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This one is on you all to guess, and let’s see who wins. Prizes possible, franchise shaping decisions inevitable. In the salary cap era, I believe Mo is set up to have the largest 2nd contract we’ve seen. Raymond will get a nice raise as well, but I see Mo as a Franchise cornerstone. (Some may argue the point, I’m wrong several times a day so it’s always possible this is one of those times).
I’m going to make some assumptions here. First, let’s ignore that Claude Lemieux (corrected, my apologies to the Giroux family and readers) is the agent. Yes, he still signs photos with D-Mac in the famous “turtle… pose. Yes, Draper admitted that it’s still strange to be around the man a few years ago. But, this is business and everyone involved understands that. Detroit isn’t good enough to have a rivalry with Colorado right now. That sounds awful, but it’s fairly evident that those cup champs are a much better team and Sakic did a fantastic job putting it together.
So, Yzerman’s calling card was similar to what Boston was known for when he was in Tampa. Players would take a little less to be part of a solid and well laid plan to be a contender. Yzerman also had “no state tax… as an incentive. We don’t think much about it, but ex GM Brian Burke has said on numerous times that players would put teams with low or no state tax on their limited trade list and put Canadian teams on their no trade list. With 20% escrow being fairly common right now (though the MOU is supposed to kick in at 6% at some point) players get their take home numbers from their agents. With 20% off the top from the league and agent fees calculated pre escrow (unless they’ve changed it) that’s a big chunk before you pay taxes and dues.
We know the deal. Either do a bridge or try and get as many UFA years as possible. Matthews will probably go down in history as the most savvy when it came to getting big paydays by not going max term on his second deal. That young man did very well for himself as long as he stays healthy.
If you’re building this team, you want to keep Seider. I haven’t heard anyone talk about dumping him. He is the best rookie I can remember since (?). It’s been a while. So I want to hear from each of you and I’ll keep track as per usual. If you think he’s going to continue to build on his numbers, can you get a max term deal for a better price than if you do a bridge deal? If that’s the case, what are you laying down? It could be a hefty tag. I hope they do lock him up for max term. I just have no idea what the ask is going to be.
Whatever the offer to Bertuzzi was that didn’t pan out, I feel like every deal has Seider in mind. We keep hoping for a cap jump but broadcast partners and some major advertisers are taking some major hits. I won’t get into it because it’s as toxic as any political issue. I just have a feeling that Molson may well increase its market share and Montreal could be a very happy group.
Let me know what you think needs to happen. Keep in mind a potentially flat cap, high escrow, and the fact that Larkin didn’t get any signing bonus money. He’s at 8 x 8.7 but no bonuses. That matters because they’re taxed differently, agents get a smaller cut, and simple inflation makes up front money more valuable than money down the line. I’ll give props to whoever gets the closest to the deal. You can also take a swing at Raymond’s next deal if you want. I’m going to talk a bit more about him in a separate piece as both sets of negotiations will happen at the same time.