Speculation: Oh Radulov, Where Art Thou...GH?

[ArWKo]

At this point the drama is getting to be a bit much. It has nothing to do with his nationality, that makes no difference to me.

I agree. If the Avs were serious Stamkos contenders I think you'd see a lot of fed up people simply because of all the drama that surrounds these big free agents.

Certainly Radulov is more personally maligned than most other players but it also isn't as if he hasn't done things in his time in the NHL (or the KHL for that matter) to make people a little concerned with his character - at the same time plenty of people just don't care about any of the personal stuff as long as he's killing it on the ice.

I've always been in the camp that doesn't expect Radulov here but would be thrilled if he did end up on the Avs, but mostly I just want the whole saga to be over regardless of how it goes.

 

[cgf]

*shrug* Radulov has never done anything as bad as what ROR or Patrick Kane have gotten away with.

 

[Sea Eagles]

*shrug* Radulov has never done anything as bad as what ROR or Patrick Kane have gotten away with.

Very good point. And if his coach were anything like Joe Sacco, maybe he deserved the whack he copped

Jokes.

 

[ArWKo]

I'm not here to judge what he's done, I'm just saying he's got enough stuff in his past to put off some people in the same way that what RoR and Kane have done would put off some people to them.

 

[Avsblitzkrieg]

I think she means the speculation about him on this board. Which I get. But there's a lot of hate out there for him that pre-dates our discussions on here, or from fans of other teams who haven't been discussing him since ROR left.

I'd love to sign Radulov. Being from Russia is not a big deal to me. Even with world current events. Him being late on curfew is not a big deal. However when you slap a coach, I can see why that would turn people off to him. Imagine if that was to happen in the NFL. I think with this reports is Radulov camp jockeying for position.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

I'm running out of reasons why Radulov is waiting.

 

[Foppa2118]

Not about the money huh Rads? What a tease.

I'm starting to get in TV's boat. I'm just ready for this to be over.

 

[AslanRH]

Someday I'll understand why Rads gets so much more hate than any other UFA like Stamkos...either that or I'll just accept that anti-russian xenophobia is still so absurdly active. I mean "good riddance"? It's like you guys want the NHL to continue becoming even more boring and less skilled.

Is it really any different than posters saying they don't want a "thug" like Lucic or "weasel" like Marchand anywhere near the Avs? Or Backes, Kronwall, and even recently the dirty [bound to be suspended for half the season] Gudas?

Not everyone is against this Radulov business because they are xenophobes or because they want a "more boring" league. Apparently quite a few GMs don't want him either at his demands, which is how I think most reasonable Avs fans feel as well who don't support him signing here.

 

[ArWKo]

I'm honestly not all that surprised, I could easily see him just waiting to see how the FA market shakes out. I wouldn't even be surprised if a few teams told him "maybe" but that they wanted to wait for the start of free agency to shake out whether that be to see where prices land, who they could maybe land, what division rivals do, etc.

 

[Avs44]

Someday I'll understand why Rads gets so much more hate than any other UFA like Stamkos...either that or I'll just accept that anti-russian xenophobia is still so absurdly active. I mean "good riddance"? It's like you guys want the NHL to continue becoming even more boring and less skilled.

No, I don't want an enigmatic UFA who last played in the NHL full time in 2008, who could have signed weeks ago (and was apparently going to after the WC, but didn't), who is now waiting until July 1st for god knows what reason, is apparently talking to KHL clubs at the least in case he doesn't want what he gets here. No, I don't want to overpay that player, tie the Avs down with a big contract, and cater to what he wants. Therefore, I must be a xenophobe. Great thinking cgf.

 

[cgf]

Is it really any different than posters saying they don't want a "thug" like Lucic or "weasel" like Marchand anywhere near the Avs? Or Backes, Kronwall, and even recently the dirty [bound to be suspended for half the season] Gudas?

Not everyone is against this Radulov business because they are xenophobes or because they want a "more boring" league. Apparently quite a few GMs don't want him either at his demands, which is how I think most reasonable Avs fans feel as well who don't support him signing here.

Except Rads doesn't try to hurt opposing players intentionally like Lucic, isn't a rat like Marchand, doesn't abuse women like Kane, isn't a monster like Ribiero, or even drunkenly crash his truck like ROR. He was half an hour late for curfew and long ago accidentally hit a coach that he didn't see standing behind him with his stick. Yet he gets so much more vitriol than any of these players mentioned; there's another factor at play.

