Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
There’s no conspiracy against Conroy and the Flames. Other GMs aren’t picking on him. Brisson isn’t doing anything the agents for other pending UFAs haven’t done in the past.
Market conditions are working against the Flames. Their big UFA is apparently only willing to sign with a couple teams. Several of the teams in win now mode have previously traded away their 1sts and 2nds. Others are more in need of a RHD than LHD. And the cap crunch makes any deal with significant salary difficult to pull off.
It’s frustrating. But talk about strong-arming and sending signals is off-base. The NHL trade market isn’t as emotional and macho as some fans seem to think. Taking a worse deal to ‘send a signal’ would be foolish. The only signal it would send would that they’re willing to cut off their nose to spite their face. Conroy and the rest of Flames management are smarter than that.
The bigger issue is that NHL players are exercising more control over where they play, and more and more of them don’t want to play in Canada. Fans need to recognize this unwelcome new reality. And Canadian teams need to get their heads around what this means for running their franchises. It probably means making tougher decisions sooner.
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I don't disagree at all about Canadian markets. It's an unfortunate recent development that's going to require teams to rethink their approach to hockey operations.
Regarding the other points -- I didn't say it was a conspiracy, or that other teams are "picking" on Conroy. I said they are trying to squeeze a first-year GM. I didn't mean to imply that it was unique to Conroy or the Flames. It happens every year.
My point is that it's compounding an already difficult set of circumstances. And, by extension, I'm not convinced Brisson and Hanifin would try this approach against a more experienced GM.
I'm also not sure there are as many precedents for how Brisson and Hanifin are (allegedly) handling this as you suggest. Could you provide an example or two of a player and his agent trying to not only steer his trade to a preferred destination, but also dissuade potential rental suitors from becoming involved, so as to ensure the client receives an 8-year contract? Maybe this has happened a bunch before, but I can't recall many examples.
Finally, I'm not talking about taking a vastly inferior deal. I said "slightly lesser." What I mean is: if Tampa thinks it has the Flames over the barrel and presents an offer that's not market value for an extended Hanifin, and there are deals from rental suitors that are lesser but proximate to what TB is offering, maybe you sacrifice a little in the short term to dissuade players and agents from acting in the future as Brisson and Hanifin have been.
I mentioned the Burke and Cammelleri non-trade as analogous to what I mean here. Do you think Burke's decision to not trade Cammallerri was foolish, an example of cutting off the nose to spite the face? If so, fair enough, but I disagree. I think it was wise in the long-run in terms of rebuilding the franchise's reputation after the Feaster years, in which the Flames seem to have become known as an easy get around the league. I'm suggesting Conroy do something similar, though more proactive, here.