Varlamov.
The reason for Gaudreau was cap space. We didn't have enough at the time and couldn't move anyone to make it work. He likely wanted Philly, *they* couldn't make it work either. He chose one of the two teams that had the space and fit his needs (NJ being the other, that spot would eventually go to Timo Meier). And if he put up the numbers here that he's currently putting up in Columbus, we'd be trying to get rid of him instead of Pageau.
I think it’s fair to separate the two for two reasons. First, a player getting traded and essentially forced to go to another team and then re-signing with said team is different than a player choosing to go to a team completely on their own. I think there’s a lot of truth to players liking it here once they arrive, but that’s not quite the same as being a destination players would choose to go to. And that leads into the second reason which is that re-signing a player you traded for required giving up assets for said player whereas a free agent is just costing you money, and that’s a big reason why we’ve been short on both draft picks and prospects in recent years. When you can’t lure talent through free agency, you have to resort to using anything of value you can to get talent which can cost you in the long run since you’re losing possible roster players and also leaking assets for future deals.
But why wait until UFA? You’re competing with every other team, you might not have the cap space to pull off the exact move you want, and there’s a good chance that the guy you end up with is Andrew Ladd, all to say that you didn’t strike out on July 1. It’s stupid and some of these teams are going to have regrets about the deals they put out. I don’t disagree with the problem with the prospect pool but this fanbase whines and complains about needing good players and then when we get them it’s “well now we don’t have draft picks”. They wanted a top four LD so we have Alexander Romanov for potentially the next decade. They wanted someone to play with Barzal so he got Bo Horvat. And somehow we’re still getting this “boo hoo we’re not a destination spot” routine. Who cares? You got players to stick around. As a result you don’t have room to make other major moves and you’re reduced to making fantasy trades involving other guys you convinced to stay.
It matters if we have to give up picks to get a player here beforehand. Those are assets that we need to give up and other premium destination teams don’t. That puts us behind the 8 ball from the jump.
Florida did the same thing with Tkachuk (and to some degree Reinhart). Vegas did it with Mark Stone, and they did it with a former pick WE sent them to unload a bad contract and protect Pelech from being taken in expansion. Tampa did it for McDonagh and has repeatedly unloaded their future picks for players they sign to long deals. They’ve made one first round pick in the last five years. Florida will go four straight years without making a first round selection as a result of the deals they’ve made.
Not sure who can answer- If you play for the Bruins and live in NH, how are you taxed?
Generally speaking, income is taxed where it is earned. So, Bruins players earnings from home games are taxed according to Boston/MA income taxes. One imagines there are specialized accounting firms responsible for tax apportionment for players. The tax advantages folks speak of are often overestimated. It's a big mix. And property taxes can be quite high even when income taxes are low. (And if they aren't, it's because the municipal services suck, and have to be supplemented. Idk if players still sometimes send their kids to public schools like they did when I was growing up, but I wouldn't be surprised if the likes of Clutter, Bailey would).
The Kings aren't a big FA destination. Rangers are going to get any player they want. NJ seems to do well in this regard, but there seem to be some tangential factors for this. The Isles have the worst of every world; high taxes, a small market, and lack of sustained success being primary amongst them.
Muni part is overlooked in general conversations.
Florida also signed a bunch of guys this summer. Rodrigues, OEL, Mikkola off the top of my head. Vegas is a special situation as an expansion team. They had a shit ton of extra picks to play with and didn't need to build their team in a traditional fashion. The Tampa cups were a while back now and I don't remember if/who they signed at that time.
Taxes only account for 50% - all away games are taxed in the location they played. So, the ‘tax’ benefit gets watered down relatively quickly.
Right, and I can't even begrudge Smyth for bailing. As for Vanek we ended up being lucky that he decided against sticking around. Now our problem is that too many guys who come here end up sticking around, we're locked into contracts we can't get out of, but we're still whining that players don't want to come here for some reason? We didn't have room to add a Stamkos. Nashville did. They had like 20 mil in space and used it all in one shot. And it's not exactly clear that they're a contender in that conference after these moves.
Ok, I guess we can take Winnipeg off the list lololol. Raleigh is surprising to me, I think it's pretty nice down there.
It's true. And the distance between super nice, and really yikes is very close down there.
That's instructive to a point, but I also think there's a big difference between preference for a city to play an away game in (hotels, restaurants, arena atmosphere, etc.) versus where do you want to live.
