the near future.
Fans and Allvin will say "next year" but for a player that is his career minus another year. IF winning is his motivation, his juvenile motivation. Grow up might be "lose the want to win and accept the paycheck". It takes a real effort to excel in a game where there are others also doing the same thing, motivation is required. EP has said and done almost everything except say in public he wants out of this team. That would make his goal of winning a cup difficult. He would want to get to his clause so he can control where he goes. That is why several media types are suggesting that once that kicks in the Canucks are in a real bind.
