Players taking a financial hit because they refused a great offer.

[Ford Prefect]

I don't think Sergei Fedorov was hurting for money after he signed that offer sheet with Carolina, but I think he turned down 4/5 years at 10 mil AAV with Detroit and ended up settling for 5 years, 40 million with Anaheim in 2003.

But his agent did negotiate that he'd get 10 mil that first year and the only six mil in year two which got wiped out anyways because of the lockout.

Anaheim had the money since they opted not to give Paul Kariya a 10 mil QO. I think they were trying to sign Kariya at a smaller salary but I don't think I ever saw any details. Kariya memorably took a cheap one year, 1.2 mil deal with Colorado instead; Back in that CBA there was a provision where a 10 year pro making below the league average salary (~1.8 mil IIRC) could become UFA without having to be over 31 years old. So Kariya thought he might be able to cash in the summer of 2004 but he/his agent maybe didn't figure teams were gearing up for the lockout and not many big ticket contracts were signed.

But like Fedorov, Kariya had made plenty of cash up to that point.

Isn’t it insane that top end NHL contracts are just now catching up to and surpassing the high end UFA contracts signed 20-25 years ago? Crazy. Bobby freaking Holik got 5x9 in ’02-03.

 

[Brodeur]

Isn’t it insane that top end NHL contracts are just now catching up to and surpassing the high end UFA contracts signed 20-25 years ago? Crazy. Bobby freaking Holik got 5x9 in ’02-03.

I was tempted to mention in this thread that the Devils made a last minute 5x8 offer to retain Holik. Holik was pissed at the team from the previous summer's arbitration hearing where they downplayed his contributions. As an adult now, I can better understand how Holik would be annoyed that they waited until he had one foot out the door before making their best offer.

Even as somebody who liked Holik, I remember thinking that his next contract would be in the high 5 or low 6 mil AAV. Keith Primeau (10 months younger and similar-ish player) was making 5 mil. Approaching free agency, suddenly reporters were saying Holik's market would be 7+ and I was shocked. Then on July 1st, rumors were that he'd be getting 8+ and then finally he signed for 9. Devils definitely dodged a bullet with that one, although I wonder if they'd still win the 2003 Cup with Holik and we could have definitely used him in 2003-04 before probably being a salary cap casualty in 2005.

Excerpt: Money Players

How did the NHL get to this point? Look back no further than the first day of free angency two years ago.

www.espn.com

This behind the scenes article with Holik's agent (former Vancouver GM Mike Gillis) remains an interesting read to this day.

 

[LuckyPierre]

Jared Cowan was offered 28m over 8yrs. He ended up making less than half that the rest of his career.

Dorion was in charge of RFA negotiations under Bryan Murray at the time. Got real lucky there.

 

[Hale The Villain]

Jared Cowen was offered an deal worth 28M over 8YRs (3.5M per) in 2013.

He chose to bet on himself and took a shorter deal worth 12.4M over 4YRs (3.1M per).

He ended up getting a bad injury and eventually was bought out by the Leafs before the last year of his deal at 1/3 due to his age.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Jesperi Kotkaniemi with more career earnings than John Klingberg, that's an oof.

Being a top 3 pick helps

 

[JackSlater]

Famously Orr didn't re-sign with Boston in 1976, but of course he didn't know that an 18% ownership stake in the Bruins was part of the deal. His 3 million dollar deal (over five years) was still huge for the time though.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

Famously Orr didn't re-sign with Boston in 1976, but of course he didn't know that an 18% ownership stake in the Bruins was part of the deal. His 3 million dollar deal (over five years) was still huge for the time though.

I always kinda wonder how those owner deals work is it sort of a wink wink nudge thing that their expenses covered in a case where the team undergoes financial hardship

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Can’t recall the exact details but I remember there was some marginal player/4th liner who was offered a somewhat generous contract in the offseason after playing well when called up.

He instead took the team to arbitration over a relatively trivial amount and ended up never playing in the NHL again. Anyone remember who I’m talking about?

 

[Killer Orcas]

Jesperi Kotkaniemi with more career earnings than John Klingberg, that's an oof.

100 percent JK will be bought out before he makes all those dollars but funny regardless.

