NHL and Agents - Discussion

[Craig Ludwig]

It seems like posts on agents quickly get removed (not sure why, but have my suspicions), but I'm trying to get used to Puckpedia now that we're losing CapFriendly, and came upon the Agent Section on Puckpedia: NHL Agents | Puckpedia

I found it pretty fascinating and it begs a few questions:

- Drew Doughty and Niklas Backstrom signed incredibly lucrative contracts, being their own agents! If that's the case, what is the value of an agent, what percentage of the contract does the player have to pay their agent. Let's say it's 5%, and Doughty's contract is $88 Million, that's a $4.4 Million Commission that he saved! I'm really not sure that it is 5%, but if so that's pretty significant. You could hire quite a team yourself with that money.
- Many Agents have 1 player. It seems that these players hire a good, trusted friend to help out, and likely offer them a much smaller commission. Not sure about that but that is something to consider.
-You would think that Mr. Big Mouth Allan Walsh would be right at the top, I was very surprised to see him so lowly ranked. This tells me that hockey players are different than other sports, that they gravitate to the more professional, cool/calm/collected/classy agents like Pat Brisson. Brisson's stable of players is very impressive. Does Brisson charge less commission, I highly doubt it. But Brisson has much better personal relationships with NHL teams and NHL brass as opposed to other agents who rip into the NHL and NHL teams.
-Claude Lemieux has vaulted to the top 15 of Hockey Agents, I guess he's going after clients like it's the Stanley Cup finals! Strangely enough, there are no Red Wings that he represents

I know agents do add value, likely more in advertising and marketing activities, but I'm not so sure that players can do like Doughty has done and negotiate themselves. Yes it would be stressful and emotional to negotiate with your current team if your contract is expiring next year, but if you're going to Free Agency, is it not just a bidding war for your services? Additionally, it's not like top players are making Baseball/Basketball/Football money, heck Connor McDavid is only making $12.5 Million a year...

Would love to get people's opinions on this. And I'm really hoping this post doesn't get shut down because it is an interesting topic.

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[Spring in Fialta]

Agents also help filter negotiations between team and player.

Not the same sport but look at a guy like Lamar Jackson. He represented himself and cashed out but it took months upon months and the Ravens had to deal with a public trade request from a generational quarterback because business is business - from both sides.

End of the day it worked out for both Lamar and the Ravens but without taking the agent's cut into account, it's probably something someone representing Lamar would have helped mediate.

 

[MasterofGrond]

For lawyers, as the saying goes, a man who represents himself has a fool for a client.

And broadly speaking I think the same goes for agents.

You’re an athlete, your job is being a professional at whatever sport you play. Your area of expertise is playing that sport. You’re never going to be as much of an expert or as plugged in as the guy whose job is agenting. And that’s before you get into the nitty gritty potential bad blood of negotiating with an organization that you potentially have a long, career spanning relationship that may go beyond strictly business with.

You can save money without an agent, and a lot of the time it probably will go fine-ish. But you wouldn’t catch me dead without a real agent if I were a pro.

 

[StreetHawk]

NFL agents commission is capped up to like 3%.

End of the day, up to the player. There might be tax advantages of structuring your contract a certain way. I mean, if you are a $10 mill player, 3% would be $300K,

 

[Craig Ludwig]

Agents also help filter negotiations between team and player.

Not the same sport but look at a guy like Lamar Jackson. He represented himself and cashed out but it took months upon months and the Ravens had to deal with a public trade request from a generational quarterback because business is business - from both sides.

End of the day it worked out for both Lamar and the Ravens but without taking the agent's cut into account, it's probably something someone representing Lamar would have helped mediate.

Good point, but I wonder if having an agent would have changed Lamar's stalled negotiations, how would an agent have changed the Ravens minds to give him what he wanted? I think the Ravens were just doubting if Lamar was a generational talent.

One other thing I forgot to add. Don Meehan now only has four active clients, I'm guessing he's just riding into the sunset now, because he was The Super Agent many years ago. Hats off to him, was an enjoyable person to listen to.