The Athletic NHL agent poll: Best and worst owners, Connor McDavid’s contract, future GMs

[Jim Bob]

NHL agent poll: Best and worst owners, Connor McDavid’s contract, future GMs

Who is the toughest team to deal with? Should the NHL have a play-in round? We polled 19 agents, who represent hundreds of players.

www.nytimes.com

As most agents quipped at first, "This would have been easy a year ago — Arizona. Poor Billy (Armstrong) had his hands tied, but the rest was unstable as hell. Not anymore in Utah."

Forced to choose a new answer, most agents picked Buffalo due to more than a decade of struggles.

The Sabres haven’t made the playoffs since 2011. They haven’t won a playoff series since 2007. They’ve been rebuilding for what seems like forever. And they’re currently holding down last place in the Eastern Conference.

“Buffalo has just decades of mediocrity and is just a mess,” one agent said.

Multiple agents brought up Anaheim: "The Ducks are not run well enough and are so difficult to deal with."

The Blackhawks garnered votes here for a perceived mismanagement of their rebuild so far — especially after adding Connor Bedard.

“When you got it all, you’ve got to run it like you do. I don’t think they have a plan,” one agent said. “It should be getting done right. For what they’ve been given, Chicago and Detroit are the biggest letdowns. They’ve been given the keys to the kingdom, but my gosh.”

Two agents wondered about the Yzerplan in Detroit.

“They’re really unstable,” one said. “There’s no plan, although they may say there’s one.”

One agent questioned the strategy in Nashville.

“They spent $108 million on free agents this summer — older free agents, but yet they just have five first-round picks just sitting there and not developing. So what’s the plan? What’s the direction?”

Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon ran away with this category — something that could raise some eyebrows, given the relative success of his organization.

What’s clear from agents’ comments is that this isn’t really about any specific business decision or issues with spending (a more common sentiment the last time we did this exercise in 2022). It’s more about Dundon’s communication and leadership style, with several describing him as overly involved.

“I don’t know how he has the time or the energy. He’s the de facto GM,” one agent said.

"A lot of people in our business hate it that Tom is so f---ing involved, and he is basically the manager and he has a lot of strong opinions, too, and he's not afraid to tell all of us privately those opinions."

"His GMs and assistant GMs ... have to ask him permission for anything," added another.

The idea that the owner’s involvement is affecting the culture was raised several times.

“They’ve got some smart people there, but you just feel their culture by not even working there, just being around it. And it’s not a great one.”

One agent joked: “The worst part of Dundon lapping the competition here is he’s probably proud of it.”

Buffalo’s Terry Pegula took the second spot in this category, but the comments were more focused on a perceived lack of involvement — and a lack of on-ice success.

“Buffalo has swung and missed a lot,” one agent noted.

“He has not done anything,” another said of Pegula. “He’s in left field.”

One agent said a lack of involvement was reason for the Ducks' Henry Samueli to earn votes, too. "Ownership that isn't involved when they should be frustrates me. Like, get involved."

And to some general stuff:

7a. What is the biggest issue in the next CBA negotiations?​

The current collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2025-26 season, and the NHLPA and NHL appear confident a deal will be reached amicably.

“I think we are in a good place in terms of our collective bargaining relationship, in terms of our overall relationship,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said ahead of the opening game of the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Indeed, many agents are hopeful the next round of negotiations will feature less animosity than we’ve seen in the past.

What are the big issues likely to arise?

“I hope none,” said one agent. “I hope we’ve ironed them out. We’ve had enough battles in my life — over 30-plus years as an agent. We don’t need a battle.”

Still, this question yielded an array of concerns on agents’ minds. Most of them center around money — and exactly how it is divided between owners and players. Several agents noted, for example, that players should get a piece of expansion fees.

“If it’s going to be a real 50-50 partnership, it should be in respect to everything, and I’m not just talking expansion fees," one agent said. "I’m talking more along the lines of all the insurance and everything that all comes out of the player’s share. Those expenses should be 50-50 as well.”

Escrow came up with nearly half the agents.

"It’s always escrow," an agent said. "Escrow will be fine as long as HRR keeps going upwards. It’s just making sure HRR continues to grow so everyone can share and it doesn’t rear its ugly head again.”

But a falling Canadian dollar had some worried about the potential hit to HRR.

“The problem we’re having with the Canadian dollar that’s going to be a huge issue because HRR is driven by Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver — they contribute so much. I think we’re going to be into another pickle a couple of years from now.”

Others had thoughts on adjustments to the salary cap.

“(There should be a) luxury tax for teams that want to spend over the cap,” one said.

Another added there should be focus on keeping the cap floor at a sufficiently high level: “I feel like as the cap goes up you’re going to have more and more teams having self-imposed budgets, so that’s a concern.”

7b. What’s an under-the-radar issue that should be addressed?​

This was another question that drew a wide array of responses.

The idea that tax regimes in certain markets make teams more or less desirable to players was raised more than once. Is there a better way?

“The cap should be set off teams with no state tax," one agent said, echoing a few others. "Meaning Wild or Rangers or whoever could spend their percent difference to that of Vegas. Even (the) playing field.”

Not everyone agreed, though.

“That’s a thing I’m sick of hearing about," an agent countered. "Nobody was talking about this 15 years ago when the Panthers were terrible. It’s complete bulls---. That’s not why players go there. They go there to win.”

