Makes me grateful I was banned from Twitter long ago.Man people on twitter really have no idea how any of this works. Half are saying Devils are stupid for not signing Bratt to 6.5x8 contract, and the other half is arguing he's not even worth 4.5m
It's alright not knowing things, you know what you know, but to be so vocal about it while being so clueless makes my head hurt.
While I somewhat agree, the number filled by Fitz is most likely like 3 mil off from what he’s offered. It’s purposely not even close. I’m like, 95% Fitz has offered at least 7 mil AAV for 8 years.
Again I really doubt Fitz is lowballing Bratt. When it comes to arbitration you're supposed to lowball a player. I guarantee you the longterm offer to Bratt is much higher then 4.2 mill & this number has nothing to do with previous negotiations. If you have a player who won't commit long term, why would you pay a premium for him on a short term deal? If you know for a fact the dude wants a short term deal then you take advantage of arbitration by getting him on the cheapest deal possible so when the time comes you can maximize his value. This is also a last ditch hard stance by Fitz by saying take our long term deal at a decent salary or take the short term deal and lose some money over the next year or 2. Fitz job is to either A) Get Bratt signed longterm for decent salary or B) Get him on the cheapest short term contract available so we can trade him when the time comes. If option A is off the table then you got no choice but to go to option B. I'm not faulting Fitz on this at all when all signs point to Fitz offering Bratt around 7 mill for a longterm deal.
"Decent" salary.
It is just part of the process. IMO the Devils need to make clear they are fine with going the arbitration route.
Decent salary is fair salary in my eyes. In my opinion you should NEVER overpay for your RFAs, it's not how you should build a team. It sets a bad precedent for our other RFAs going forward. Imagine if Mercer, Luke, Nemec etc starts to demand being overpaid. It becomes a problem real quick & no competitive team wins like that. If Fitz is offering Bratt in the 7 million range & Bratt wants 8 plus I would rather Fitz stick to his guns. Tbh I could careless if the player is home grown or not. That doesn't add extra value as a player. If anything the homegrown player should be taking a team friendly deal to stay with his buddies/build a winning team not the opposite where they get overpaid.
Fitz himself has come out & said he made a massive offer to Bratt but heard radio silence from Bratt's agent. Fitz wouldn't be saying that if he only offered 4/5 mill long term because he would look like an idiot. Also every single report we have gotten all points to Fitz offering around 7 million.
What, that we're vindictive assholes? I'm sure that'll get him to sign.
Bratt's agent would instasign that deal. Realistically 8 years would cost a fraction under 7 million. He has had one season of top 6 hockey folks!
Not really. Why couldn’t we be the highest bidder in UFA if it ever even comes to that?
And he isn’t?
Because by that point we’ve burned that bridge.
