It's that time of year again.
That's right, it's the time when some teams have some players not show up to training camp. Why? Contract disputes of course! Hold-outs of course!
It has become far more common these days to see star players or burgeoning young stars miss training camps due to contract negotiations. Currently the Columbus Blue Jackets and their fans are dealing with this right now, and it is taking a turn for the nasty.
Kings fans have hardly had to deal with these issues. However, in recent years the team did have a contractual negotiation cut into Drew Doughty's training camp time. While it certainly didn't have the poisoned barbs that this current Johansen/Columbus negotiation has, it did sour some fans on the commitment level of Drew Doughty. Again, that one wasn't even that bad. Regardless of the nastiness, we've seen more and more in recent years. Subban, Turris, Doughty, Johansen, Pietrangelo, O'Reilly, Kadri, etc. etc. This seems to becoming the norm for most young and talented NHL stars.
But why?
Is it inflated self worth? Is it comparables, because you know GMs make stupid moves sometimes...players who score 20-30 points a year are worth 5.5 a season right Dave Bolland? AWESOME! Get that comparable ready agents. Speaking of, is it agents? Is it GMs being too tight with the pocket books?
Truth is it's probably a little bit of everything and then some.
The Kings have four young RFAs coming up for contract next season in Jake Muzzin, Tyler Toffoli, Tanner Pearson, and Martin Jones. At this point, I would be hard pressed to say that every single one of them will re-sign without some bit of drama. Why? Because it just seems like the thing to do these days if you are coming off an ELC and have had any form of success in the league. It used to be the bidding war for UFAs that scared GMs. Then it was the fear of offer sheets back in the Dustin Penner/Tomas Vanek debacles. Now what scares GMs the most is RFAs and the dreaded bridge contract.
But why do teams offer these contracts if they are so seemingly caustic in negotiations? To me it's because it is cautious and methodical. That doesn't always land well with a young player ala Johansen, who is extremely talented, coming off a monster 30/30 season, and is coined as the next franchise center for Columbus. As a player and an agent, it was probably insulting a bit when Jarmo Kekalainen rolled these contracts out in front of him.
I'd say that the 2 year is a bit of a lowball, the 8 year is probably too long, but man oh man is that 6-year deal a great one.
It takes Johansen, who just turned 22 in July, up to 27-28. It eats up 4 of his RFA years, RFA years in which he would be making $5+ Million a season. Finally, it lets him off the hook in his prime with plenty of evidence for a pay raise (Theoretically). From Columbus's point of view even this contract is probably a touch risky.
All credit to Johansen, but he is 189 games into his NHL career. Last year he had an outstanding 30+ goal, 30 assist season. However, that was simply one year. There is not established history of Johansen being a 30/30 player year after year. GMs are a calculated bunch. They work on both long term potential, but also real true to life numbers. It's that mixture that has led us to "bridge contracts" or "second contracts"
Players feel they deserve it right now. GMs want to take a wait and see approach.
Unfortunately that leads us to holdouts.
Players don't want to lose face in negotiations, especially when it concerns a potential franchise corner stones. They want to be paid for what they feel they are worth. That's a respectable approach no doubt. We saw it with Subban and Doughty, and we are now seeing it with Johansen. However, it is sad that this has become the general norm for players and agents of a young age to hogtie general managers in a manner of speaking. No one wants to see these things turn ugly, and unfortunately sometimes they do. Then negotiations go public, and the rest, well...
Where as a fan are we supposed to stand on this? Sometimes it feels like being the child in an ugly custody battle. You don't want to take sides, but it is hard to ignore what is going on.
Kings fans are definitely spoiled in that regard. Aside from Doughty, the Kings have been able to get the mentality of "Buying in" across to everyone.
Always a great and relevant read when it comes to RFA dealings,
let's recall Dean Lombardi on Drew Doughty and his "holdout" from 2011
“Obviously we’re very disappointed that he’s not here. I don’t think it’s any secret, what we think of this player and his abilities and what his potential is. So that’s certainly not an issue, as far as the quality of the player or the quality of the person. We hold both to high regard.
This is not an issue of spending money. But what people sometimes don’t realize is, it’s easy to say, `Well, just pay a little more.’ Under this system, that can really hurt you, as far as keeping other key components of your team. So even though the number is still, I think, fair in terms of the league and the team, where we’re at now is the most we can and feel comfortable that we can keep all the pieces necessary to be a contender, year in and year out.
The always controversial and excitable walking quote machine of Dean Lombardi, amirite? But really, cooler heads tend to prevail in these circumstances and you can definitely see that heads are hitting a boiling point in Columbus.
From Greg Wyshynski over at Yahoo.
The problem is that Overhardt wants the bank broken now, asking for around $6.5 million. Which is why Kekalainen got a little snarky about that demand.
"We like the guy a lot. He is a big part of our future. But this shouldn't be about a setting a new standard (for a player coming out of his entry-level contract), or an agent breaking records,” Kekalainen said.
Ooph. Gut shot.
With Lombardi at the helm and a culture of success established in L.A. I doubt we will see anything like what Columbus is dealing with in the near future when it comes to the upcoming crop of RFAs the Kings have. You never know though, as it seems like more and more agents and players are going the route of strong-arming their respective teams in negotiations. Which is an absolute shame.
Lest we forget, there are always players like Kopitar, Duchene, Couture, and Eric Staal, all of whom gave their respective teams and GMs little problem in buying in. It doesn't always go the way of public dissension.
I feel for you Columbus. Hopefully this all gets worked out shortly and cooler heads do indeed prevail. It seems bad now, but it may get better in a days time. Negotiations are fickle things like that. Also, if Johansen and crew really do plan on "Leaving town" if they don't get what they want, then I say good riddance to them. The Jackets seem to be building something pretty solid out there in the Ohio River Valley, and a player who doesn't buy in to that potential is not a player I would want (See: Turris, Kyle).
Maybe you side with the management for holding firm. Maybe you side with the player for demanding to be paid what they want. In the end the real tragedy of it all is that we as fans are again asked to take sides in millionaires arguing with millionaires over how many millions of dollars they are going to make each year.
Maybe Johansen is just setting the stage to come to LA at the deadline? Okay, that was uncalled for. Low blow Columbus fans, I apologize on that one.
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