Speculation: Would a RFA accept a trade and sign for 1 year for a multiyear next season?

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Prove what? The guy had over 50 points. I’d be floored if he doesn’t get a huge extension the minute they are allowed to. Clearly a handshake deal in place. The deal just makes no sense.

Prove he can be a positive impact player at 5-on-5 and not just a PP producer. He hasn’t done that yet and he’s not going to get an extension on January 1st.

 

[MessierII]

Prove he can be a positive impact player at 5-on-5 and not just a PP producer. He hasn’t done that yet and he’s not going to get an extension on January 1st.

Find me a guy who had 36 even strength points who signed for 1 year 1 million. Just one comparable I dare you.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Find me a guy who had 36 even strength points who signed for 1 year 1 million. Just one comparable I dare you.

I’m not sure that I’ll be able to. It was an unprecedented contract based on his production. But Labanc is still an unproven player. He is a sheltered player who averaged only 11:41 minutes per game at even strength. That ranks 269th among 390 forwards who appeared in at least 41 games. His even strength production was largely influenced by his teammates and deployment and he is very poor defensively which makes him a net zero at even strength at this point of his career.

If you look at some of the comments from his agent it’s pretty clear that he was a weak agent who acknowledged this.

I’ve got to be honest, they were great conversations. It was never really combative or argumentative too much. It was really just about where we saw Kevin fit in and what he did. And then Timo signs. He did have 30 goals, so he deserved every penny, but we kind of just came to a philosophical standpoint of saying, OK, well, Banker, if you want to go out and prove you’re entitled to more money — what we take today, it might be better to wait until March, April, May and see what kind of (year) you have.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Lebanc is most definitely a shady, under-the-table agreement, but in theory at least, this type of deal is not allowed.

 

[MessierII]

I’m not sure that I’ll be able to. It was an unprecedented contract based on his production. But Labanc is still an unproven player. He is a sheltered player who averaged only 11:41 minutes per game at even strength. That ranks 269th among 390 forwards who appeared in at least 41 games. His even strength production was largely influenced by his teammates and deployment and he is very poor defensively which makes him a net zero at even strength at this point of his career.

If you look at some of the comments from his agent it’s pretty clear that he was a weak agent who acknowledged this.

I get he has deficiencies every young player does to some extent but you acknowledge yourself that this contract is unprecedented. It’s the biggest bargain contract signed maybe ever. If he doesn’t have a handshake deal in place for an extension already then his agent has to be the worst in pro sports.

https://www.tsn.ca/on-kevin-labanc-s-confounding-contract-1.1335215

Look at his comparables. It’s completely absurd.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

I get he has deficiencies every young player does to some extent but you acknowledge yourself that this contract is unprecedented. It’s the biggest bargain contract signed maybe ever. If he doesn’t have a handshake deal in place for an extension already then his agent has to be the worst in pro sports.

https://www.tsn.ca/on-kevin-labanc-s-confounding-contract-1.1335215

Look at his comparables. It’s completely absurd.

His agent spoke with The Athletic about Labanc’s contract. If you have a subscription to The Athletic, you can read about it here:

Explaining Kevin Labanc's modest $1 million contract:...

If not, I’ll include every quote from his agent and let you come to your own conclusion.

We knew it was coming. It’s the nature of the beast, right?” Curran said in a phone interview over the weekend. “Everyone’s going to go, well, why did you do that? And don’t take this literally, but if there’s only $2 million in cap space and you think your player is worth $5 million, you’ve got a big gap there and no way to come to agreement. So you have to figure it out.”

“You’re going to get people that look at this and be like, what the hell? But, hey, if he signs a big ticket next, like five or six years, everyone’s going to look at it like, OK, well, you made all your money back.”

“We were never really talking incredibly long term,” Curran said. “We were talking, like, a good bridge deal for him.”

“I’ve got to be honest, they were great conversations. It was never really combative or argumentative too much. It was really just about where we saw Kevin fit in and what he did. And then Timo signs. He did have 30 goals, so he deserved every penny, but we kind of just came to a philosophical standpoint of saying, OK, well, Banker, if you want to go out and prove you’re entitled to more money — what we take today, it might be better to wait until March, April, May and see what kind of (year) you have.”

