Loudmouths
August 7th, 2008 by Jason ChenEver since Kevin Lowe started the whole offer sheet trend, we’ve seen a couple of GMs stating that they would like to re-sign their key RFAs before July 1st in order to avoid matching potential offer sheets. Dean Lombardi apparently got a little antsy and had this to say:
“We’re not only going to match any offer sheet, we’ll have enough space to go after your guys. Go ahead and make our day. If you sign our guy, we’re coming back with both barrels firing. You’d better be damn straight that you have the cap space and all your guys are signed.”
Lombardi, of course, was referring to youngsters Anze Kopitar and Jack Johnson, both of whom will be RFAs next summer. Now I don’t know why Lombardi is getting so worked up about brandishing his own vigilante justice, but you have to admit, it’s a pretty dumb move on his part. It goes without question that Lombardi will do his best to re-sign the two budding superstars to long-term contracts before the summer. Even if he doesn’t manage to get them signed, he will no doubt match any offer sheet - that is also obvious, as the future of the Kings organization rests on the shoulders of Kopitar and Johnson. The point of the offer sheet is to sign players based on potential, and make it just ludicrous enough that your rival GM won’t match. There’s no point in making an offer sheet that has reasonable numbers and terms, because it saves your rival GM negotiating pains with money-hungry player agents and it helps them protect their assets at a reasonable price. I thought Mike Gillis‘ offer sheet to David Backes was a waste of time because it was a no-brainer that Larry Pleau would match.
Now, let’s theoretically play this out. Say I was Edmonton. By the summer of 2009, I’ll only have 9 regular forwards and 4 defensemen under contract. I decide that I want to make Kopitar an offer sheet because I’m lacking a marquee first-line centre. With my remaining cap space, I offer Kopitar $60m over 7 years. True to his word, Lombardi matches, to no one’s surprise, and starts his vigilante mission. Of the RFAs, I’ve got some of intrigue, including Gilbert Brule, Kyle Brodziak, Rob Schremp, Tyler Spurgeon, Denis Grebreshkov, and Ladislav Smid, plenty of quality youngsters to pick from. Lombardi thinks he should beef up his lineup, and decides to make offer sheets to Smid, Brule, and Brodziak. I see this coming, because I vaguely remember something about Lombardi’s “both barrels firing” promise. I stand prepared to have offer sheets thrown my way. For Lombardi, he has to make offer sheets that I cannot match. He has to offer terms and money that I cannot accept because I think they’re ridiculous. To that, I say, sure, sign these guys and saddle yourself with bad contracts. Meanwhile, I’ll go look for better options, because let’s face it, if Brule, Brodziak, and Smid were so valuable to me, I would’ve signed them already. If not, I can just as easily replace them. So, looking at it that way, I think Lombardi’s just stating the obvious and blowing smoke. He has other things he should be worrying about, like getting to the cap floor and wondering how to win the John Tavares sweepstakes.
The league’s biggest loudmouth, Sean Avery, also had some choice words to say in his press conference:
“This is certainly a team that I’m coming to that is a better team than the team I formerly played on…watching the series against Detroit… I think if I was thrown in there I’d make a difference.
Avery is of course, referring to the Rangers, whom he left with less than amicable terms after failing to reach an agreement with Glen Sather. The notorious agitator recently signed a 4-year, $15.5m deal with the Stars, making him the fifth-highest paid Dallas forward, behind Brad Richards ($7.8m), Mike Ribeiro, Brenden Morrow ($4.1m) and Jere Lehtinen ($4m). The Rangers were unwilling to go anywhere the $3.5m number Avery was asking for, and after he called the Rangers’ bluff and got his money, he wasted no time in taking a shot at his former team. Whether the Stars are better than the Rangers is up in the air, but for Avery, I’m willing to bet he thinks whichever team pays him the most is the best team in the league. The Stars no doubt could’ve used his physical play against Detroit, but I’m not quite sure he’s the difference-maker he’s anointed himself to be. One thing’s for sure though, Avery’s not going to shut up. The Rangers and Stars meet up in MSG October 20th, then again on February 6th in Dallas.
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4 Responses to “Loudmouths”
By Dan on Aug 10, 2008
I believe you can only sign one restricted each year. You have to have your own 2nd rounder, and each team is only granted one of those. TSN made a good point that because Vancouver threw out the offer sheet, St. Louis should not have been so quick to match because it would have handcuffed the Canucks for the full 7 days. Because they matched, Vancouver was able to look and pursue other RFA.
By Jason C on Aug 11, 2008
That’s an interesting point, Dan. Should that be the case, then Lombardi is really making empty threats, because (using the previous example) what if the Oilers’ remaining RFA is only Spurgeon? Is Lombardi going to throw a multi-million offer at him? If GMs really want to test Lombardi’s mettle they should give Kopitar a max offer, and see what Lombardi does. Should he match, he could end up with a potential salary bind with Kopitar getting max money, Johnson getting close to it, and Bernier above the mid-level.
I commented about the Backes offer sheet when the Canucks made it. I thought it was a terrible move on their part to offer $20m to Sundin and make Backes an offer sheet at the same time. If St. Louis wasn’t so quick to match, the Canucks would’ve had over half of their available cap space already allocated to unsigned players. I really think it handcuffed them when Sundin took his time to decide, and the eventual cost was Naslund.
By Yano L on Aug 11, 2008
By the way, Avery is now the 5th highest paid Dallas forward. You forgot Mike Ribeiro. Not sure how you forgot seeing as he is the first line center but just thought I’d point it out.
By Jason C on Aug 11, 2008
Thanks for catching that, my fault.