Zadina

jaster

I am become woke, destroyer of ignorance.
Jun 8, 2007
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You think he's going to magically want to play in the AHL just because he's not doing well in the NHL?
For an additional $3.4M, yes. Flip it around. You think he'd pay $3.4M of his own money to play an additional season in the NHL rather than the AHL?

There will be a time in the future, beyond his days of getting an NHL salary, where I'm sure Filip Zadina will be regretting his decision, if he hasn't already. His NHL career is almost certainly over after this season. Was 1 year of playing for the last-place Sharks worth it? I seriously doubt it.

Europe > AHL all day every day.
Again, not for $3.4M it's not.
 

norrisnick

The best...
Apr 14, 2005
31,323
16,709
For an additional $3.4M, yes. Flip it around. You think he'd pay $3.4M of his own money to play an additional season in the NHL rather than the AHL?

There will be a time in the future, beyond his days of getting an NHL salary, where I'm sure Filip Zadina will be regretting his decision, if he hasn't already. His NHL career is almost certainly over after this season. Was 1 year of playing for the last-place Sharks worth it? I seriously doubt it.


Again, not for $3.4M it's not.
Ya huh. You ever taken a bus from Omaha to Billings?
 

jaster

I am become woke, destroyer of ignorance.
Jun 8, 2007
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It looks like he is leaving a bunch of money on the table by going to SJ, but I have no idea what those income taxes and expenses look like for athletes. The real world difference between what he is making for the Sharks this year and what he would have made for the Wings probably isn't as simple as the black and white dollar amounts on capfriendly. I would bet his agent does have those numbers, though, and the difference clearly wasn't enough to make Zadina stay.
The gap is so wide though that the taxes are pretty much not relevant to the underlying point. We're talking about $3.4M here. Go ahead and apply an additional, I don't know, 25% tax on that and we're still talking about a difference of $2.55M. He made a regrettable decision either way.


We also don't know what numbers he was looking at short term and being confined to GR versus going to SJ and trying to prove himself in a bigger opportunity. The possible financial gains likely dwarf what he was guaranteed, especially if he figured to be buried in GR which would crater his next contract anyway.

In the end, he made the decision that he felt was best for him and that he was happiest with. Viewing it through any other lens probably says more of what we feel is important than what he does.
NHL players make sound career decisions based on an accurate gauge of their value all the time. Zadina bet on himself, and it was a bad bet because he was not able to accurately rate his talent level. It was a miscalculation by a player of his caliber to give up an amount of money that is commensurate with a player of a higher caliber.

Ya huh. You ever taken a bus from Omaha to Billings?
My guy, I was in the military, I've taken worse transport than a bus on far worse trips than Omaha to Billings, and for far, far less than $3.4M :laugh:
 

norrisnick

The best...
Apr 14, 2005
31,323
16,709
The gap is so wide though that the taxes are pretty much not relevant to the underlying point. We're talking about $3.4M here. Go ahead and apply an additional, I don't know, 25% tax on that and we're still talking about a difference of $2.55M. He made a regrettable decision either way.



NHL players make sound career decisions based on an accurate gauge of their value all the time. Zadina bet on himself, and it was a bad bet because he was not able to accurately rate his talent level. It was a miscalculation by a player of his caliber to give up an amount of money that is commensurate with a player of a higher caliber.


My guy, I was in the military, I've taken worse transport than a bus on far worse trips than Omaha to Billings, and for far, far less than $3.4M :laugh:
We can't all be cheap and easy....
 

Winger98

Moderator
Feb 27, 2002
23,357
5,562
Cleveland
The gap is so wide though that the taxes are pretty much not relevant to the underlying point. We're talking about $3.4M here. Go ahead and apply an additional, I don't know, 25% tax on that and we're still talking about a difference of $2.55M. He made a regrettable decision either way.

NHL players make sound career decisions based on an accurate gauge of their value all the time. Zadina bet on himself, and it was a bad bet because he was not able to accurately rate his talent level. It was a miscalculation by a player of his caliber to give up an amount of money that is commensurate with a player of a higher caliber.

Alright, let's say $3.4m. Take 40% off in taxes. Take 5% off in agent fees. 20% in escrow. You're down to what...$1.3m? It's not pocket change, but he's getting around $500k for this year after everything? That fair? So he needs to make up $800k in take home pay.

Yeah, that's a life changing figure for me, especially just dumped in my lap in a year, but for Zadina to go back to Europe, earn that paltry $250k a year someone mentioned earlier while being waaaaay closer to home...I mean, we don't question guys taking less to play in Minnesota of all god forsaken places, so I'm not sure I'd question a guy taking less to go play in Europe.

And all of this is entirely besides the point made earlier where viewing his decision through what we think is a mistake is likely viewing it through the wrong lens entirely. Yeah, we care more about the dollars. He might not. We don't know and never will. And if he ends up content with his career I'm not sure it's our place to tell him how wrong he is for it.
 

OgeeOgelthorpe

Riccis per 60 record holder
Feb 29, 2020
18,278
19,979
Alright, let's say $3.4m. Take 40% off in taxes. Take 5% off in agent fees. 20% in escrow. You're down to what...$1.3m? It's not pocket change, but he's getting around $500k for this year after everything? That fair? So he needs to make up $800k in take home pay.