“Hype and circumstances through the summer kind of lead people to think that everyone’s going to get one [offer sheet]. It’s like, well — no,” Curran said.

“The Sharks don’t want to lose Kevin. And we want Banker to be here for a long time. If this is the route we’ve got to take, this is the route we’ve got to take. He remains a restricted free agent (next summer) so it’s not like he’s going off into La-La Land. We’ll just take it from there.”

“Obviously, we took heat for it, but it was something that Kevin was happy with doing,” Curran said. “We’ll get the season going and when the later months come around and we get an idea where Banker fits in.”

“I think they open up cap space in a couple years, too, so maybe that frees up some more cash for a kid like Kevin if he’s going to be a top-line player. Not ideal (now), but for us it works. We were happy and we feel that there will be opportunity to do more. The best part is, it’s Kevin that turns to me and says, ‘OK, well, I’m going to go rip it up this year to prove that I’m a 20-goal scorer in the NHL.’ All right, Banker, go for it.”

I don’t know enough about every agent to be comfortable saying that this guy is the worst agent in pro sports, but it’s clear as day that he’s not a very good one.

And for the record, he doesn’t have any clients making more than $1M.

 

[Lempo]

This really should get split into two parts:

Should the league allow it? If you read the language in the CBA, this would appear to be something that's not allowed. [Someone else can go find the article and paragraph for this.]

Would the league allow it? Well, the league isn't particularly interested in actually enforcing a number of cap-related items unless it's totally blatant and in-your-face, so ... yeah, it probably would allow it.

I guess the League would first point at the paragraphs 19 and 23 of the Standard Player's Contract (CBA Exhibit 1):

19. The Club and the Player represent and warrant that there are no undisclosed agreements
of any kind, express or implied, oral or written and that there are no promises, undertakings,
representations, commitments, inducements, assurances of intent, supplements or understandings
of any kind between the Player or his Certified Agent and the Club that have not been disclosed
to the NHL, with regard to: (i) any consideration of any kind to be paid, furnished or made
available during the term of the SPC or thereafter; and/or (ii) and future renegotiation, extension,
amendment or termination of this SPC.

23. It is severally and mutually agreed that this SPC and the CBA contain the entire
agreement between the parties and there are no oral or written inducements, promises or
agreements except as provided herein.

But obviously there is the No Circumventions article:

26.3 Circumventions.
(a) No Club or Club Actor, directly or indirectly, may: (i) enter into any agreements,
promises, undertakings, representations, commitments, inducements, assurances of intent, or
understandings of any kind, whether express, implied, oral or written, including without
limitation, any SPC, Qualifying Offer, Offer Sheet or other transaction, or (ii) take or fail to take
any action whatsoever, if either (i) or (ii) is intended to or has the effect of defeating or
Circumventing the provisions of this Agreement or the intention of the parties as reflected by the
provisions of this Agreement, including without limitation, provisions with respect to the
financial and other reporting obligations of the Clubs and the League, Team Payroll Range,
Player Compensation Cost Redistribution System, the Entry Level System and/or Free Agency.

If you pre-agree on two contracts following each other, the different AAV on them alone would be enough to trigger the "has the effect of defeating or Circumventing the provisions of this Agreement...", namely the salary cap provisions.

But it's not clear what the League would actually do with suspicion of such oral agreement, as the SPC also clearly says that none such exists. It's super easy for the party that would "lose" on the 2nd contract to point at SPC and claim that it is very clear to everyone that no handshake agreements and be made; that may be enough to ensure that such handshake agreements won't be honored.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Lebanc is most definitely a shady, under-the-table agreement, but in theory at least, this type of deal is not allowed.

“I can’t even spell this guy’s name right but I definitely know that his contract is a shady, under-the table agreement.”

 

[Dekes For Days]

“I can’t even spell this guy’s name right but I definitely know that his contract is a shady, under-the table agreement.”

I'm sure spending your time laughing at people who mix up one meaningless letter helps with the denial.

Labanc is most definitely a shady, under-the-table agreement, but in theory at least, this type of deal is not allowed.