To be fair, Stamkos re-signing in Tampa, the team he was drafted by and the only team he has ever played for in the NHL, can't be compared to trading for a player who's only going to play 2 years for your organization.
Ok, Johnny Boychuk. Only played one season in NYI and was a pending UFA. Signed a long-term deal to stick around. This notion that pending UFAs are going to leave for the sake of leaving is completely backward. If you pay NHL players a fair rate to play for you, they'll play.
Fowler isn't going to be traded to MTL and then going to refuse to negotiate a new deal just for the sake of it. If MTL offers him a reasonable, long-term deal, he'll re-sign. It happens all the time and it'll happen again. Players just want to play hockey for as much money as possible. Where they're located and the team they play for rarely matters.
I am not misinformed, you are delusional.
So you name 1 player who resigned and I can name loads who haven't. That was a pointless argument. Stamkos chose to re-sign.
The option is the player's.
Yes, he has a choice, but you're the one automatically assuming that all players want to leave the clubs they're currently with i.e. as if Fowler will simply refuse to even discuss extending. That's the ******** narrative you're spitting. That's just simply not the case. If you offer Fowler a fair contract, he'll stick around in MTL. You're being ridiculous.
There are more UFAs that signed with the team they just played for then those that signed elsewhere. In addition, most of the high-profiled guys who didn't re-sign with their previous team did so because the team couldn't afford to keep them or didn't want them, NOT because they didn't want to stay.
Lucic - LA couldn't afford him.
Ericsson - Asked for too much from BOS POV.
Ladd - CHI couldn't afford him.
Staal - NYR didn't want him.
Perron - ANA couldn't afford him.
McGinn - ANA couldn't afford him.
Backes - STL wouldn't pay him the term he wanted.
Again, pretty much every UFA on the market this year was on the market because of the team's decision not to re-sign the guy be it because of him asking for too much money, too much term, whatever. I think you'd be very hard-pressed to find a guy who just wanted to leave for the sake of leaving. If you trade for Fowler, then it's up to you to re-sign him. He's not just going to leave for the sake of leaving.
He MIGHT sign but he probably won't.
If an agreement to extend his contract is in place his value rises but why would anyone risk it at the price of a Galchenyuk ? That's what I'm debating. You being delusional. Not the fact that he could sign.
Hell he could sign for the habs (or anyone else) in 2 years but that team likely won't be the "internal cap" Ducks.
How the **** are you coming to this conclusion? I'm done, you're speaking pure ass-gas now. This is just salt. No one said that Fowler was worth Galc or Patches. We only said that's what makes sense. We don't want Emelin+ for Fowler. Get over it.