The Most Predatory Offer Sheet [Article]

[dahrougem2]

I just wish the NHL off-season was as exciting as the NBA's.

 

[Super Hans]

Why take the risk of creating grudges when NHL GMs are perfectly willing to give contracts out to their young stars that take them right into the beginning of their UFA years?

 

[8816 others]

The best example I can think of to demonstrate how much GMs don't like offer sheets:

Burke was so against them that he made a 1st, 2nd, 3rd into two 1sts and a 2nd to get Kessel. Boston was not expected to match after nearly reaching the cap ceiling with other signings.

An offer sheet may have prevented the eventual trade of Kaberle to Boston, which some saw as a bit of pay back for not going the offer sheet route.

 

[member 105785]

If you're talking THE lockout (04-05) there's been 8 offer sheets signed(don't know how many have been sent out and not signed) from 6 different teams.

Kesler - Flyers
Vanek - Oilers
Penner - Oilers
Backes - Canucks
Bernier - Blues
Hjalmarsson - Sharks
Weber - Flyers
O'Reilly - Flame

I think he's talking about the 2013 lockout and O'Reilly getting OS'd after the lockout ended and him having to clear waivers if Colorado didn't match

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

WGR Article link




Interesting take on the offersheet. After reading that, it seems like an even nastier way to damage a team long term.

What happens if the team doesn't match, and you're now stuck paying Eichel $12m per year, and he becomes a UFA at 25? Remind me how that is a good thing for a team?

 

[Sleepy]

What happens if the team doesn't match, and you're now stuck paying Eichel $12m per year, and he becomes a UFA at 25? Remind me how that is a good thing for a team?

Yeah. Dueling 1 other GM to the death isn't a good way to gain an advantage on the other 29 teams. In fact, seems like a terrible idea.

 

[BlueBaron]

what if you get Eichel and it costs you 4 first round picks and he bolts at free agency?

Depends on the team. Say the Rangers or Habs added Eichel and they win a Cup? It would be worth it.

A cup is worth 4 first rounders IMO.

 

[Insomniac99]

What happens if the team doesn't match, and you're now stuck paying Eichel $12m per year, and he becomes a UFA at 25? Remind me how that is a good thing for a team?

You pay on the north side of what you think they were going to pay anyways. The important thing is you're getting them to UFA faster.

 

[Roboturner913]

That's probably not as bad as the poison pills on the Carolina offer sheet for Fedorov that caused the Red Wings to have to pay him $28 million for one season.

 

[deckercky]

That's probably not as bad as the poison pills on the Carolina offer sheet for Fedorov that caused the Red Wings to have to pay him $28 million for one season.

Or the ROR offer sheet with a high second year forcing a high qualifying offer for the next contract.

 

[Frank Drebin]

I'm not sure why offer sheets are so frowned upon.

The rules are the same for everyone, you have the right to match, and if you don't you get compensated. For a league that has had only 4 franchises win in the last decade, we could use a bit more parity.

There are teams like the blues, habs, rangers and wild that cannot get high end talent because they ice competitive rosters year in year out. A top end RFA like Eichel could put any one of these teams over the top.

 

[Frank Drebin]

The best example I can think of to demonstrate how much GMs don't like offer sheets:

Burke was so against them that he made a 1st, 2nd, 3rd into two 1sts and a 2nd to get Kessel. Boston was not expected to match after nearly reaching the cap ceiling with other signings.

An offer sheet may have prevented the eventual trade of Kaberle to Boston, which some saw as a bit of pay back for not going the offer sheet route.

That's just Burke being either an arrogant idiot or just an idiot. Giving up a first to prove a point?

 

[Brodeur]

I'm not sure why offer sheets are so frowned upon.

The rules are the same for everyone, you have the right to match, and if you don't you get compensated. For a league that has had only 4 franchises win in the last decade, we could use a bit more parity.

There are teams like the blues, habs, rangers and wild that cannot get high end talent because they ice competitive rosters year in year out. A top end RFA like Eichel could put any one of these teams over the top.

I think most GMs concede that an offer sheet is fair game. But in a salary cap environment, most GMs are preoccupied with their own cap/RFAs. Plus as the rules are written, a decent number of teams don't even own their 2018 picks which would be necessary to extend an offer.

And as is brought up in most offer sheet threads, does the player necessarily want to sign an offer sheet? Brian Gionta mentioned that he turned down offers during the 2006 offseason while the Devils were sorting out their cap woes. In the context of Eichel, how likely is it that he even makes it to next July 1st without an extension?

I'd imagine most GMs would rather talk trade with the team directly rather than go the offer sheet route. And most offer sheets are going to get matched, so it most cases it ends up being an effort in futility.

 

[CanadianPensFan1]

There was no retaliation against Edmonton after offer-sheeting Vanek. Will GM's be sore? Sure. But they also know that if they hold grudges, it can only hurt their team.

