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Franchise-level players that *didn't* surprise you when they left as UFA?

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1989

1989

Registered User
Aug 3, 2010
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Firstly, apologies for opening old wounds for certain fans who believed their face of the franchise would be a one-team guy.

Which stars that left in UFA (or maybe even RFA?) in the prime of their career didn't surprise you? Obviously, a hard salary cap league affects a lot of GM decision-making including choosing not to sign a player or not being able to offer a competitive enough contract, among other circumstances.

For myself, Tavares was one where I felt he was speaking out one side of his mouth while already shaking hands with Toronto. Gaudreau (*may he rest in peace*) always felt like a guy with one foot out the door leading somewhere out East.
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In a weird way Stamkos felt like one of those guys forever to me, although it always felt way more org-driven. Panarin and Bob leaving CBJ are the other big recent ones I can think of.
 
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Panarin and Bobrovsky telegraphed their departures from Columbus.
Pietrangelo seem like a goner by the end of the season.
Gaudreau did not seem committed to staying.
Tavares was gonna leave, it was only delusional Isles fans who pulled the wool over their own eyes.

Other than that I can’t think of anybody who fits the criteria of current superstar who wasn’t traded by his team but was still expected to walk and ended up doing so.

WarriorofTime said:
Rick Nash, nevermind he was traded although obviously was happy to usher his way out of Columbus.
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Rick Nash re-signed though
 
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Doug Weight when he left the Oilers in 2001.

Probably quite a few examples of small market teams unable to retain their players.


Gaylord Q Tinkledink said:
Marty Brodeur, or is that cheating? Already steadily trending downwards by the time he left.
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It's not cheating, it's just inaccurate.

The OP is asking for players that left for free agency in their prime and you answered a 42-year old that played 7 more games before retiring.
 
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He wasn't exactly a superstar or even a franchise level guy at the end of his tenure, but Paul Stastny leaving Colorado. He arguably should have won the Calder, and was almost PPG in his 4th season so there was once a chance he'd get there but then his play tapered off and the writing was on the wall. With younger guys like Duchene, ROR, and a rookie MacKinnon on the roster, it was hard to see them coming close to what he could get in UFA. They really should have traded him as a rental at the TDL, but Varly was standing on his head most games that season, making them an unexpected playoff team.
 
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1989 said:
Firstly, apologies for opening old wounds for certain fans who believed their face of the franchise would be a one-team guy.

Which stars that left in UFA (or maybe even RFA?) in the prime of their career didn't surprise you? Obviously, a hard salary cap league affects a lot of GM decision-making including choosing not to sign a player or not being able to offer a competitive enough contract, among other circumstances.

For myself, Tavares was one where I felt he was speaking out one side of his mouth while already shaking hands with Toronto. Gaudreau (*may he rest in peace*) always felt like a guy with one foot out the door leading somewhere out East.
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His wife came to the hospital my sister works at a few days before he actually signed in Toronto, and basically confirmed that he's coming to Toronto. Conversation basically went that they want to raise their family here and retire here and live here even after his NHL career is over.

He was still meeting with other teams out of respect but the decision was like 99% confirmed, small chance that they would stay in NY cause he was drafted there but they wanted to raise their family here since they're both from the area, so you're not wrong. But it was more family related than hockey related from what she told us.

I think this kinda stuff happens way more often than we think in sports.
 
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If only for the excuse to jump in the mental DeLorean:

late 90's Canadian teams: Salaries escalated after the 1995 CBA and the Canadian dollar was dropping, so things got tough to retain some star players. Vancouver (Pavel Bure), Calgary (Joe Nieuwendyk), Winnipeg (Teemu Selanne).

1997: Ed Belfour to Dallas - Belfour was being outplayed in Chicago by Jeff Hackett, so the Blackhawks decided to move on and trade him to San Jose. My college roommate still hates Belfour to this day since he seemed to indicate that he saw himself with the Sharks long term but instead signed with Dallas.

