[CP Story] Bridge over Troubled Water: Gaudreau Contract

[Bingo]

http://www.calgarypuck.com/?p=6523

[transplant99]

I think a 3 year bridge deal wold be a pretty good compromise if they can agree on dollars.

The one thing about that though is that Gaudreau would then have arbitration rights would he not?

And if so, do you want the possibility that an arbiter then awards a 2 year deal if it gets to that point and JG can walk as UFA at the end of that term?

Its a bit of a hot potatoe for Treliving and crew IMO, but i still believe they end up just going to the 7 or 8 year deal at an AAV of 7.5 or slightly under.

[Textcritic]

Excellet article, Bingo. You hit on something in this that I never really considered, but I think you are dead-on:

Originally Posted by Bingo

A quick look at the client list for Lewis Gross’s company out East suggests that the Gaudreau contact may just be the most important contract in the firm’s history suggesting two things that may or may not be true.

1. a lack of experience in negotiating NHL star contracts, something that may have been seen in the side’s odd statement of not wanting to negotiate during the World Cup.

2. a need to “kick ass” in order to draw in more clients.

I think #2 might be closer to the truth than #1, since Gross has been representing NHL players of various stripes outside of elite-level players for a couple decades now. Surely he is no stranger to negotiations with team managers.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by transplant99

I think a 3 year bridge deal wold be a pretty good compromise if they can agree on dollars.

The one thing about that though is that Gaudreau would then have arbitration rights would he not?

And if so, do you want the possibility that an arbiter then awards a 2 year deal if it gets to that point and JG can walk as UFA at the end of that term?

Its a bit of a hot potatoe for Treliving and crew IMO, but i still believe they end up just going to the 7 or 8 year deal at an AAV of 7.5 or slightly under.

I have been much more amenable to the possibility of a three-year deal as this has dragged on. In the event of a potential arbitration dispute I suspect the team's best course of action would be to ensure that they then sign him before it gets to that point. In three years it is likely that Gaudreau is already an established elite-level forward, so I would think it easier for the club to justify a huge extension.

[bigrangy]

Very much agreed with all points. A bridge is the best solution for all parties. Gaudreau gets the opportunity to prove that he is a top 10 player, the Flames get the opportunity to see how much Bennett and Tkachuk will cost. And honestly, I think the Flames' absolute best shot at a cup will come by the end of the 2018-2019 season, so if you can have an "underpaid" (i.e. 6.3 million instead of 9+ million) Gaudreau, it just lets you bring in more depth. They can still be competitive after, but there will be no studs on elc's available for cheap depth like most cup champions have had lately.

I don't think the Flames will have any problem paying Gaudreau 9 million if he proves himself to be a top 10 player in the league. It's not like it's a massive jump from the 7.5X8 long term deal that's been thrown out as the low end deal right now.

Originally Posted by transplant99

And if so, do you want the possibility that an arbiter then awards a 2 year deal if it gets to that point and JG can walk as UFA at the end of that term?

If a player takes a club to arbitration, the arbitrator picks the dollar amount and the team picks the term, 1 or 2 years. The flames could simply choose a 1 year deal to avoid UFA.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Excellet article, Bingo. You hit on something in this that I never really considered, but I think you are dead-on:


I think #2 might be closer to the truth than #1, since Gross has been representing NHL players of various stripes outside of elite-level players for a couple decades now. Surely he is no stranger to negotiations with team managers.

After a quick google after your post I found that Gross Holds record for largest Arbitration Award in NHL history.

Interesting website they have.

The whole Agent portion of pro sports is so interesting to me. Especially when guys like Ovechkin have negotiated their own contracts.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I have been much more amenable to the possibility of a three-year deal as this has dragged on. In the event of a potential arbitration dispute I suspect the team's best course of action would be to ensure that they then sign him before it gets to that point. In three years it is likely that Gaudreau is already an established elite-level forward, so I would think it easier for the club to justify a huge extension.

Sure...but all he would have to do is refuse any offer and allow UFA to come to him at the end of the award, which is not a stretch to see happen IMO. If he has indeed become elite level, he can just wait 2 years and demand huge dollars AND choose where he plays...all at the age of 27.

Its rolling the dice either way IMO.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by bigrangy

Very much agreed with all points. A bridge is the best solution for all parties. Gaudreau gets the opportunity to prove that he is a top 10 player, the Flames get the opportunity to see how much Bennett and Tkachuk will cost. And honestly, I think the Flames' absolute best shot at a cup will come by the end of the 2018-2019 season, so if you can have an "underpaid" (i.e. 6.3 million instead of 9+ million) Gaudreau, it just lets you bring in more depth. They can still be competitive after, but there will be no studs on elc's available for cheap depth like most cup champions have had lately.

