Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
And that poses its own problem: if you screw the player to save the year of the ELC, it will simply cost you later. If they did that to Bennett, his agent would simply say, "ok, if that's how you want to play it, we'll see you in 3 years". ANd then he plays hardball with them.
The Flames aren't going to just avoid paying Bennett - he would simply demand more later.
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I agree 100%. And the situation is actually a lot bigger than just Bennett. By the Flames saying, "You've been great kid, you deserve to keep playing" is the right thing to do and sends a message to every kid in Stockton and every UFA in the NHL that this is a first-class organization. And that is worth millions.
Someone will need to point out to me in 2017 exactly where the Flames would have spent the extra ~$3M that would assure us a Stanley Cup. Better to take the high-road. And as someone else commented...the next contract for Bennett may actually be smaller with only a 2-year + ~13 games body of work to build the contract on.