1999: Islanders had to slash budget, so the Ziggy Palffy trade saga seemed public. He was initially traded to the Rangers but the league intervened. Then Milbury traded him to the Kings but the league didn't think the Islanders got enough in return, so they had to tweak the deal to get it over the finish line.

2000 offseason: Lindros trade saga part 2 wouldn't be resolved until 2001 but everybody figured Lindros was leaving Philadelphia.

2001 trade deadline: Rob Blake (finished 4th in Norris that season) was an impending UFA but wanted more than the Kings were willing to pay. They'd trade him in a blockbuster deal with Colorado. Kings then upset Detroit in round 1 and pushed the Avs to game 7.

2001 offseason: Alexei Yashin (couple years removed from being a Hart finalist) and to a lesser degree Jason Allison were RFAs who didn't seem likely to stay with their teams. Mike Milbury actually had a trade in place for Allison as they had just hired Peter Laviolette who was an assistant with Boston. But the Isles owner wouldn't approve the deal because Dave Scatchard was involved. Milbury tried to renegotiate but Boston was understandably upset since they thought they had the deal. Milbury then pivoted to Yashin.

Allison's holdout would continue a few weeks into the season before he was dealt to LA who thought they were spending their Blake money on a younger #1 center.
 
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Chara leaving Ottawa. At the time it was known the Sens weren't going to be able to keep both of their big dmen.

Roenick from Phoenix/Arizona. Ownership issues were already starting up in Arizona at the time in the background and the move to a big market in the pre-cap era just made sense.

Panarin and Bob were both rather obvious. So was Duchene from that group but he was no longer franchise level by the time he left Colorado imo.
 
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JohnWick4Vezina said:
Zdeno Chara leaving the Sens didn't surprise me much. It was obvious the Sens were thinking Redden was the better player at the time.

:help::ha:
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Coming out of the work stoppage, the game was expected to be more free flowing to which the Sens didn't think Chara could keep up. But, the game didn't go that way. Ended up being a big heavy game from like 2011 to 2014.
 
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Based Anime Fan said:
Niedermayer leaving was kinda in the open, he wanted to play with his brother and win.
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www.espn.com

Niedermayer's $7M equals largest in arbitration

Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer was awarded a one-year, $7 million contract in arbitration Friday, equalling the largest award ever issued by a hockey mediator, ESPN the Magazine's E.J. Hradek reports.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

Defenseman Scott Niedermayer of the New Jersey Devils was awarded a record-tying $7 million contract for next season by an NHL arbitrator Friday.

Niedermayer, last season's Norris Trophy winner as the NHL's best defenseman, had requested a five-year contract reportedly worth $45 million.
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I was surprised when I re-read it many years later, but Niedermayer wanted a long term deal with the Devils in the summer of 2004. But for whatever reason, Lou let Niedermayer get a one year deal in arbitration. Best I can guess was that Lou wasn't sure what the next CBA was going to bring and wanted to maintain some flexibility. And I suppose in retrospect 9 million wasn't a trivial amount when nobody was sure if there was going to a salary cap or a luxury tax.

After the lockout, Lou tried to keep Niedermayer and apparently offered more than Anaheim did. But the allure of playing with his brother + his in-laws having a winter home in southern California came into play.

------------

www.espn.com

Excerpt: Money Players

How did the NHL get to this point? Look back no further than the first day of free angency two years ago.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

He wasn't a franchise guy, but Bobby Holik got paid like a franchise guy. I enjoyed this ESPN article/excerpt which allowed us a peek behind the curtain with the chaos of July 1.

Holik felt disrespected in previous negotiations, particularly an arbitration hearing in the summer of 2001. As with a lot of arbitration hearings, the team highlighted perceived negatives in his game to get a lower price on his arbitration ruling. Holik would have signed a long term deal before the hearing, but after that he was determined to hit the market.

Lou dodged a bullet as he made a 5 year - 40 million dollar offer in the opening hours of free agency, but Holik seemed happy to tell him that was too little too late.
 
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