Yeah, that's a life changing figure for me, especially just dumped in my lap in a year, but for Zadina to go back to Europe, earn that paltry $250k a year someone mentioned earlier while being waaaaay closer to home...I mean, we don't question guys taking less to play in Minnesota of all god forsaken places, so I'm not sure I'd question a guy taking less to go play in Europe.

And all of this is entirely besides the point made earlier where viewing his decision through what we think is a mistake is likely viewing it through the wrong lens entirely. Yeah, we care more about the dollars. He might not. We don't know and never will. And if he ends up content with his career I'm not sure it's our place to tell him how wrong he is for it.

He’s not making 250k a year in the Czech league to play for his daddy next year.

Salary Expectations

30k to 200k usd.
 

Gniwder

Registered User
Oct 12, 2009
15,146
8,292
Bellingham, WA
Ya huh. You ever taken a bus from Omaha to Billings?
You ever work a real job? I drove a shit ton of miles working for various companies, taking a bus is cake walk, and I didn't get paid $1.8M to do it.

And oddly, I've driven to both cities on my own personal time for vacation from Michigan, I go hunting in Nebraska and skiing in Montana. I actually have friend in both cities.
 
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jaster

I am become woke, destroyer of ignorance.
Jun 8, 2007
13,961
9,787
Alright, let's say $3.4m. Take 40% off in taxes. Take 5% off in agent fees. 20% in escrow. You're down to what...$1.3m? It's not pocket change, but he's getting around $500k for this year after everything? That fair? So he needs to make up $800k in take home pay.

Yeah, that's a life changing figure for me, especially just dumped in my lap in a year, but for Zadina to go back to Europe, earn that paltry $250k a year someone mentioned earlier while being waaaaay closer to home...I mean, we don't question guys taking less to play in Minnesota of all god forsaken places, so I'm not sure I'd question a guy taking less to go play in Europe.

And all of this is entirely besides the point made earlier where viewing his decision through what we think is a mistake is likely viewing it through the wrong lens entirely. Yeah, we care more about the dollars. He might not. We don't know and never will. And if he ends up content with his career I'm not sure it's our place to tell him how wrong he is for it.
$3.4M was the difference. He actually stood to make $4.5M with Detroit. But I'll apply the %s you posted and update the numbers. Also, I believe state tax in Michigan is a flat 4.25%. In California it is graduated, and Zadina is subject to 12.3%. So I'm going to apply an additional 8% to his Sharks salary:

A) Detroit org
This season: 640K (AHL with chance at NHL)
Next season: 955K (AHL with chance at NHL)
(his salary stepped up in each year of the contract)

B) San Jose / Europe
This season: 297K (NHL with chance at AHL)
Next season: 154K (Czechia)
(based on max salary in the Czech league, with 23% tax rate)

So it's $1.595M vs 451K over two years. A difference of $1.144M. For a guy who's taken home approximately $1.25M (applying our %s to his career earnings on CapFriendly) in his career to-date, that is almost double his career earnings. That's more than enough to make me stick to my point.

You're right that we'll never know what's in his heart though. Maybe he literally does not care about over a million dollars. Maybe he was willing to sacrifice that much money for a "chance" to make more and he'll never have a single regret. But I'm just going on what I know, and what I know is that 1) that much money, more often than not, means a lot to players like him, and 2) his gamble was at least partly based on the idea that he's a better hockey player than he actually is - which many of us were basically pointing out at the time.

More power to him if he has no regrets, but that's not a narrative I subscribe to.
 

Snuggs

Registered User
Jun 24, 2018
2,746
1,385
I actually assuming he'll go sign in Switzerland next year. He's made close to 10 million in the NHL since being drafted with his bonuses and "slide" year. It's probably the nicest league to play in outside of the NHL, KHL offers more money, but I can't say I've heard good treatment of foreign players. NL in Switzerland is nice, good pay, accommodations, travel, food, etc.

He's going to go back a millionaire but I'm sure he'll look back at that money he put on the table and lost. Bet on himself and just lost.

He'll not have a bad life in hockey outside of the NHL making six figures already being a millionaire, imo.
 
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jaster

I am become woke, destroyer of ignorance.
Jun 8, 2007
13,961
9,787
He's made close to 10 million in the NHL since being drafted with his bonuses and "slide" year.

Capfriendly says:
Estimated Career Earnings
Tooltip
: $3,567,325

And that’s before taxes, escrow, and agent fees. More likely, he’s made under $2M so far.
 
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Gniwder

Registered User
Oct 12, 2009
15,146
8,292
Bellingham, WA
Capfriendly says:


And that’s before taxes, escrow, and agent fees. More likely, he’s made under $2M so far.
Yup, ELC was two way, and he spent 1 1/2 seasons in GR. The he walked away from his big payday one way contract.

But hey, $2M is big money for a kid under 25, especially since all that money was based on what he did as a teenager and not because of his performance in the NHL. He should give some of that money to the scouts that hyped him, lol, or at least send them a Xmas card.
 
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Snuggs

Registered User
Jun 24, 2018
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1,385
Capfriendly says:


And that’s before taxes, escrow, and agent fees. More likely, he’s made under $2M so far.
yeah I just looked at his "AAV" and assumed he played those years. Didn't realise they made it easy for me right infront of my face.




In hindsight now... This is a massive financial mistake on his part. He'll never again in his life make that money up.
 
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