It may not be racism, but there aren't many other explanations other than him leaving the mighty NHL. Which is almost as stupid of a reason to hate a professional athlete.

No, I don't want an enigmatic UFA who last played in the NHL full time in 2008, who could have signed weeks ago (and was apparently going to after the WC, but didn't), who is now waiting until July 1st for god knows what reason, is apparently talking to KHL clubs at the least in case he doesn't want what he gets here. No, I don't want to overpay that player, tie the Avs down with a big contract, and cater to what he wants. Therefore, I must be a xenophobe. Great thinking cgf.

No one is suggesting Rads get overpaid. Even the figures that he's speculated to be looking for wouldn't be over-payment; so you're afraid of an imaginary problem.

And what UFA do you not have to cater to? Unless you're suggesting we solve our top 6 hole with PTOs.

 

[Avs_19]

I find this somewhat hard to believe. I'd be surprised if none of the 30 teams were willing to commit salary/term to a risk-free high character individual like Radulov.

Slava has said from the beginning he doesn't know what's going to happen because Radulov is unpredictable and he changes his mind every day. Sounds like he's onto something there. Just ready for this to be over for good.

 

[Avs44]

Except Rads doesn't try to hurt opposing players intentionally like Lucic, isn't a rat like Marchand, doesn't abuse women like Kane, isn't a monster like Ribiero, or even drunkenly crash his truck like ROR. He was half an hour late for curfew and long ago accidentally hit a coach that he didn't see standing behind him with his stick. Yet he gets so much more vitriol than any of these players mentioned; there's another factor at play.

It may not be racism, but there aren't many other explanations other than him leaving the mighty NHL. Which is almost as stupid of a reason to hate a professional athlete.



No one is suggesting Rads get overpaid. Even the figures that he's speculated to be looking for wouldn't be over-payment; so you're afraid of an imaginary situation.

That's entirely your opinion. I imagine 30/30 GM's would consider 7 million, the speculated number, to be an overpayment. The fact that Radulov has yet to sign would indicate that the bulk of the league would agree with my stance, not yours. Keep touting that racism and xenophobe card because you can't understand why some members of this fanbase aren't overjoyed at the thought of Radulov, though.

 

[tigervixxxen]

I don't care what he did in the past. But just look at the WC situation, he left Russia, nobody knew where he was and he totally pissed off the Russians. Then of course he doesn't play either. Of course they have problems of their own but it's this whole saga that's been going on for two months. Does he want money, doesn't he? Does he really want to come to the NHL or not? He can sign at any time, now it's after July 1. Some people out there swear up and down he's coming here, others believe he won't come to the NHL at all. Just make a decision.

 

[Avs44]

I don't care what he did in the past. But just look at the WC situation, he left Russia, nobody knew where he was and he totally pissed off the Russians. Then of course he doesn't play either. Of course they have problems of their own but it's this whole saga that's been going on for two months. Does he want money, doesn't he? Does he really want to come to the NHL or not? He can sign at any time, now it's after July 1. Some people out there swear up and down he's coming here, others believe he won't come to the NHL at all. Just make a decision.

Pretty much this. This thing should have been decided a few weeks ago, and indications were that after the WC Rads was going to make a decision. At this point, it just seems like game playing. I'd rather not have the Avs involved and catering to that. I'd rather the Avs pursue players who want to be here, not players who could have signed here, or elsewhere, weeks ago, but for whatever reason are still being coy. At this point, I'm sick of it and hope the Avs look elsewhere. If Radulov really want to be a member of the Avs and was excited about it, I think he would have signed already.

 

[cgf]

I don't care what he did in the past. But just look at the WC situation, he left Russia, nobody knew where he was and he totally pissed off the Russians. Then of course he doesn't play either. Of course they have problems of their own but it's this whole saga that's been going on for two months. Does he want money, doesn't he? Does he really want to come to the NHL or not? He can sign at any time, now it's after July 1. Some people out there swear up and down he's coming here, others believe he won't come to the NHL at all. Just make a decision.

Why? Why should he rush one of the biggest decision of his professional career? For our peace of mind? Why should he care about that? This is his life, not ours.

Just don't pay as much attention to it until you see a press conference with him officially joining some team. That's what I've had to do.

 

[LobsterMagnet19]

Shame on a high profile UFA for not playing in a meaningless tournament where he could get hurt and affect his future contract status! And double shame on arguably the highest profile UFA wing for waiting on the NHL's free agency period to sign with a team! I mean seriously, what's wrong with that dude. Why wouldn't he just take care of business a month ago when definitely every team was already ready to take care of a giant summer signing and wasn't either A) still in the playoffs, B) waiting to see how the market unfolded, C) unsure of their summer plans/future, D) interested in Radulov as a Stamkos backup plan.