Here were some other popular talking points:

On travel: “Cross-conference travel and rivalries. I think they should add an extra in-division game or two in their conference rather than, say, Tampa go to Vancouver. That travel is so taxing and they don’t draw well.”

On new CHL-college rules: “I think there will be a lot of discussion about the four-year college free agency thing. Teams hate that. Agents love it where the guys can basically walk after four years. I think there’s going to have to be a lot of modification based on the CHL-NCAA changes just to try to get people on some sort of level playing ground.”

On signing bonuses: “The signing bonuses haven’t even kept up with the cost of living expenses. If you’re a rookie in New York and told to get an apartment, you’d rather stay in the hotel for three more months. To me, Connor Bedard making a $95,000 signing bonus is crazy. That’s the same as a college free agent. I go to Hawks games and there’s 16,000 Bedard jerseys. Maybe there should be an exception for first-round picks.”

On player safety: “The player safety department needs to be overhauled.”

On waivers: “That entry-level players have to wait so long before they’re eligible to be put on waivers. I think a team should have two years to assess the talent of a player and develop them."

“Good players getting trapped in the minors for too long.”

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[Beerz]

I'm actually surprised we didn't run away with these polls.

Just goes to show that winning and commitment to winning is the most important thing.

 

[Gras]

On new CHL-college rules: “I think there will be a lot of discussion about the four-year college free agency thing. Teams hate that. Agents love it where the guys can basically walk after four years. I think there’s going to have to be a lot of modification based on the CHL-NCAA changes just to try to get people on some sort of level playing ground.”

I wonder if they could change the CBA where the NHL could sign college players to a NIL contract to secure their right.

 

[Jim Bob]

I wonder if they could change the CBA where the NHL could sign college players to a NIL contract to secure their right.

That isn't a CBA thing as much as an NCAA eligibility thing.

I doubt the NCAA would allow an athlete to sign a contract with a pro team and continue to play college hockey. If they sign a pro deal in any other sport, they lose their eligibility in that sport.

 

[Gras]

That isn't a CBA thing as much as an NCAA eligibility thing.

I doubt the NCAA would allow an athlete to sign a contract with a pro team and continue to play college hockey. If they sign a pro deal in any other sport, they lose their eligibility in that sport.

NIL isnt a professional contract it wouldn't count as the ELC, but you could possibly treat it in kind of the same way, if they sign the NIL with a NHL franchise then the team holds their rights until they are 27 unless the NHL team doesn't offer them an ELC once they leave college.

 

[Chainshot]

I'm actually surprised we didn't run away with these polls.

Just goes to show that winning and commitment to winning is the most important thing.

Also shows that some places with tax advantages and palm trees can also be on the list of teams thought to be poorly run by their owners. Two of the three California teams are on there, as are Carolina, Dallas, Vancouver and the Islanders. Or that Dallas and the Isles can be both on the worst run and best run lists.

Poorly run is a wide topic, it really comes down to just winning some games to shift opinions.

 

[Tatanka]

I would limit the draft to 5 rounds. And raise the age so that a player is eligible to go to the A if they choose and not back to junior. I like the idea of teams having to make decisions on specs sooner. The good ones will thrive. The bad ones will not. Adding more bodies to the pool of potential acquisitions will force shorter rebuilds. The idea of perpetual replacements from the farm is a fantasy. A core group will be together for a 3-5 year period. So stockpiling specs during that time is a disservice to those who won’t have a legit shot to make the show.

 

[TageGod]

Shocked Pegula isn't 1.

 

[brian_griffin]

I know the no-AHL-until-20yo-rule for North American players is designed to protect the CHL from losing its top-end players at 18 and 19yo.

I wonder if a 1-player/prospect per NHL team rule could work, with a limit on games played.

example: Each NHL team may have 1 North American player under age 20 playing in the AHL at any given time, and that player may play no more than 40 games in the AHL (cumulative) before turning age 20.

 

[My Cozen Dylan]

I know the no-AHL-until-20yo-rule for North American players is designed to protect the CHL from losing its top-end players at 18 and 19yo.

I wonder if a 1-player/prospect per NHL team rule could work, with a limit on games played.

example: Each NHL team may have 1 North American player under age 20 playing in the AHL at any given time, and that player may play no more than 40 games in the AHL (cumulative) before turning age 20.

I think the simplest answer is an exception for 1st round picks. I know that basically defeats the purpose, but plenty of talented CHLers go after day 1.

 

[Fjordsen]

The worst owner is still in the playoffs regularly, and our idiot is already straining so much, the dumbass.

 

[Chainshot]

I know the no-AHL-until-20yo-rule for North American players is designed to protect the CHL from losing its top-end players at 18 and 19yo.

I wonder if a 1-player/prospect per NHL team rule could work, with a limit on games played.

example: Each NHL team may have 1 North American player under age 20 playing in the AHL at any given time, and that player may play no more than 40 games in the AHL (cumulative) before turning age 20.

Transfer money paid to CHL teams and their gate allows them to pay transfer fees for the teams below them that they are drafting from usually out of Midgets. Then the Midget teams are paying down to Bantam. Rinse and repeat.

Pulling gate out of the biggest development driver for players in the NHL is something that has ripple effects down the supply chain. Fewer teams means fewer roster spots and fewer development opportunities. Is better for the overall NHL game to have a team be able to put a kid still eligible for junior hockey into their farm club or to have teams be stronger at the development level?

I know which way I lean.