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

[Sheppy]

Why bring up Johnny Hockey in this?

There was absolutely nothing wrong with what he said. He was a franchise player who left during free agency. Not one negative thing was said.

 

[Brodeur]

i was too young at the time, but curious to what the vibe was for Kariya and if it was a surprise he left Anaheim after their run, i guess same question with Selanne and SJ?

i just remember being shocked they both signed the Avs at that price that summer lol oh what could have been

Re-reading some articles now and I didn't realize that Selanne turned down a 6.5 mil option in April 2003 for the following season. Found this blip from a THN article:

Teemu Selanne declined an option to play in San Jose for $6.5 million next season, but hasn’t shut the door on a possible return. “He’s saying no thank you to the option, but not to the Sharks,” said Selanne’s agent Don Baizley. “We did discuss the fact no one is burning bridges.” The Sharks, who still own negotiating rights with the team’s leading goal-scorer each of the last two years until June 30, may be ready to move in another direction.

An article from July 2003 indicated that Selanne thought he could do better than 6.5 million on the open market, but a lot of teams were apprehensive since the CBA was going to expire in September 2004.

LOU CAN’T SCORE DEAL FOR DEVILS

The big Shark would not swim in the Atlantic, not with the Devils. Lou Lamoriello was thwarted on every side as he tried to bring in a big scorer at yesterday’s trade deadline, so he wound up…

nypost.com

The deal that made the most sense for the Devils, bringing in Selanne, apparently fell apart because the Finnish winger refused to waive his no-trade clause to come to the Devils. One source said Selanne exercised that veto on several teams.

There was a rumored (March 2003) deadline blockbuster that could have sent Selanne+Sturm+Ricci to the Devils for Gomez+Tverdovsky. In a parallel universe, maybe there's a Selanne vs. Kariya SCF.

So it seemed like the Sharks were moving on from Selanne. Unfortunately for them, Selanne had no interest in being a rental player so San Jose only got a 2004 2nd round compensatory pick from the league when he signed with Colorado.

It's a Duck Gamble

Kariya doesn't get $10-million qualifying offer from Anaheim, making him an unrestricted free agent; Murray hopes to re-sign him.

www.latimes.com

Murray said he had conversations with Don Baizley about signing Kariya to a contract for less money, but those talks became pointless. Kariya could not be reached for comment.

“We never talked numbers and we never talked terms,” Murray said. The fallout probably will be harsh with fans. The Ducks mended fences with fans last season, as Murray turned around a doormat franchise in one season.

Kariya becoming a free agent materialized almost out of nowhere. Anaheim was still fresh off nearly winning the Cup on June 9th when news came out that they decided not give Kariya an expensive 10 million dollar qualifying offer to retain his rights on June 30th.

Anaheim had given Kariya the QO for a few seasons, so I think most of us at the time just figured they'd do it one more time. The article mentioned that they thought it was difficult to field a competitive 45 million dollar team with one guy making 10 million.

GM Bryan Murray gambled that the market for Kariya would be less than 10 million but he probably didn't anticipate Kariya not caring about salary (for at least one season).

Maybe it was just me, but I still expected Kariya to return to Anaheim and was floored when I saw that he and Selanne signed with Colorado on July 4. Somewhat ironically, Anaheim then spent a bunch of money with frontloaded deals for Vinny Prospal (July 17) and Sergei Fedorov (July 19) to save face. Prospal made 6.5 million in 2003-04 and Fedorov made 10 million.

 

[AM]

its not an opinion. Its well documented,.


From Pocklington's own mouth

"Here is the truth:I did not trade Wayne Gretzky so I could generate cash to “prop up” my other businesses, as another Edmonton sportswriter, John MacKinnon, also recently suggested. At the time, most of my other businesses were quite profitable, and it was the security they provided that allowed me to prop up the Oilers. However, I expect all my businesses to pay their own way and that included my hockey team. If the Oilers weren’t generating enough revenue, then either costs had to be cut or other sources of revenue found. I also knew that in another year, Wayne was going to become one very expensive hockey player and that I would not be able to keep him. Better to get something for him while I still could. Wayne knows this. He knew it then."

Peter Pocklington: I didn't sell Gretzky because I needed the money

By Peter Pocklington

nationalpost.com

So excuse when i said he was broke, the oilers were broke.

I also don't care what was or wasn't tried, I was 2 at the time and didn't know what was going on.

Well could have made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

And yes I remember it quite well.

