Rumor: 2019 Free Agent Boredom Part IV

[EscapedGoat]

That is a good question... the pushback is coming from two groups, Front Offices and fans. Front offices like certainty and love roster projections. Being able to say I have my top ____ for 7 years is great for them. They can build around that. Owners simply hate long deals and guaranteed money. If there is something they want to attack the most, it is guaranteed contracts. Having these longer deals means more buyouts, or more ineffective money. They obviously won't get the NFL level of contracts, so they will chip away at term. Then you also have the fans who also like certainty and being able to think and project their top players on their teams for a decade. The lifetime player is such a great thought.

It is important to remember the front office of a team is different than the owner and they have different ambitions. There are a faction of owners who don't care about the term or money parts of the business. For them it is a hobby. They don't comprise the majority of NHL owners though. I'd also say there is a push right now on term because FOs know this is probably the last hurrah of term. 2 or 3 years is likely to be knocked off whenever this CBA expires. We still see Ovi/Crosby/etc term still from the last CBA and it is a competitive advantage, they want to have that same advantage in 2023-2026.

Sounds silly but I never really thought about owners and front office being different and having different motivations. Seems like common sense now but until your post I always just lumped them together.

Thanks for the response.

 

[Foxtail]

Odds are high of a lockout, but owners want these short term contracts. They are likely to push for a 5 year term limit, and the younger generation of NHLPA doesn't care at all about the term. Only the older generation (and the NHLPA is skewing younger and younger by the season) and GMs really want the long-term deals. If there is a lockout, it certainly won't be over contract term. Bonuses don't really move the needle either... it essentially just pushes HRR forward and hurts the player's escrow in the end. Many of the problems the players have in the CBA is of their own doing and misunderstanding of it/being selfish.

According to Toews he wants escrow abolished and thinks it's not right to not get the whole of your contract. I think the NHLPA will push to get rid of it altogether.

Escrow a big reason why NHL players may opt out of Collective Bargaining Agreement

 

[Balthazar]

To simplify things, management wants long term contracts for RFA's and short term contracts for UFA's. For the players it's the complete opposite.

 

[Pokecheque]

According to Toews he wants escrow abolished and thinks it's not right to not get the whole of your contract. I think the NHLPA will push to get rid of it altogether.

Escrow a big reason why NHL players may opt out of Collective Bargaining Agreement

Well it was Toews so rest assured he let EVERYONE know of his displeasure.

 

[Foxtail]

Well it was Toews so rest assured he let EVERYONE know of his displeasure.

Just noticed the Barrie fitting in with the Leafs already clip , did you notice lol ?

 

[S E P H]

The contract limit is perfect as it is IMHO. Seven for UFAs and eight if they're re-signing with the club.

There's rumours out there that the owners side are fighting for four RFA years instead of three.

 

[Balthazar]

Dater throwing a jab at the Athletic?

 

[Avsboy]

Dater says the difference in AAV demanded and offered is $1 million.

 

[Avs_19]

Dater throwing a jab at the Athletic?

Who knows but only a fool would throw a jab at Pierre LeBrun, who is one of the most respected reporters out there, so it's certainly possible that's what he's doing.

 

[Foxtail]

Who knows but only a fool would throw a jab at Pierre LeBrun, who is one of the most respected reporters out there, so it's certainly possible that's what he's doing.

Didn't Joe and Rantanen both say they preferred a long term deal. Dater might be right

 

[Balthazar]

Didn't Joe and Rantanen both say they preferred a long term deal. Dater might be right

Joe yes but Rantanen? Pretty sure his agent is pushing for 5 years like all the other top RFA's.

 

[Foxtail]

Joe yes but Rantanen? Pretty sure his agent is pushing for 5 years like all the other top RFA's.

Ok but wasn't it said several times on here that Rants preferred a long term as well ?Thought it was in the Norway stuff or somewhere that Mikko said he did

 

[AllAboutAvs]

If Dater is right I bet Avs are offering 8.5M matching Aho's and Rantanen is asking for 9.5M.

 

[S3rkie]

I guess its all relative. It could be considered both ways, term being an issue that the avs want 7-8 years and for mikko to consider that term, the aav is 1m off. They might just be hearing the same info from two different perspectives. Either way if it really is 1m or less of a gap, theres no way he misses games.

 

[ThatAvsGamer]

I guess it's playing hard ball... But if Rantanen misses training camp over 1m it looks pretty bad. After the season we just had it's terrible to have a distraction because of 1m.

I don't follow Dater at all, but I might be watching his takes more closely, he gets burnt around here... Dude's just reporting AVS news. He's been the Avs best and most reliable news source with Rantanen news.

 

[Balthazar]

If Dater is right I bet Avs are offering 8.5M matching Aho's and Rantanen is asking for 9.5M.

