Declined contract offers that ended up a blessing

[Beukeboom Fan]

Not really because then they went and signed Ladd to an even worse contract a couple years later. So if they signed Vanek they probably wouldn't have given Ladd that contract. So not really a bullet dodged, just put off for a year.

It isnt a bad contract until it causes them to have to make tough moves because of lack of cap space. I'd also much rather have Ladd than Vanek right now.

 

[Johnny HFBOARDS]

Came here to say mention Andrew "dig deep" Ladd.... already mentioned twice. 6x6 bullet dodged.

 

[Souffle]

Montreal has avoided a lot of bad contracts over the years just because players generally don't want to sign there. By the same token, they've also missed out on some pretty good contracts over the years.

A few names randomly, although there many. Lecavalier when he was finished. Lucic recently (as mentioned). Further back, Montreal lost out to Boston on the Lapointe sweepstakes. But to prove a point, around the same time Shanahan chose NYR instead. They also flirted with Hull, but that obviously went nowhere.

For the most part, Montreal hasn't over-compensated for its undesirability by making contract offers so bad (or good?) that they are irresistible. They've even managed some good signings over the years. Hamrlik was good for the money and term. Gionta was worth his contract. Alzner might never be, but Petry is still in the Hamrlik range of adequacy.

Where they've felt some pain is in trading for bad contracts that they could never entice a player to sign in the first place. Gomez is easily the best example. In fact, I think they went after him as a UFA. Some might say Weber too, but I don't think it's a great example. It's been demonstrated that the poison gets swallowed by Nashville. And he's still a pretty good player for the money.

Overall, for a market that really wants to contend, has money to burn and only a small pool of players who want to play in Montreal, they've done okay. Some of that is definitely bullet dodging, but some of it is discipline.

I think it is safe to predict that, with all of their cap space this year and the substantial increase next season, Montreal's next big move will be acquiring a good-ish player on a bad-ish contract that the player never would have signed with them in the first place. I just hope the lucky player doesn't go full Gomez.

 

[TrufleShufle]

Devils have a few, Paris, Clarkson, Shattenkirk, and probably a few other debatable ones.

 

[Cassano]

Ryan Callahan turning down the 6x6 offer from the Rangers.

They went on to make the Cup finals that same year they traded him.

 

[TOGuy14]

I really doubt that the league would enforce an 20 mill cap hit on a contending team. That means bye bye to top 4 D and at least 1 of Johansen and Turris along with many others.
There's a case to be made that the CBA that came little after NSH matched PHI would have no effect, if it comes to that the league will probably decide on the matter.

All the teams in the central division should be furious if the cap penalties are not imposed on the Predators should the scenario arise.

It is easy to say "it isn't fair to hamper a contending team with $20M in dead space" but don't forget about all of the years they got to compete with a $10M D at on 7.8M cap hit. You have to pay the piper at some point...

 

[JT Kreider]

Ryan Callahan turning down the 6x6 offer from the Rangers.

They went on to make the Cup finals that same year they traded him.

Yeah, being saddled with a semi-broken Callahan making $5 million+ is the last thing we need right now.

 

[Leonardo87]

Yeah, being saddled with a semi-broken Callahan making $5 million+ is the last thing we need right now.

Semi-Broken? Dude has been playing great. Unlucky as hell but playing great.

Just wanted to add that not questioning it is a overpaid contract. Rangers were wise not
To sign it but maybe he does not tear his hip if still in NY. You never know. If he had like a 3 million cap hit no one would care and would be a good contract. But with the cap likely to go up by 10 million in the next 2 years it really is not much of a cap hit concern.

I wish he was still in NY here but obviously at a much lower cap hit. I just wanted to point out that he has been playing some of his best hockey as of late but little to show for it.

 

[Cassano]

Yeah, being saddled with a semi-broken Callahan making $5 million+ is the last thing we need right now.

Yeah, especially when we're stacked with much better players at his position. Bullet dodged indeed.

 

[Kahvi]

Nope, sorry, that Lucic buyout is alllll yours.

That Lucic contract was constructed in a way that there will be no buyout. Heavy on signing bonuses that can't be bought out.

 

[JT Kreider]

Semi-Broken? Dude has been playing great. Unlucky as hell but playing great.

He's still nowhere near where he was 2012 and his first season in Tampa. The only seasons of his career where he was a $5 million player.

Fortunately it's not a problem for the Lightning with Kucherov being criminally underpaid and Cally is off the books by the time Kuch needs to re up.

We need to re-sign Miller, Hayes, Skjei, Grabner, Buchnevich, Vesey, McDonagh, Zuccarello in the next two summers.

 

[Leonardo87]

He's still nowhere near where he was 2012 and his first season in Tampa. The only seasons of his career where he was a $5 million player.

Fortunately it's not a problem for the Lightning with Kucherov being criminally underpaid and Cally is off the books by the time Kuch needs to re up.

We need to re-sign Miller, Hayes, Skjei, Grabner, Buchnevich, McDonagh, Zuccarello in the next two summers.

I added some notes lol. But yeah he is not going to be a 40 or 50 point player anymore but his role now he has been very good.... just overpaid by at least a couple of million.

 

[The Nuge]

I would argue that Chara to the Kings ended up being a blessing in a roundabout way as well.



Yeah, would have been MUCH better if we were stuck with Lucic AND Brown's lengthy buyout while Brown enjoyed success elsewhere (while the Mike Richards payoff is also on the books till beyond the end of the world)!

Nope, sorry, that Lucic buyout is alllll yours.

