Quote:
Originally Posted by transplant99
In this case, I think that's precisely what happened. There was zero reason to acquiesce to the dry saddle camp short of a threat of losing him to someone else.
Offer sheets are rarely used for a reason, but they are still part of the rules. Im guessing that Liut told Chiarelli and crew that they were sitting on one. Then as September neared, his client was threatening to sign it in order to be established where ever it was he was getting the offer from.
Pure speculation on my part but explains the ridiculous AAV, why a bridge deal wasn't used, and why this happened now without a pressure point to kickstart it. They took 4 months to get THIS deal? Doubtful. Looks like this deal was forced on them and they had to decide yay or nay.
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It's an interesting speculation. I generally advocate for saying "okay sign it" but I can see reasons for and against.
For: If it's a bluff, you've called it.
Against: If you can verify the offer sheet without it being signed, you don't need to.
For: The picks plus cap space frequently seem better than matching in these situations. If one's not willing to make the offer, one is getting good value in declining to match the offer.
Against: They're a playoff team, and there aren't any good replacements available on the UFA market. The cap space would not deliver "market value" in this situation.
For: A GM who signs an offer sheet (unfairly IMO) hurts his relationships with other GMs. Force them to pay this cost to mess with your team.
Against: If you keep an offer sheet "hushed up", you're doing the GM who would sign it a favour and building that relationship. This could pay dividends for you later. It's better for you to have an advantage with one GM than for one GM to have a disadvantage with the league (unless the offer was coming from, say, a strong division rival).
For: With the offer sheet public, there's no appearance (to fans, to other hockey presidents the next time you're looking for a job, etc.) that you bid against yourself.
Against: You give up the possibility of an 8-year deal.
For the offer sheet theory to hold up, there's have to be a team that would've made it. I haven't looked into who that might be.