Speculation: Taking less to win a cup

Jumptheshark

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Oct 12, 2003
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I am sure there are some minor deals here and there, but there are a couple I remember vividly about guys taking less to try to win a cup.

Selanne at $5.8M and Kariya at $1.2M in Colorado.
Richards at $2M in Chicago.

What are some of the best examples of players signing really cheap to try to win a cup? (Not that I think they should, but how many times has it been a HUGE discount?)


Oilers fans are holding their breath that both Leon and McDavid do not get what they are worth
 

Pucklington

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Mar 24, 2008
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I am sure there are some minor deals here and there, but there are a couple I remember vividly about guys taking less to try to win a cup.

Selanne at $5.8M and Kariya at $1.2M in Colorado.
Richards at $2M in Chicago.

What are some of the best examples of players signing really cheap to try to win a cup? (Not that I think they should, but how many times has it been a HUGE discount?)
Kariya also took 1.2M to remain a UFA. If he took a higher value he would have been an RFA due to rules at the time about average contract values.

While winning was a reason, there was also a financial component.
 

Laus723

Graceful brutality
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Jan 27, 2006
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This......................is well said.

So many GM's with buyers remorse these days........who gave Nurse that insane contract anyhow???

Anyhow, it's a huge challenge for all the GM's...............................10-12 years ago the Bruins did a great job ensuring years of being a good team by keeping everyone in check with their cap hits.
Then came MacAvoy and Pasta......lol
That was Holland, but Bowman (the Oils' new GM) had just traded for Seth Jones, then signed him to an obnoxious deal. Nurse and Werenski were both due new deals and pointed to Jones's new deal as the deal as the standard.

Awful signings.
 
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banks

Only got 3 of 16.
Aug 29, 2019
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Marian Hossa tried this when he flip-flopped between PIT and Detroit chasing a Cup. He ended up on the losing side again anyway, but it was clearly a Cup chasing 1 year deal. He left money and a ton of term to give that a try.

He ended up finding a better method with his cap-circumvention contract with those retirement years at the end with Chicago. That plan worked and he actually got paid and won.
 

GIN ANTONIC

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Aug 19, 2007
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Regarding Spezza, Gio, Simmonds, etc. joining the Leafs in the twilight of their careers, I would ask this...

- If Toronto wasn't their hometown childhood team would they have still signed with the Leafs?
- If Toronto was a bottom feeder or bubble team rather than a top 10 reg season team would they have signed elsewhere instead?

I'm sure it's partially both motivations in that they wanted to go home and potentially win a cup but which one of those motivations was stronger?

I think if the Leafs stunk and had no shot at the playoffs there's a good chance those players would still sign there anyway to live out their childhood dreams and be close to home.

Leafs being a good team helped but I doubt was driving the decision to sign there for cheap. Spezza even outright said that when the Leafs put him on waivers to manipulate the roster/cap situation if a team claimed him he wouldn't report and would retire.

This was in the middle of a season where he scored 30 points in 54 games so he was absolutely playing well enough to be on any team and would have been picked up for sure.

 

madmike77

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Jan 9, 2009
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Oilers fans are holding their breath that both Leon and McDavid do not get what they are worth
I really can’t see Leon taking less than 13. The guy gave the Oilers a massive discount on his last contract. He doesn’t owe them another one. Even at 13 he’d be giving them a break.
 

DomBarr

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Apr 7, 2014
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I’m pretty sure the number 8.7 and the long term were why he signed at that AAV, and not “signing really cheap to try to win a cup.”
really? he was by far the best player in the league on a contending team when he signed that contract and I don't think that the Penguins would have had any issue giving him $10M plus on that same 12 yrs contract but he knew that to give them a chance to win more cups he had to discount and kept with the $8.7 M AAV
 

McShogun99

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Aug 30, 2009
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I really can’t see Leon taking less than 13. The guy gave the Oilers a massive discount on his last contract. He doesn’t owe them another one. Even at 13 he’d be giving them a break.
When he signed the deal a lot of Oiler fans weren't happy and were comparing Kuznetzov as a comparable at 7.75. I don't think anyone would have predicted the player that Draisaitl has become. I wouldn't say he gave the Oilers a discount, he just massively outplayed his contract similar to Mackinnon and Pasta when they signed their second deals.
 

Canovin

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Oct 27, 2010
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I really can’t see Leon taking less than 13. The guy gave the Oilers a massive discount on his last contract. He doesn’t owe them another one. Even at 13 he’d be giving them a break.
Drai didn't take a discount. He took what was fair for both sides at the time. Both sides knew the risks and upside
 
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YP44

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I really can’t see Leon taking less than 13. The guy gave the Oilers a massive discount on his last contract. He doesn’t owe them another one. Even at 13 he’d be giving them a break.
At the time a lot of GMs were pissed at Leon's contract as it set a new bar for players out of an entry level deal. It turned into massive value for the Oilers, but at the time of signing it was viewed like the Oilers let Leon just sign what he wanted.

When he signed the deal a lot of Oiler fans weren't happy and were comparing Kuznetzov as a comparable at 7.75. I don't think anyone would have predicted the player that Draisaitl has become. I wouldn't say he gave the Oilers a discount, he just massively outplayed his contract similar to Mackinnon and Pasta when they signed their second deals.
well said
 

Planetov

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Nov 18, 2019
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really? he was by far the best player in the league on a contending team when he signed that contract and I don't think that the Penguins would have had any issue giving him $10M plus on that same 12 yrs contract but he knew that to give them a chance to win more cups he had to discount and kept with the $8.7 M AAV
Signing for below market value and “signing really cheap” do not mean the same thing. If the OP was about contracts with the best value, Crosby’s contract fits the bill. But this ain’t that.
 

HugeInTheShire

You may not like me but, I'm Huge in the Shire
Mar 8, 2021
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Brodeur did this constantly in NJ, he always took less so Lou could add more. His agent hated this idea, so Marty fired him and negotiated his own contracts.
 
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WTFMAN99

Registered User
Jun 17, 2009
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You should try switching to dark mode, you’ll never go back to light mode.

I think the difference is a little less noticeable on a desktop which is where I do my HFing at, mobile...I could see it being blinding for sure though lol.

Doesn't help that the other resources I have for my job are all basically the same as a non-dark mode HF so it's not such a shock to be on it.
 

BLONG7

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Brodeur did this constantly in NJ, he always took less so Lou could add more. His agent hated this idea, so Marty fired him and negotiated his own contracts.
Every single agent would struggle with what Marty did
But as we know it was the right thing to do

It has a trickle down effect also
Something the players and organization would respect
Agents. Not so much
 
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