 

[KevinRedkey]

Didn’t Ryan Dzingel mess up in Ottawa?

I forget the exact details, but Dzingle's wife needed some sort of medical treatment and her doctors were in the USA. I believe she eventually got better, which led him to coming back to Ottawa, but by then - the money train had left the building.

 

[MikeyMike01]

Vanek I think did it because he wanted to Minnesota? Instead of taking the Islanders deal.

It was because of the arena situation, he didn’t want to play in Brooklyn

 

[dumbdick]

Sens offered anthony duclair a decent deal a couple years back but he decided to represent himself and ended up signing for peanuts somehwere else. Badly misjudged the market for his services.

 

[Voight]

John Tavares turned down an 8x13M from the Sharks

That's impossible, he was limited to a 7 year contract as a UFA.

 

[Voight]

Few things popped into my head:

1. One of the dumbest financial decisions ever.

2. Why was he even offered that in the first place? He appeared to be just a guy. Not some great player.

Schroeder was indeed offered that deal, he was widely panned when he turned it down.

Mid NBA players get huge contracts now, there's just so much money flying around.

 

[TheGoldenGod]

Pretty sure Carolina offered Tarasenko a 4 year deal but he thought he was better than that after leaving STL. Now he’s bouncing around teams on a 1 year deal

 

[DelZottoHitTheNetJK]

Pretty sure Carolina offered Tarasenko a 4 year deal but he thought he was better than that after leaving STL. Now he’s bouncing around teams on a 1 year deal

Probably rather play in the ECF than get bounced every year by the Rangers

 

[Fear]

Not NHL but this one is so f***ing bad it just has to be mentioned

Dennis Schroder turned down a 4 year 84 million dollar deal from the Lakers, he only got 5.6m on a 1 year deal after that and then returned to the Lakers at 2.9m

That has got to be the absolute worst of all time

Nerlens Noel did a similar thing a few years back when he turned down 4 years 72 million from the Mavs.

It was so bad he tried to sue his agent Klutch Sports a couple years later for breach of fiduciary duties. And somehow the outcome of that lawsuit was he had to pay more money to Klutch that he neglected to pay for his most recent contract. Just a generational bag fumbler

 

[RickyLafleur]

Sens offered anthony duclair a decent deal a couple years back but he decided to represent himself and ended up signing for peanuts somehwere else. Badly misjudged the market for his services.

He did pretty well in Florida and went to the finals while Ottawa continued to flounder and is now nearly ppg in Tampa Bay.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Taylor Hall ending up in Buffalo that one time?

That was deliberate. Hall wanted to play on a contender for a Cup. That contract earned high salary and guaranteed the trade deadline trade.

 

[TheFinalWord]

John Tavares turned down an 8x13M from the Sharks

It was 7x13M, but that situation was a bit different, because he had that offer along with the Leaf and Islanders offers, and chose Toronto. It's not like he said no to $13M and then had to settle for $11M. He chose to go for playoff success instead of chasing the money.

 

[LuckyPierre]

Pretty sure Carolina offered Tarasenko a 4 year deal but he thought he was better than that after leaving STL. Now he’s bouncing around teams on a 1 year deal

Assuming his health holds up for the remainder of the playoffs, he will likely still do well for himself this offseason.

Made $5m this year. 20+ goals and 50+ points in a supporting role. Was traded and landed on a contender, and could win another cup.

Will likely sign for 2-3 years this offseason, in the $9m - $14m range.

Well played, really. Not an advisable strategy, but well played.

 

[Maple Leaf]

Delaying money is dumb. You could get injured at any point

 

[dumbdick]

He did pretty well in Florida and went to the finals while Ottawa continued to flounder and is now nearly ppg in Tampa Bay.

Ok. But what's your point?

 

[Byron Bitz]

John Tavares turned down an 8x13M from the Sharks

Shark could only give him 7 years. Islanders were the only team that could offer 8 years and he turned them down.

 

[RickyLafleur]

Ok. But what's your point?

The point is he probably hasn't taken a financial hit since leaving Ottawa since he's playing meaningful games for contending teams which will lead him to better contracts while the sens waste away in the bottom 10 year after year.