The perception that it's Radulov waiting and not NHL teams waiting is just fascinating to me. If he's playing the market in the NHL, then it only makes sense that he would sign after July 1. Come on, what doesn't compute about that? No team that's interested in Stamkos is going to sign Radulov now and take away their opportunity at Stamkos. That cuts down his market significantly, so those teams are waiting on that, and he's waiting on them to see the market.

No one is flying off the handle about "Enigmatic" players like Nathan MacKinnon, Johnny Gaudreau, and Sean Monahan not signing their contracts yet! They could have signed almost a YEAR AGO! Shame on them!

 

[Avs44]

Why? Why should he rush one of the biggest decision of his professional career? For our peace of mind? Why should he care about that? This is his life, not ours.

Just don't pay as much attention to it until you see a press conference with him officially joining some team. That's what I've had to do.

I don't quite understand your defense of Radulov here. Imagine if it's now mid August and Stamkos has yet to sign. There have been vague rumors about what he wants, indications of what team he wants to play for, etc., but nobody really knows. There would be absolute frustration around the league if he pulled that. It wouldn't be "he's making a career decision, give him time," practically everyone would be saying "stop wasting our time and get it over with." This has nothing to do with xenophobia. Nobody in this league would be too tolerant of Stamkos pulling something like that either, and Stamkos at least would have been consistently in the NHL the entire time. We don't even know if Radulov is committed to this league.

 

[AslanRH]

Except Rads doesn't try to hurt opposing players intentionally like Lucic, isn't a rat like Marchand, doesn't abuse women like Kane, isn't a monster like Ribiero, or even drunkenly crash his truck like ROR. He was half an hour late for curfew and long ago accidentally hit a coach that he didn't see standing behind him with his stick. Yet he gets so much more vitriol than any of these players mentioned; there's another factor at play.

It may not be racism, but there aren't many other explanations other than him leaving the mighty NHL. Which is almost as stupid of a reason to hate a professional athlete.



No one is suggesting Rads get overpaid. Even the figures that he's speculated to be looking for wouldn't be over-payment; so you're afraid of an imaginary problem.

And what UFA do you not have to cater to? Unless you're suggesting we solve our top 6 hole with PTOs.

Fine I'll lay out my thoughts again. You can label me whatever you want after:
1) Guy hasn't played in the NHL for almost a decade and his prime elite years came against lesser competition.
2) He doesn't seem committed to the NHL even now
3) He's been stripped of his captaincy at least once due to [character/leadership] issues
4) I'm not convinced this team would handle the dynamics of possible issues as well as a more veteran team would.
5) His age, while not old, is at the point where his skills will start to diminish, so a long term deal doesn't interest me.
6) I don't think a short term $7.5m deal is in the best interest of the Avs (especially this season) considering other needs as well.

 

[Avs44]

No one is flying off the handle about "Enigmatic" players like Nathan MacKinnon, Johnny Gaudreau, and Sean Monahan not signing their contracts yet! They could have signed almost a YEAR AGO! Shame on them!

You don't see any difference here? Really?

 

[LobsterMagnet19]

You don't see any difference here? Really?

And you don't see a difference between Radulov not signing by June 26th and Stamkos not signing by August when NHL Free Agency starts on July 1? Really?

 

[Avs44]

And you don't see a difference between Radulov not signing by June 26th and Stamkos not signing by August when NHL Free Agency starts on July 1? Really?

Except Radulov's free agency opened up May 1st.

 

[LobsterMagnet19]

Except Radulov's free agency opened up May 1st.

That sounds like it matters a lot for the 30 NHL teams whose budgets depend on what happens at the draft and on July 1st

 

[Avs44]

That sounds like it matters a lot for the 30 NHL teams whose budgets depend on what happens at the draft and on July 1st

So your argument is the hold up is entirely on the clubs side of things, not Radulov's? There's been nothing to support that whatsoever, and all reports so far wouldn't support that either. Sakic's comments, for example, would indicate teams just aren't going to give the term and money Radulov wants, which would indicate Radulov is simple holding out hoping for someone to cave. After Lucic, Ladd, Stamkos, Backes, and Eriksson sign, there will be even less of a market for wingers.

 

[Bubba Thudd]

BREAKING:
Rads hanging out with Johnny Manziel in New York



j/k