Why would we buy Lucic out? He’s still producing, playing physical, and contrary to the belief that he’s about to fall apart any day now, he’s yet to miss a game as an Oiler (and has only missed 10 of his last 570 games). He’s signed until he’s 34. The team that might have to worry about him breaking down and having to buy him out would be the next team that signs him, not us

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Why would we buy Lucic out? He’s still producing, playing physical, and contrary to the belief that he’s about to fall apart any day now, he’s yet to miss a game as an Oiler (and has only missed 10 of his last 570 games). He’s signed until he’s 34. The team that might have to worry about him breaking down and having to buy him out would be the next team that signs him, not us

I meant contract, not buyout, whoops, still had buyout on the mind from previous sentence.

The suggestion was that the Kings may have been better off dumping Brown AND signing Lucic which would have not only been cap hell we'd likely be watching Brown succeed from afar as well as not having youngsters like Iafallo breaking in .

 

[JT Kreider]

Devils have a few, Paris, Clarkson, Shattenkirk, and probably a few other debatable ones.

Parise and the Devils is very interesting to think about. It's easy to say now 5 years after the fact that it's a dodged bullet considering his injury problems and the Devils finally have turned the corner.

I guess for the Devils the past 5 years of no playoffs was all worth it given the current crop, but at the same time when the Devils lost Parise they were coming off a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. You'd want to build off that and not only get back to the Cup, but finish the job. Otherwise it's just accepting the previois run was just a fluke.

July 4th, 2012-April 28th, 2017 it must have been real difficult for Devils fans, but if they think it was all worth it, I definitely feel that.

 

[Spazkat]

I really doubt that the league would enforce an 20 mill cap hit on a contending team. That means bye bye to top 4 D and at least 1 of Johansen and Turris along with many others.
There's a case to be made that the CBA that came little after NSH matched PHI would have no effect, if it comes to that the league will probably decide on the matter.

The league wrote that section into the CBA specifically as punishment for teams that had signed players to cap circumventing contracts. It wasn't an unintended effect... it was the whole point of adding that clause. It doesn't matter who drafted the initial contract- the fact remains that Nashville was the club that reaped the cap benefits from the early years of his contract, so they will be the ones hit with the penalties should he retire.

I sincerely doubt the league as a whole cares about rescuing the Preds from their own bad decisions, especially since it would set a terrible precedent. Found the below chart re: just how bad it might get for Nashville....

 

[Hostile Offer]

Nashville got Subban for that contract.

Looking like a pretty good decision to match right now

It's not done yet. The Preds might end up paying some huge cap recapture penalties, I'm sure Poile is praying for Weber to play that contract out.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Parise and the Devils is very interesting to think about. It's easy to say now 5 years after the fact that it's a dodged bullet considering his injury problems and the Devils finally have turned the corner.

I guess for the Devils the past 5 years of no playoffs was all worth it given the current crop, but at the same time when the Devils lost Parise they were coming off a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. You'd want to build off that and not only get back to the Cup, but finish the job. Otherwise it's just accepting the previois run was just a fluke.

July 4th, 2012-April 28th, 2017 it must have been real difficult for Devils fans, but if they think it was all worth it, I definitely feel that.

Well we might have been able to take another stab at it in the lock out year, but Zach staying would have left the team in mediocre limbo for years with a rapidly aging roster and cap issues.

Then you have Kovy abandoning ship and you are left with an empty prospect pool and paying Zach a huge sum as his body breaks down.

So yeah we might have had a couple of playoff appearances but we wouldn’t have gone anywhere and the contract would have been an anchor.

I hated seeing Zach leave at the time, but seeing where he is at now and I don’t regret it.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Lol, there is literally an article from around this time that says Sharks dodged a bullet on Callahan.

San Jose Sharks Dodge Bullet By Not Acquiring Ryan Callahan

Rumblings: Canucks still exploring options for Kevin Bieksa

This Pierre LeBrun article states that the Sharks would not offer a 2015 2nd round pick, which was Vancouver's asking price for Kevin Bieksa. This was a massive bullet dodged, as the Sharks went on to sign Paul Martin, who was very good in their SCF run.

Interesting how both of these guys are physical, gritty guys that the majority of HF, and especially HFSharks, myself included would have been vehemently against acquiring, and both of them have been pretty terrible for the majority of their time with the new teams that acquired them and proceeded to give them contracts.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Clarkson to the oilers

 

[Frank Drebin]

Montreal apparently offered Radulov 3 years at 5.5 per year. Thankfully Dallas offered him more because we just didn't have room for him in our already awesome top 6.

 

[triggrman]

The league wrote that section into the CBA specifically as punishment for teams that had signed players to cap circumventing contracts. It wasn't an unintended effect... it was the whole point of adding that clause. It doesn't matter who drafted the initial contract- the fact remains that Nashville was the club that reaped the cap benefits from the early years of his contract, so they will be the ones hit with the penalties should he retire.

I sincerely doubt the league as a whole cares about rescuing the Preds from their own bad decisions, especially since it would set a terrible precedent. Found the below chart re: just how bad it might get for Nashville....

The league will not enforce it, Poile pretty much said that on the radio, or he said there were provisions and exceptions put in place. My guess and other media have also speculated, since the Preds did not write contract, it would be treated like he was traded before 2013, which is a known exception.

 

[Sam Spade]

Parise

This by a lot. Whoever the others bidders were for him really dodged a bullet with this one.

7.5 for eight more seasons.

 

[Oberyn]

Blues offered a 4 year contract to Backes but didn't want to go to 5. Boston offered the 5th year and so he signed with them. I would say the Blues lucked out there. Not that Backes is a bad player, but his production isn't worth his current salary and I don't see him improving over the duration of the contract.

 

[The Macho King]

The sign-and-trade with St. Louis which would have brought Shattenkirk to the Blues for Drouin.

...

Instead we got Sergachev.