As a Canadian living in the USA (currently in the San Francisco Bay Area, working for a company based in NYC), my observations indicate that WA CA HI OR NY NJ PA has citizens complying (with minimal pushback by the citizens) to federal mandates similar to what Canada has enforced nationwide.
Anybody outside of these states above, the COVID mandates are in place, but the level of enforcement is minimal. For example, FL TX and TN, life is more or less business as usual (masks optional, full capacity in indoor public spaces).
As it relates to a professional athlete looking to change teams, they experience first hand, how vastly different each city/state enforces the mandates, as they travel for work(games).
Most agents will ruthlessly maximize contract value (first and foremost as they want their cut and what's best for their respective agencies) and secondarily, manage the negatives/cons of a player's concerns about the projected destination/team.
As for my go-to comparisons to American friends, Calgary is similar to Denver (altitude, rocky mountains), Edmonton is similar to Pittsburgh (industrial, blue collar).
As a player's agent, FL and TB have to be at the top of the list right now. Both teams are contending, weather is great, tax situation is the most favorable for high earners in Canada and USA, COVID mandates are least restrictive in all of North America. It's an easy sell.
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