i wouldn't say he played under market value for years. every elc contract is a bargain, if the players is bonafide nhl'er. than bratt got two year bridge deal at 2.75m, which looks ok for a player who scored around 0.5 ppg. he clearly outperformed his contract in his second year, but the parties couldn't agree on a long term contract. in the end bratt took the one year offer.
I don’t agree with your framing here, but we don’t need to get into it because none of this negates my point, which is that Bratt has been playing for less than market value. Throw out the ELC because those are pretty well standardized. After this season Bratt will have played 3 seasons post ELC and earned around half of what Hischier will have gotten in his first three post ELC seasons, and substantially less than half of what Jack got. When you bridge a FA like they did with Bratt, you save money upfront but the obvious consequence is that you pay more on the back end.
Probably my biggest frustration is people ignoring this dynamic and pretending that Bratt’s ask should be compared to what Hischier and Hughes got straight out of their ELCs.
we don't know what was offered by fitz on a long-term contract. but if bratt was willing to commit long term, i don't think 50+million were off the table. a player, who wants to stay, doesn't try to maximize his earnings in those salary heights. bratt is clearly more interested in money than staying a devil and i don't think he is the type of player you destroy the salary cap for.
There is zero evidence that Nico or Jack left any money on the table. By your logic they are both mercenaries who care more about money than leaving enough cap room for the team to win. If Bergeron and Marchand are happy with $6 million, why aren’t Nico and Jack?
Bratt gets the same double standard from the fan base that he gets from management.
as others said keeping bratt would be nice, but i don't see it. therefore if the team trades him in the offseason i am good with it. it takes two to tango.
I’m good with it too, it would be fun to see him play on a team that actually wants him.