I don't think the Flames will have any problem paying Gaudreau 9 million if he proves himself to be a top 10 player in the league. It's not like it's a massive jump from the 7.5X8 long term deal that's been thrown out as the low end deal right now.



If a player takes a club to arbitration, the arbitrator picks the dollar amount and the team picks the term, 1 or 2 years. The flames could simply choose a 1 year deal to avoid UFA.

Thats right...didnt put that in the equation. That makes a bridge deal much more palatable.

[jaikorven]

Nicely written and explains things within the negotiations quite well. I think it will ultimately be a bridge deal, but hope for 5.5-6 AAV, not higher. Again I can hope.

[Par]

After reading that great article and learning more about, Johnny's agent, we can safely say, that this will drag right into the regular season, the guys has no experience in handling star contracts, so it will take a long time.

[The Yen Man]

I wouldn't say we can safely say this will drag into the regular season. How many holdouts have there really been recently? Drew Doughty is the only one I can think of.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Excellet article, Bingo. You hit on something in this that I never really considered, but I think you are dead-on:


I think #2 might be closer to the truth than #1, since Gross has been representing NHL players of various stripes outside of elite-level players for a couple decades now. Surely he is no stranger to negotiations with team managers.

I think both could be true given his list of current and past clients (firms not his specifically)

you don't need to apply too many pressure points in deals with average NHLers, compared to an impact player that a team needs so the ham handed world cup thing seemed like new territory.

and yeah for sure they need to nail it out of the park to get the next star in the door.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I have been much more amenable to the possibility of a three-year deal as this has dragged on. In the event of a potential arbitration dispute I suspect the team's best course of action would be to ensure that they then sign him before it gets to that point. In three years it is likely that Gaudreau is already an established elite-level forward, so I would think it easier for the club to justify a huge extension.

Disagree. The point when the team is going to need the cap space is three years down the road. Right now we have bad money coming off the books in Stajan, Wideman, Bollig and Smid very soon so we can deal with the 7-8M AAV.

Waiting on that and possibly ending up having to pay Johnny 10M per would be disastrous when we are needing to re-up the likes of Tkachuk, Bennett and so on.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Par

After reading that great article and learning more about, Johnny's agent, we can safely say, that this will drag right into the regular season, the guys has no experience in handling star contracts, so it will take a long time.

Not quite true. He's had Martin St. Louis, John Le Clair and Denis Potvin as clients.

I can see a holdout happening although this isn't good. Despite putting all the blame on the agent, I think Gaudreau has to be driving some of this stubbornness.

[handgroen]

my favorite part

Up in Edmonton, Kevin Lowe and Craig MacTavish’s Oprah like contract negotiations; “You get 6 years x $6M!, and you get 6 years x $6M!, and you get 6 years x $6M!”

[StrykerSteve]

Enjoyed the read, thanks Bingo.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Perhaps your finest work. Easily the best read on the Gaudreau situation I have seen.

[Ryan Coke]

Yeah, nice job on the article. Reflects what I posted earlier today about maybe a bridge being the way to go, and interesting angle on the agent factor.

I also like that you pointed the 5 years of RFA they are dealing with...it is almost like the agent wants to ignore that downward pressure of the extra year of restricted control.

Somewhat unrelated, but it was interesting reading MBates use of the board to gauge sentiment on the Ferland trial.....makes me wonder if an agent might do the same thing to try to get a sense of which way the PR pressure might go, perhaps using a handle like gaudreauvertime....

[Dion]

Reason #1452 for why I joined Calgarypuck. You can't go anywhere else for information like this.


Some of your best work Bingo!

[Strange Brew]

Thanks for the great read. Far better than anything else I have seen published on the topic.

I do have a serious question. And this is coming from the perspective that I am a "management" guy through and through.

There seems to be an overriding sentiment, at least here on CP, that Johnny or more specifically his agent, are the ones being difficult in negotiations.

It has been publicly stated many times that both sides are looking for term. Has there been any legitimate quotes, or even innuendo, that one side may be pushing the envelope more than the other? Because its certainly not unsupportable that Flames are saying "look we like you a lot, and you are a skilled guy, but you are also very one dimensional and can't build a SC winner completely around a small winger".

Whether you agree or not, I think this position is defensible. Maybe Johnny is asking for < Tarasenko money but Flames won't go there.

Or is it all just speculation?