mudcrutch79
Registered User
Tom_Benjamin said:But I don't think this has anything at all to do with it. I knew they had a system. Anybody who used the stats on the NHLPA site knew they had a system for correlating statistics. There is not one statistic on the system that anybody could not get out of the latest NHL guide and record book. It is convenient. That's it. That the NHLPA had a system was not a secret. Telling people that they had a system betrayed nothing.
On the other hand, there is a lot of information on the system about the specific player contracts that is not public. It is not up to McBride to decide Nick Schultz won't mind if the reporter sees the bonus provisions in his contract. It is not up to McBride to decide whether Nick Schultz will mind if the reporter knows what qualifying offer the Wild made to him.
It's tough to argue that point, except to point out that anyone who cares knows what a guy's qualifying offer-if he's under the league average it's 110%, if he's over it's 100%. I find it surprising that the NHLPA, the champions of full salary disclosure, get a little skittish if someone shows someone else what a qualifying offer is. It makes a little more sense to me if they're upset because someone showed the extent to which they were playing the system.
McBride was given access to a system that contains genuinely private information about the players because he is a certified player agent who can use the information to help his clients. In return, he promises to keep that information confidential. He breached that confidence by letting a reporter into the system.
Winter didn't do that. The really stupid thing about McBride is that he knew it was wrong. He wasn't on the record like Winter. He showed the reporter around the system on the condition the reporter not identify him.
I suspect we can argue all day about what the really stupid thing about McBride is. I think it's stupider that he had to know it was easy to get caught, particularly once the reporter ran that specific example using Schultz. I see your point though, although the NHLPA has championed having player salary information in the public domain, so it seems somewhat hypocritical now to say "No, we want this stuff to be private."
How does it do this? I think this is a crazy idea. It does not do anything of the sort. It helps the agent ballpark the player's worth. It gives the agent access to all the details of the contracts of comparables. That's it. NHL teams have access to exactly the same information.
It allows the NHLPA to identify players who have arbitration-comparable players that are paid significantly more. It allows them to avoid sending guys like Thedore and Iginla in, as they can get more through the threat of a holdout. It allows them to avoid sending in guys like Marchant or Brewer, who aren't going to win; there's an epic Brewer arbitration thread where his comparables paid more are dicussed-he had none, and Meehan settled. The NHLPA's goal is to keep raising the boats by pouring more water into the sea. Ensuring that they receive only favourable arbitration awards is a pretty obvious part of the strategy. The NHLPA has a pretty compelling interest in avoiding seeing guys get smoked in arbitration and in seeing players do well outside of arbitration. It'd be foolish of Goodenow to not be on top of this stuff. It's been said that Ray Bourque kept salaries down by agreeing to minimal raises. He'd have the boots put to him today, privately, if he did the same thing.
The NHLPA has nothing to do with deciding which players file for arbitration. As far as I am aware, agents never consult with the NHLPA about the specifics of a contract negotiation.
Article 12.5.e of the CBA gives the NHLPA the right to represent a player at the hearing, unless the NHLPA chooses to delegate it. That's a pretty effective tool to use in convincing a guy that arbitration isn't the right route for him. Not to mention that although an agent may not consult with the NHLPA, their own system lets them view the state of negotiations. And without that 120 minute time limit to worry about...