Rumor: Rantanen Extension is Close???

[ABasin]

I like Mitts a lot, and did he have a better game than hes had in awhile. I won’t even pretend to understand fancy stats but personally from the eye test his game didn’t look perfect. He was still losing a lot of puck battles and still looked off early on. He’s hopefully snapping out of his funk some though, there were good things he did later in the game.

He's not physically engaged, and he keeps making the same mistake over and over and over.

He enters the offensive zone, gets 10 feet inside the blue line, and turns himself into the boards. Not only is he not far enough into the zone to back the defense up and have his teammates offer him puck support, he's a crappy player along the boards to boot. He loses the puck in this situation over and over, yet he keeps doing it over and over.

In that Montreal game, Armia just sat along the wall waiting for him again and again, taking the puck away each time. And Mittelstadt changed nothing.

 

[cinchronicity]

I like Mitts a lot, and did he have a better game than hes had in awhile. I won’t even pretend to understand fancy stats but personally from the eye test his game didn’t look perfect. He was still losing a lot of puck battles and still looked off early on. He’s hopefully snapping out of his funk some though, there were good things he did later in the game.

More than any other recent import - even Drouin - Mitts has been screwed by the Bednar 'blender' and 'system'. A player like Mitts benefits from continuity in linemates. His brain is capable of making absolutely elite passes, but it sure helps to understand your linemates' tendencies, speed, hands, etc. That goes two ways, though. If Mitts had the same two linemates for 20 games or so, they would start to see / envision what was in Mitts' brain. I'm not sure that Mitts has seen the same pair of wings more than 4 consecutive games.

I don't want to stray from the ice too long but the Nuggets have a similar situation with Jokic. Until guys from the bench truly understand where to cut to guarantee they get a pass and easy bucket, Jokic will lead the team in turnovers. A significant number of Mitts' so-called terrible passes are actually smart passes to a place where a player damn well should be (but weren't.) I would love to see - for 20 games straight:

Drouin - Mac - Nuke
Lehky - Mitts - Mikko
Colton - Parsnips - LOC
Kivi - Kelly - Wood

If the rest of Mitts' year is like December - even with continuity of excellence at Wing- then perhaps he does belong on The Island of Misfit Toys with the rest of the 2Cs that flamed out. But give the guy 20 games with decent linemates ( plus talented goalies for that matter) before the Avs kick him to the curb.

 

[forsbergavs32]

More than any other recent import - even Drouin - Mitts has been screwed by the Bednar 'blender' and 'system'. A player like Mitts benefits from continuity in linemates. His brain is capable of making absolutely elite passes, but it sure helps to understand your linemates' tendencies, speed, hands, etc. That goes two ways, though. If Mitts had the same two linemates for 20 games or so, they would start to see / envision what was in Mitts' brain. I'm not sure that Mitts has seen the same pair of wings more than 4 consecutive games.

I don't want to stray from the ice too long but the Nuggets have a similar situation with Jokic. Until guys from the bench truly understand where to cut to guarantee they get a pass and easy bucket, Jokic will lead the team in turnovers. A significant number of Mitts' so-called terrible passes are actually smart passes to a place where a player damn well should be (but weren't.) I would love to see - for 20 games straight:

Drouin - Mac - Nuke
Lehky - Mitts - Mikko
Colton - Parsnips - LOC
Kivi - Kelly - Wood

If the rest of Mitts' year is like December - even with continuity of excellence at Wing- then perhaps he does belong on The Island of Misfit Toys with the rest of the 2Cs that flamed out. But give the guy 20 games with decent linemates ( plus talented goalies for that matter) before the Avs kick him to the curb.

I do agree consistent linemates would probably help, but in Bednar's defense he really hasn't had much of a choice with Drouin being out 90% of the season so far, Wood injured, Nuke injured, etc..

 

[AvsMakar08]

I do agree consistent linemates would probably help, but in Bednar's defense he really hasn't had much of a choice with Drouin being out 90% of the season so far, Wood injured, Nuke injured, etc..

Yeah, but did you know that Nuke is not only injured but he also likes to sniff rails?

 

[UnkleKraker]

My prediction is that Mikko signs a contract sometime in 2025

I notice you didn't say with who.

 

[Foppa2118]

I'm starting to wonder if Mikko might need to change agents to get this deal done with the Avs.

Having the same agent as Draisaitl, means giving a team friendly AAV is not at all in their interest. Not only would it impact Draisailt's earning potential, his agent would make a lot less on two big money contracts.

I wonder how much Andy Scott is in Mikko's ear saying, "Don't cave, you can't cave" just purely out of self interest?

 

[RoyIsALegend]

I'm starting to wonder if Mikko might need to change agents to get this deal done with the Avs.

Having the same agent as Draisaitl, means giving a team friendly AAV is not at all in their interest. Not only would it impact Draisailt's earning potential, his agent would make a lot less on two big money contracts.

I wonder how much Andy Scott is in Mikko's ear saying, "Don't cave, you can't cave" just purely out of self interest?

He also has the same agent as Blackwood who just got a deal done with CMac. We know they’re talking.

Drai also signed his deal well before hitting free agency, similar to Blackwood.

If anything, this is an agent willing to get a deal done with the player’s current team and not insisting on hitting the market. Assuming the client has the same perspective, of course.

 

[Foppa2118]

He also has the same agent as Blackwood who just got a deal done with CMac. We know they’re talking.

Drai also signed his deal well before hitting free agency, similar to Blackwood.

If anything, this is an agent willing to get a deal done with the player’s current team and not insisting on hitting the market. Assuming the client has the same perspective, of course.