Which is, in and itself, ****ing stupid since their same GM's were the ones to agree to allow it into the cba

They are like toddlers who scream to get something and then when they get it, they continue to scream about it.

 

[Clamshells]

WGR Article link




Interesting take on the offersheet. After reading that, it seems like an even nastier way to damage a team long term.

No GM is going to throw a petty offer sheet out like that. GMs are more concerned with building their own team than screwing over another. No one with that kind mentality should be anywhere near a manager position for the NHL or otherwise.

 

[Henkka]

Turning Jack Eichel to 4x 1st rounders is not a bad deal.

 

[OilCanada92]

There was no retaliation against Edmonton after offer-sheeting Vanek. Will GM's be sore? Sure. But they also know that if they hold grudges, it can only hurt their team.

There was speculation that Bryan Murray released the names of the Oilers players involved in a potential Heatley trade to hurt Lowe for how he handled the Comrie situation.

 

[Smartguy]

To do this just to eff up another team's roster is career suicide. Can you imagine pulling this stunt and then show up at the next GMs week long conference? You'd end up sitting at a table in a corner all by yourself.

There's different ways to go about it, for example Burke was so upset at the penner sheet because the Oilers didn't call him first and tell them what they intended to do. For example it was highly speculated chia let Sweeney know a couple years ago if he didn't come to a deal with him before July 1 on Hamilton the Oilers would be sending an offer sheet. Sweeney then panicked and traded him to Calgary for half value to spite chiarelli

 

[Insomniac99]

No GM is going to throw a petty offer sheet out like that. GMs are more concerned with building their own team than screwing over another. No one with that kind mentality should be anywhere near a manager position for the NHL or otherwise.

Petty? How is that petty? It's a targeted move which handcuffs a rival team by hitting their cap, as well as hampering their ability to retain their best players.

That's not petty, it's strategy.

 

[LT]

What was the record AAV coming off an ELC before McDavid? Best I can think of is Ekblad or Tarasenko at 7.5M

Ovechkin at 9.538M.

 

[A Loyal Dog]

This is why offer sheets rarely happen:

 

[Not Sure]

Turning Jack Eichel to 4x 1st rounders is not a bad deal.

yes it is. How many first round players are better than Eichel's talent and potential, or even come close? 2 maybe 3 in the past what decade. Maybe you consider it if you know he won't take less then McDavid or that he really doesn't want to sign a long term deal and is focused on becoming an UFA as soon as possible.

I wouldn't let Eichel walk for 4 firsts even if they were all guaranteed top 10 picks. Talent like McDavid, Eichel, Matthews isn't available in every draft, the league has been very lucky with getting so much high end talent lately. People will remember just how unpredictable the draft is when we see another 3 Yakapov's before we see another McEichews

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

I'm not sure why offer sheets are so frowned upon.

The rules are the same for everyone, you have the right to match, and if you don't you get compensated. For a league that has had only 4 franchises win in the last decade, we could use a bit more parity.

There are teams like the blues, habs, rangers and wild that cannot get high end talent because they ice competitive rosters year in year out. A top end RFA like Eichel could put any one of these teams over the top.

Most serious contending teams don't have $12M of cap space.

The issue with offersheets is that for the most part you have to overpay to have the incumbent team not match. In a cap league you rarely win by significantly overpaying your core players.

And as much as I like Eichel, does anyone honestly think he's a $12m player right now?

 

[tarheelhockey]

And as is brought up in most offer sheet threads, does the player necessarily want to sign an offer sheet?

This is the part that surprisingly few people take into consideration.

Imagine yourself in the position of the player. You're negotiating a contract with your team, and some rival GM starts ringing up your agent with a plot to screw YOUR team by getting you sign to an offer sheet more or less equal to what your team is willing to pay anyway.

I'd imagine the vast majority of players, and probably a good number of agents, would tell that GM to **** off.

 

[Mr Positive]

There was no retaliation against Edmonton after offer-sheeting Vanek. Will GM's be sore? Sure. But they also know that if they hold grudges, it can only hurt their team.

The Vanek offer sheet was signed in good faith. Lowe didn't do it to damage the Sabres whatsoever. He genuinely wanted the player, and I'd guess that Buffalo's cap situation at the time gave Lowe some confidence that Buffalo wouldn't match.

That's not what this article is talking about. It's saying that a team would offer sheet Eichel just to hurt Buffalo. The team doing this KNOWS that Buffalo would match.

I thought this article was talking about maybe offer sheeting Eichel at a high number in order to target a different RFA or UFA that Buffalo could then not afford to keep. That would be the minimum level of attack. There has to be something in it for the team doing the offer sheet. Damaging the Sabres is not a good enough reason for any team.