Not a fan of either team. I just want GMs to use the tool.
It's just tough with the parameters. I think some fans have a misplaced sense that a team outsmarted the other team by using the offer sheet.
Some factors:
- The original team has a week to match and will typically take the entire period to keep the other team's cap space hostage. Maybe not a big a factor hypothetically for Utah, but for most teams they wouldn't want to be in limbo during the opening days of free agency and miss out on signing UFAs.
- The player doesn't have to sign if presented with an offer sheet. I feel like this gets overlooked. Most players would be happy to use a potential offer sheet as leverage without having to sign.
- How many teams have the cap space and required draft picks? Typically the ones that do are the rebuilding clubs who might want to be risking an unprotected first rounder.
- Why not just work out a trade instead like Calgary/Boston did with Dougie Hamilton?
- Threats of payback or hard feelings. Carolina went out of its ways to do a revenge offer sheet on Jesperi Kotkaniemi after Montreal tried to sign Sebastian Aho. St. Louis did something similar with Steve Bernier after Vancouver signed David Backes to an offer sheet.
Nashville had to match a fronloaded offer sheet on Shea Weber in 2012. At later point, Philadelphia was looking to dump Vinny Lecavalier's contract and they had something in place with Nashville. But when Preds GM David Poile brought it to ownership for approval, the owner didn't want to bail out a team that had forced him to pay 27 million to Weber over the first 12 months of that deal.
One cautionary offer sheet story that seemingly gets forgotten. In 2008 Tampa got new owners and wanted to clean house on their roster. They just drafted Steven Stamkos and thought Dan Boyle was too old, so they wanted a young D to grow with Stamkos.
The guy they identified? Andrej Meszaros.
Meszaros was an RFA who had a productive three years in Ottawa. Tampa Bay wanted to offer sheet him but they had managed to trade away one of the required draft picks (and were unsuccessful in getting it back). Ottawa was in a cap crunch so the standstill lasted until late August.
Ottawa thought its window was still open so they didn't want just draft picks in return. In the end they dealt Meszaros to Tampa for veteran D Filip Kuba and San Jose's 1st rounder.
But in a world where Tampa had offer sheeted Meszaros, they would have had to give their own 2009 1st rounder in return. That pick ended up being Victor Hedman. That might have been an all time misstep with Meszaros not really panning out like they had hoped.