I overlooked that Drai signed already. The way we talk about about them having the same agents here all the time, I thought they were both unsigned.

Scratch what I said then. With Drai signed, I don't think his agent will impact negotiations much.

Blackwood is an isolated situation though, since he's not a comparable for Mikko.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

I overlooked that Drai signed already. The way we talk about about them having the same agents here all the time, I thought they were both unsigned.

Scratch what I said then. With Drai signed, I don't think his agent will impact negotiations much.

Blackwood is an isolated situation though, since he's not a comparable for Mikko.

I only mentioned Blackwood because he has the same agent as Mikko, not as a comparable contract.

It’s a good thing that CMac and Scott have just recently worked out an extension for an impending UFA, it means there is open communication and they know how to work with each other.

 

[Foppa2118]

As I'm thinking about this again, I can see the hangup here.

Drai signed for 8 years with his $14M. So it's not like Mikko or the Avs can rationalize taking less, by giving an extra year. It's just a straight discount they're asking him to take.

If he takes $1.5M less over 8 years that's $12M plus interest less. With a Cup already, that's hard for anyone to turn down.

On the open market it's probably similar. Say he can get $15M x 7, that's $5M more than $12.5M x 8, plus whatever he can get on a one year at 35 years old. $7M might not be doable then, so it's still about $12M more.

So it's a pretty clear decision here. Take $12.5M x 8 for $100M to stay in Colorado the rest of your career, or go elsewhere for $112M or so.

The question is how important is $12M, when you'll have made about $150M in your career by the time you're 35/36?

That answer is different for everybody. Mikko has to decide how important living in Denver and playing with this group is to him. Is it worth $12M? There's nothing else to think about but this. That's the only question at play here.

 

[LOFIN]

I think the hold up is this: there have recently being rumours of the salary cap going up as much as 97M next season. Some people were even talking about 99M, but that seems way too far fetched. The initial projection 2 months ago was 92.5-93M. So when the agent is negotiating from the % of cap standpoint, that changes things a lot. The Avs are obviously holding firm with their internal salary cap of MacKinnon.

 

[Foppa2118]

I think the hold up is this: there have recently being rumours of the salary cap going up as much as 97M next season. Some people were even talking about 99M, but that seems way too far fetched. The initial projection 2 months ago was 92.5-93M. So when the agent is negotiating from the % of cap standpoint, that changes things a lot. The Avs are obviously holding firm with their internal salary cap of MacKinnon.

Yeah, makes sense from Mikko's side, but I'm not sure the cap matters too much from the Avs side. It could be $110M and the Avs still would probably be holding firm to not giving him more than Nate. That's just how they negotiate.

The question is whether the Avs will cave a bit at the last minute? I wonder if that's the plan/hope from Mikko and his agent's side, seeing how things went with Gabe?

Take it to the brink and see if the Avs compromise at like $13.25M x 8 or something hours before UFA.

Hence perhaps the "leak" that the Avs may trade him, to make them re-think whether to stick to that plan or not? A lot of gamesmanship and posturing going on here I think.

 

[the_fan]

Can we keep this thread open after we lose Mikko to free agency just to remind ourselves how fragile and vulnerable we are?

 

[AllAboutAvs]

How much is a ENG specialist worth these days?

 

[John Mandalorian]

Yeah, makes sense from Mikko's side, but I'm not sure the cap matters too much from the Avs side. It could be $110M and the Avs still would probably be holding firm to not giving him more than Nate. That's just how they negotiate.

The question is whether the Avs will cave a bit at the last minute? I wonder if that's the plan/hope from Mikko and his agent's side, seeing how things went with Gabe?

Take it to the brink and see if the Avs compromise at like $13.25M x 8 or something hours before UFA.

Hence perhaps the "leak" that the Avs may trade him, to make them re-think whether to stick to that plan or not? A lot of gamesmanship and posturing going on here I think.

The Avs just need media to start asking Rantanen “how does it feel to potentially be playing your last game as an Av?” types of questions. Get Mikko to think that it could actually happen but also about dealing with months of questions like this.

 

[sethro109]

Can we keep this thread open after we lose Mikko to free agency just to remind ourselves how fragile and vulnerable we are?

I'm not fragile. F*** you! How could you even say that about me!?

 

[dahrougem2]

As I'm thinking about this again, I can see the hangup here.

Drai signed for 8 years with his $14M. So it's not like Mikko or the Avs can rationalize taking less, by giving an extra year. It's just a straight discount they're asking him to take.

If he takes $1.5M less over 8 years that's $12M plus interest less. With a Cup already, that's hard for anyone to turn down.

On the open market it's probably similar. Say he can get $15M x 7, that's $5M more than $12.5M x 8, plus whatever he can get on a one year at 35 years old. $7M might not be doable then, so it's still about $12M more.

So it's a pretty clear decision here. Take $12.5M x 8 for $100M to stay in Colorado the rest of your career, or go elsewhere for $112M or so.

The question is how important is $12M, when you'll have made about $150M in your career by the time you're 35/36?

That answer is different for everybody. Mikko has to decide how important living in Denver and playing with this group is to him. Is it worth $12M? There's nothing else to think about but this. That's the only question at play here.

It's an easy discount to rationalize, though. Since 16-17 Rantanen is 10th overall in points, Draisaitl is 2nd. Rantanen has one 2nd Team All Star selection while Draisaitl has a Hart, Art Ross, Lindsay, one 1st Team All Star and one 2nd Team All Star selections.

There's no way Rantanen or his agent can justify signing for what Draisaitl is making to the Avalanche - he hasn't been that level of player even if he's been amazing during that time.