The above comment from puck must be seen in context of players leaving for more money.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

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.

No idea what that argument would be.

 

[jetsforever]

Agree with Panarin/Bobrovsky and Gaudreau

 

[Fire Sweeney]

Saku Koivu after being disrespected for 15 years

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

No idea what that argument would be.

Stastny set the all time NHL rookie record with 20 consecutive games with a point, despite not playing a significant portion of his ice time with the Ross/Hart/Pearson winner. The Pens also had 2 of the 6 highest scoring defensemen that season (Gonchar & Whitney), while the Avs had Brett Clark playing 1D.

But, it's much easier to just stat watch and pick the guy with the bigger point total, so that's what most voters do every year.

 

[SirKillalot]

Ray Bourque to Colorado.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Kariya becoming a free agent materialized almost out of nowhere. Anaheim was still fresh off nearly winning the Cup on June 9th when news came out that they decided not give Kariya an expensive 10 million dollar qualifying offer to retain his rights on June 30th.

Anaheim had given Kariya the QO for a few seasons, so I think most of us at the time just figured they'd do it one more time. The article mentioned that they thought it was difficult to field a competitive 45 million dollar team with one guy making 10 million.

GM Bryan Murray gambled that the market for Kariya would be less than 10 million but he probably didn't anticipate Kariya not caring about salary (for at least one season).

Maybe it was just me, but I still expected Kariya to return to Anaheim and was floored when I saw that he and Selanne signed with Colorado on July 4. Somewhat ironically, Anaheim then spent a bunch of money with frontloaded deals for Vinny Prospal (July 17) and Sergei Fedorov (July 19) to save face. Prospal made 6.5 million in 2003-04 and Fedorov made 10 million.

my memory from that time is there were rumours that the ducks and kariya/baizley had a handshake deal for an extension that would pay him less than his QO to field a competitive team and hopefully repeat their 2003 success, and take him to UFA entering the new CBA.

it was win-win. team has more room to improve, kariya gets paid a year later no matter what, if not by the ducks then by someone else. and if the new CBA is more advantageous to teams, then the ducks spend less money on a longterm by deferring a year, but they have to make the best offer or assume the risk of him walking.

but then when colorado swooped in with their offer, kariya reneged.

not sure what/how much is true, but this is what i remember being discussed at the time. ducks were never supposed to assume the risk of kariya walking that year and if they’d known that was on the table they would have just issued his QO.

 

[Brodeur]

my memory from that time is there were rumours that the ducks and kariya/baizley had a handshake deal for an extension that would pay him less than his QO to field a competitive team and hopefully repeat their 2003 success, and take him to UFA entering the new CBA.

it was win-win. team has more room to improve, kariya gets paid a year later no matter what, if not by the ducks then by someone else. and if the new CBA is more advantageous to teams, then the ducks spend less money on a longterm by deferring a year, but they have to make the best offer or assume the risk of him walking.

but then when colorado swooped in with their offer, kariya reneged.

not sure what/how much is true, but this is what i remember being discussed at the time. ducks were never supposed to assume the risk of kariya walking that year and if they’d known that was on the table they would have just issued his QO.

From the article it seemed like Ducks GM Bryan Murray knew he was risking losing Kariya:

Despite the team’s success during the regular season, the Ducks had only seven sellouts and five of those were propped up by fans of the visiting team -- two against the Detroit Red Wings, two against the Kings and one against the New York Rangers.

“It will probably hurt us in the short term,” Murray said. “I do think fans understand that things had to change if we’re going to continue this league and operate it in a sound business manner. It will be hard on salesmen here tomorrow. In the future, we hope to correct that.”

That sits squarely on Murray’s shoulders now. Sales will get more difficult should Kariya sign with another team.

“[Paul] didn’t give us the right of first refusal,” Murray said. “Obviously he is disappointed.... We’re still going to try to negotiate a contract with him.”

It might have been fan sentiment (including myself) that it was just posturing on Anaheim's side and that they wouldn't risk losing the face of the franchise.

Things were a little odd as Disney started the process to sell the Ducks (and Angels) in September 2002. I was always annoyed when Disney CEO Michael Eisner suddenly popped up at the playoffs as though they had supported the Ducks the entire time. They didn't find a buyer until early 2005. Although after Kariya (and Adam Oates) left, Murray spent big on Vinny Prospal and Sergei Fedorov so I suppose he did have the budget space.