It's all a sham, smoke and mirrors
Well, this much is clear -- Jacob Trouba and his agent would do us all a favour if they could at least get their story straight.
Because right now, the only gulf wider than the one separating Trouba and the Winnipeg Jets is the one separating what Trouba had been saying just days ago about the state of those talks and what his agent is now saying.
Pick a version, fellas. We don’t even care which one. But at the moment, you’re just insulting our intelligence, while simultaneously calling your own into question.
It is impossible to reconcile -- at least with a straight face -- what the Jets defenceman told the Free Press less than two weeks ago about the state of his contract negotiations with the Jets and what his agent, Kurt Overhardt, told the world Saturday night about those same negotiations.
The list of discrepancies between the relatively rosy and optimistic picture Trouba painted to the Free Press with the apocalyptic version of events Overhardt described in a news release issued on the eve of a Canada Russia hockey game is so long as to be laughable.
But hey, everyone could use a good laugh, right? So let’s compare and contrast what Trouba told the Free Press on Sept. 14 with what Overhardt said in his news release on two principal issues.
On the state of talks with the Jets
Trouba on Sept. 14: "They’re dealing with it. Kurt’s talking to Chevy. They’re going back and forth and talking."
Overhardt on Sept. 24: "There has been no negotiation regarding the terms of a contract between our client and the Jets over the course of the last several months."
--On whether there is any doubt Trouba will be in the Jets lineup on opening night:
Trouba on Sept. 14: "Not in my mind."
Overhardt on Sept. 24: "Our client, Jacob Trouba, will not be attending the Winnipeg Jets NHL training camp. Since May, we have been working with the Jets management in an effort to facilitate a trade of Jacob’s rights."
Bwahaha. You crazy kidders.
Never mind whether the Jets and Trouba have been talking; I’d argue the better question right now is whether Trouba and his agent have been talking the last couple weeks.
And the discrepancies don’t end there. Indeed, these two guys weren’t even on the same page on the one issue Overhardt says is a deal-breaker -- Trouba’s desire to play more on the right side of the defence because he is a right-handed shot.
"The situation is not about money," Overhardt wrote in his release, "it is solely about our client having the opportunity to realize his potential as a right shot NHL defenseman."
Is that right?
Well it just so happens that a lot of my interview with Trouba on Sept. 14 -- I tracked him down in Pittsburgh after a pre-tournament World Cup game involving Team North America -- centred on Trouba’s desire to play a larger role -- with the Jets -- and, yes, his hope to play more on the right side -- of the Jets defence
Indeed, Trouba’s desire for a bigger role and more right-side play were the first two paragraphs of the column I wrote about that interview.
But Trouba also made clear to me at the time -- in very specific detail -- that playing the left side despite having a right handed shot really isn’t that big of a deal for him.