I don’t care if hockey players care what teammates make compared to them. Thats not how contracts comps work and if you don’t believe that its fine believe whatever you want.
Does he care charlie mac makes more then him? No one knows but him. Will it be discussed in his contract comps. Nope
It's a negotiation, not a game of comparable contract one-upmanship.
You mean to tell me Lewis Gross can't challenge Don Sweeney and ask him why he doesn't value his client Swayman as much as he does Lindholm based on the offers made? What does Don Sweeney say when Gross asks him why he is willing to pay Lindholm 7.75 over 7 at age 29 coming off two down seasons but only willing to pay 25-year old Swayman 8 x 8 after a strong season?
Sweeney says to Gross Swayman is still unproven. Gross then counters with you didn't have a problem with that when it came to McAvoy's deal. See how that works?
What is Sweeney's reaction to Gross bringing up contracts offered and signed by Sweeney himself to position players? Does he kick him out of the room? Does he hang up the phone? Does he end the conference call?
You make it sound like there are rules to these negotiations and some topics like other contracts signed by the GM are out-of-bounds for the negotiation because those are skaters and not goaltenders. This isn't arbitration in front of some judge here. There are no rules as to what an agent and player can try to use to win their argument or frame their position.
Honestly if anyone is an agent and they aren't trying to drum up every argument in the book to try and get the best deal for their client they are doing it wrong. In this case, if I'm 25-year old Swayman I have a legitimate beef making a mere 1.75 million more than 29-year old Elias Lindholm over the next 7 years. That's an argument I think I can win so yes, I'll make that comparison. Once again, there are no rules to this.
Yeah, if I'm an agent in a hardball negotiation, you can be damn sure I'm bringing up contracts previously signed by my opposing GM. I don't think that is off-limits. Especially when those contracts are comparable in value to what your offering my client and the ink on those contracts isn't even dry yet.
If this was as simple as two parties negotiating off ONLY comparable goalie contracts, this issue is already resolved months ago, one way or the other.