Alberta_OReilly_Fan
Bruin fan since 1975
I saw a few people here still getting all worried about whether a contract takes a guy straight to ufa. I assume some gms still worry about this idea too.
why?
in the old days... rfa used to get paid less than ufa… but that doesnt happen anymore. the top 20-30 rfa signing contracts in the past 2 years have been paid more than ufa. so its an outdated idea that ufa make more.
and... is it really a concern that a player will leave as an ufa? honestly how many premium ufa have left their team when their team was willing to pay them? take marner in Toronto for example... does anyone truely believe he wants to leave?
the guys in tampa could have left and were offered more money... they didnt want to leave
Ottawa is a dumpster fire so of course everyone wants to leave there... if they try to force their young guys to sign extra years its just going to be a disaster anyhow
signing a guy to 27 and ending in ufa or signing him to 28 and ending in ufa really is almost no difference at all. make your team desirable... treat the player right... and the player will resign anyhow
honestly if you intend to resign the player again anyhow... signing him to a 7 year deal at 27 that takes him to 34 is probably a hell of a lot smarter than signing him to a 8 year deal at 28 and potentially being stuck until 36 anyhow.
people are still using the old system to do their thinking. things changed 2 years ago. rfa no longer get paid less than ufa. weve all seen that we dont want to be paying 35-36 year old players 8-10 million dollars.
give a guy like marner the short deal he wants now... chances are his next deal wont be much more expensive... tell him hes getting what he wants now on the short deal but he might need to return the favor on the next deal [although honestly I think the cba is going to get rid of 7 and 8 year deals anyhow]
sadly for fans who think players are willing to take less on 5 year deals than they are on 8 year deals... I see no evidence of that. if anything I think players are showing evidence they want more on short term deals. look at edler in Vancouver this week. or look at marleau and thornton in san jose recently. these guys are getting upset at the shorter term offers and saying they want the top dollar anyhow.
it just comes down to bargaining power... who wants to stay and who wants to keep. the gms over the past decade have collectively decided to sign their top rfa to the longest contracts possible and this has put all the bargaining power to the players. meanwhile the ufa talent pool has really dried up. so the very few players that make it to ufa have bargaining power too.
basically if a player is good and teams want them... then they have bargaining power. and even the players that arent that good still have arbitration in their corner.
why?
in the old days... rfa used to get paid less than ufa… but that doesnt happen anymore. the top 20-30 rfa signing contracts in the past 2 years have been paid more than ufa. so its an outdated idea that ufa make more.
and... is it really a concern that a player will leave as an ufa? honestly how many premium ufa have left their team when their team was willing to pay them? take marner in Toronto for example... does anyone truely believe he wants to leave?
the guys in tampa could have left and were offered more money... they didnt want to leave
Ottawa is a dumpster fire so of course everyone wants to leave there... if they try to force their young guys to sign extra years its just going to be a disaster anyhow
signing a guy to 27 and ending in ufa or signing him to 28 and ending in ufa really is almost no difference at all. make your team desirable... treat the player right... and the player will resign anyhow
honestly if you intend to resign the player again anyhow... signing him to a 7 year deal at 27 that takes him to 34 is probably a hell of a lot smarter than signing him to a 8 year deal at 28 and potentially being stuck until 36 anyhow.
people are still using the old system to do their thinking. things changed 2 years ago. rfa no longer get paid less than ufa. weve all seen that we dont want to be paying 35-36 year old players 8-10 million dollars.
give a guy like marner the short deal he wants now... chances are his next deal wont be much more expensive... tell him hes getting what he wants now on the short deal but he might need to return the favor on the next deal [although honestly I think the cba is going to get rid of 7 and 8 year deals anyhow]
sadly for fans who think players are willing to take less on 5 year deals than they are on 8 year deals... I see no evidence of that. if anything I think players are showing evidence they want more on short term deals. look at edler in Vancouver this week. or look at marleau and thornton in san jose recently. these guys are getting upset at the shorter term offers and saying they want the top dollar anyhow.
it just comes down to bargaining power... who wants to stay and who wants to keep. the gms over the past decade have collectively decided to sign their top rfa to the longest contracts possible and this has put all the bargaining power to the players. meanwhile the ufa talent pool has really dried up. so the very few players that make it to ufa have bargaining power too.
basically if a player is good and teams want them... then they have bargaining power. and even the players that arent that good still have arbitration in their corner.