I don't think it really is simply an HFboards "made up thing" though. In fact, if anything...i'd suggest a lot of the posters here seem to underestimate the impact of a black mark on a player's record like that in the mind of GMs who are actually staking tens of millions of dollars of their bosses money on a player. We as the public, still really don't know exactly where the truth is in that whole escapade...and probably never will. But GMs and those on the inside of the business, who talk to all the players and other GMs and agents and are privy to a lot more information than the public tends to be...probably have a better feel for things.
And what they've demonstrated with their assets and money, makes it look like it very much could be a factor. Hoffman was traded for a paltry return. He's continued to be a speedy, money in the bank perennial ~30G scorer...and yet, he's still sitting there, un-signed.
I'm sure he's got offers. But there are really only maybe ~10 teams that could realistically clear the sort of cap space he's looking for. One of them is the Sens, who he's never going back to. So ~9 at most. If just a few other GMs are worried about it for whatever reason...that limits him to maybe half a dozen teams with the space to sign him for what he likely wants, and is probably worth on the ice as a hockey player. Factor in that some of those teams have hard internal caps due to team financial constraints, especially under Covid impacts on the business...and you've managed to narrow it down to a pretty small pool of viable suitors.
At that point, it's either sign with one of them (and they're probably going to be a bad team). Sign with a good team willing to take the risk or just not worried about the whole incident for an absolutely cut rate deal for a year. Or sit around and hope that he's worth the gamble to a team that they're willing to cough up additional assets just to move cap out, so they have room to sign Hoffman at the sort of number he wants.
The reality is...teams spent their money. They spent significant money on a lot of various wingers. Instead of Hoffman. Dadonov found a solid deal, despite his advanced age. Toffoli, Domi, Burakovsky, Mantha were all within range of what a guy like Hoffman should probably command in this market. At least, within range of what could've been squeezed out of the cap space to add a better and more productive player. Tons of teams inked deals in the $3M+ range too, instead of trying to use that space with their remaining room to sign Hoffman.
In a league like this...money talks.
I mean, i like Hoffman as a player. And i know nothing about him or his fiancée. But that's kinda the point. I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes...but a player who offers the skillset of Hoffman, should've been scooped up quickly...unless there's something else going on behind the scenes. He's got an established agent, who has landed quality deals for a ton of clients. It's hard to imagine he just completely whiffed on the market and overpriced him and somehow couldn't adjust once the reality became clear, in talking to NHL GMs.
