We can’t forget the arbitration piece in all of this, and how much control that gives Dobson. He didn’t change to Muldaver as his agent for nothing. He’s 100% helping to pick his destination. That said, if he likes his fit in Detroit, you can likely get the deal done with the 13th OVR pick and ASP. Maybe even ASP and next year’s protected 1st.
We’re not where we are without the Isles refusing to give him a long term deal before he hit arbitration. Like BUF and the Rangers with Byram and Miller, the Isles lost value by NOT trading him by the TDL.
NHL teams are petrified to allow someone like Byram or Dobson to get in front of an arbitrator. In Dobson’s case, he could end up with a 1 year $9.5-10 million deal, and walk himself wherever he’d like next summer.
Teams gave all those long term wealth contracts to unproven Dmen.
Every other team knows this. He and his agent know this. Same deal with Byram. If either pulls a Debrincat, that’s about the return we’re gonna see, and Byram or Dobson will be playing for the exact team of their choice. The Islanders can tell you. They were the team that Debrincat told he would only negotiate with Detroit. They told Ottawa too, but they thought maybe after talking to the Isles, he’d change his mind. Lou was so mad at them for wasting his time, he leaked it, and Debrincat was in Detroit 4-5 days later, for a late 1st, a bottom 6 player, and a B prospect.
The aisles would be very smart trying to keep Dobson’s wishes private, but the other managers aren’t stupid. They’ll give them a fair deal, knowing they’re not going to bid against themselves. The worst thing they can do, is try misleading teams. They 100% need to let teams talk to Muldaver, or this thing will start to stretch into the summer and they’ll end up with far less.
Dobson holds all the cards. Just as Byram does, and Miller does to a lessor extent.