I think a wealthy organization with good player relations help. I think of Moneyball where the guys had to pay for their own pop from the vending machines and how players talk to each other about different organizations. Plus agents would know this stuff and know which GMs and teams are cheap and troubling to negotiate with.
I've read that Jacobs has a bad rep of being cheap. Florida obviously shouldn't have the same player development resources and staff as the Flames do, but organizations like the Blackhawks have a bad rep (ie, with Hayes) and they do things like have a 2nd combine for undrafted players, so money isn't everything either.
|