Quote:
Originally Posted by Parallex
Ok... so if signing those deals give them a competitive advantage on the whole then they're good deals and they shouldn't want to get rid of them. By the same token if they determine that signing those deals won't be a competitive advantage then they should just not sign them let one of their competitors make the mistake and let that mistake be their competitive advantage.
This is just a case of a bunch of grown men wanting their lollipop now, Now, NOW! The league and the union shouldn't have to get involved to save them from their own poor decision-making and lack of patience.
NHL CEO's and PoHO's... for the love of god just hire better/smarter people.
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This whole post feels a bit naive, but suggesting GMs are stupid babies because they sign players for longer than 5 years is just totally absurd.
The reality is that GMs are competing against each other. This isn’t EA NHL where you’re playing in your own little bubble against a computer and the most agency anyone else has is broken AI. Anywhere from 1/3 to 2/3 of GMs have the same goal, and they are in direct competition with everyone else that has that goal. And it’s a zero sum game. Someone gets better, and someone gets worse, every time.
Some teams are cup contenders. They’re in “win now” mode whether you like it or not. Patience is irrelevant to these teams, as it should be. It’s about what gets you over the top. So sure, it’s easy to say “don’t sign anyone beyond 5 years” but in today’s reality, that’s just saying competitive teams should close or delay their window if the choice is between that or signing guys to a 7/8 year deal. Meanwhile everyone else is getting older, and other teams are going to take advantage of that and get better.
Removing >5 year options doesn’t “save GMs from themselves,” it saves them from players having that option as leverage. If 7 years is available elsewhere, players know that, and use that. Why wouldn’t they? They have agency in all this too.
Every GM would prefer shorter term, team-friendly deals. It’s not reality, so they don’t have the luxury of operating like it is. Sometimes that means a player has leverage and you have to risk long term pain for short term gain. Take away a player’s leverage, and you reduce the risk.