We're unhappy because he made it look like he was returning, but never made it clear enough that he was considering other options.
It's the shock factor that is so disappointing.
You should see something like this coming - not get blind sided at the last minute.
Why should any fan see something like this coming? None of us are on the inside, all we hear are the official sound bytes and of course the never ending rumours.
IMO the conditions for this exact thing to happen were there for all to see.
The organization from top to bottom said all the right things, yet obviously thought Alfie was a sure thing based on the first official meeting between Barry and Murray.
The first clue something was amiss, Alfie told the Swedish media he intended to play another year, he did not call the Senators.
The second clue, the Sens make their first and only financial offer, somewhere between $3.5M-$4M for 1 year, where reports indicated Alfie was looking for $6M/year for 2 years.
For an organization that shouted from the rooftops how important Alfie was to the organization, the face of the franchise, why low ball him?
Murray should have had the OK from EM to immediately accept the $6M figure and sent Barry back to Alfie with the clear message the only discussion required was structure and term.
Under no circumstances should Barry have been told to take this initial offer to Alfie believing the words "this is how negotiations work" were in anyway applicable in this particular situation.
While Alfie from the pure playing perspective isn't worth $6M, everything else associated with his name was worth substantially more to the Ottawa Senators.
IMO this situation has all the earmarks of the organization taking Alfie for granted.
Why suddenly did Alfie decide having a ring was important enough to uproot his family from a city he loved, to chase his dream? Why not last year when the team definitely wasn't considered a contender?
IMO Alfie was shown a lack of respect and anything that followed that initial offer too little too late.
While I don't believe the decision was about money, in circumstances like these how else does a player measure the value an organization has for him or the level of respect for his contributions?
It is always easy to claim the team did everything it could, but like most things in life timing is everything.