Aho's got low AAV because of shit term (for the team) and sky high bonuses. I hope we aren't offering 5 years at all.

IMO it's going to be 6 years.... Rants would like 10.5, Sakic is offering 9.5.

I'm expecting something like 10M X 6...which isn't great but not a disaster.

 

[AvsGuy]

At this stage I’d say 10x6 years would be great. All the offseason roster upgrades won’t matter without Rantanen in the lineup to start with.

 

[Tweaky]

Getting back to the Ceci contract. I would like to lay out some facts.

Ceci was given a qualifying offer from Ottawa,which he declined. This would have been $4.3M for one year, and solidifies him as an RFA for this year. He signed a $4.5M contract for one year on July 4th.

General facts about arbitration: A player may opt for arbitration by July 5th 5pm. A team has between the players deadline and July 6th 5pm to request arbitration. The salary for an arbitration award at least 85% of the previous years salary and up to the max salary (~$14M this year). The decision is binding for both parties, with the exception that a team can elect to walk away from a one year contract of over $4.438M in a player-elected arbitration. That salary figure is based on average salary increase over the 2013/14 season...my best guess based on cap increase and the one year I found a limit...could be off a small bit.

So Toronto chose to pay Ceci MORE than the minimum arbitration award that they could have walked away from. Had they done nothing, it would have been up to Ceci to opt for arbitration. Had he done so, the award from that could have been $3.655M to $4.437M and Toronto would have been stuck with him. If the award was over $4.438M, they could walk away and he would be an UFA. If Ceci does not elect arbitration, he stay an unsigned RFA, at zero cost/caphit until he does sign a contract.

By choosing to sign him for more than they had to, they show that they think he has value above zero. Zero value being let him walk. Postitive value being a roster spot in place of Gardiner (esp on the right side given Babs fetish). Or value in a trade, bringing back something of value. Cap space in this situation is not value, as all they had to do to get that space is not sign him. So they expect something real in return....a low end prospect, and mid-late round pick, I dunno. But NOT giving Ceci and a 4th for a 6th.

 

[MarkT]

Yes, yes, I understand that. But I'm telling you he was not signed to a contract just so Toronto can spend even more valuable assets dumping his salary. It's. Not. Happening. If they had that little faith in him they'd have walked away from the arbitration award. And as someone rightfully pointed out, Babs is OBSESSED with left-hand/right-hand pairs on defense, so whether the fans there like it or not, Cody Ceci is gonna play for the Maple Leafs.

And regardless of whether he's brought aboard as an extra body and is destined for the minors, he's still not worth getting. The Avs need to divest themselves of some of these guys, not get more.

Responding to the bold: when did you join Leafs management? I don't know your real name, but I figured someone with such a job would be too busy right now to argue on a Colorado Avalanche forum. Joking aside, you don't know what you're claiming to know. What you're giving me is your opinion presented as irrefutable fact. For all we know, they signed Ceci for the specific purpose of trading him, but have now found nobody wants to give up assets for him. Maybe they just mis-read the market. Or maybe they signed him intending to keep him, but now realize they can get Gardiner back and have decided to move Ceci. Also, Babs is not the GM - Dubas clearly has no issue making moves Babs would not approve of - he traded Zaitsev, Marleau and Brown, and let Hainsey go in free agency.

As for your last paragraph, I don't understand why you're not getting it. If the Leafs are paying us to take him, you'd still not want him even if he's going to play for the Eagles? Do you have a personal vendetta against Ceci or something, or do you think he's so bad that he would ruin the Eagles chances of success? I understand you thinking it's unlikely he's even available. I also understand you thinking Ceci is a bad player. What I don't understand is your opposition to the fantasy scenario of the Leafs giving us a valuable asset to take his contract.

 

[cgf]

The leafs aren't going to pay us anything that makes it worthing eating Ceci...and no, the 3rd round pick (that they won't even offer us) wouldn't be worth adding to our clutter even if you got Dubas drunk enough to make that pitch.

Can we pick a more realistic/logical fantasy to dream about? Like flipping Kam for Drae straight up?

 

[Raucherhusten]

The Leafs already helped us out by taking Kerfoot. That was a very nice gesture. I doubt they'd do it again.

 

[JLo217]

How hard it's getting to get RFA's signed is getting old. If a lockout fixes that I would kind of be okay with it. Someday the talent pool will be too deep for the players to pull this move.

 

[lonelybadger]

The leafs are going to play Ceci on their top pair with Reilly so why would they trade him?

 

[Avs_19]

Just announce the Rantanen and Gardiner deals already. Waiting sucks.

 

[Ararana]

So Keller just signed an 8 year deal for 7.15 AAV