GoodBye Max, Hello Cole - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

MJK · 02-02-2007, 07:18 AM

Well it is not something we wanted to do. Panthers management were under great stress over the entire situation but at the end of the day could not turn down the deal.

Heading to Florida is:

Eric Cole, Kyle Okposko and 1st(cmb) 2008 for Maxim Afinagenov and Shawn Belle.

"We realize Max's agent is not going to be pleased with us" said Penney. "We almost passed on the deal becuase of that factor alone, but at the end of the day we need to do what is best for this organization."

Afinagenov, who has been a Panther most of the year, stepped up his play and was a valuable part of the Panthers 2nd line. However, his production died off after the Panthers aquired Brendon Shanahan. Eric Cole is coming to Florida with some great numbers this season. He was one of, if not the best player in Columbus and is bringing his great +/- with him. He should be able to step in on the 2nd line and hopefully keep producing to take even more heat of the Panthers top unit.

HalifaxDrunk · 02-02-2007, 08:11 AM

Maxim takes his dance routine to Columbus!!!

Sylvanfan · 02-02-2007, 09:37 AM

It wasn't an easy trade to make as Cole has been a very solid performer for the Jackets this year. We also had acquired Okposo recently and were pretty high on the University of Minnesota freshmen. And than add in that every 2008 draft pick right now could be John Tavares and it's a substantial price.

But with Erik Cole being a 28 year old RFA this summer we suspected that he would be looking for a salary of around 5 million per year as a minimum to get him to buy 2 years of potential unrestricted service for a new 3 year contract. We also feel the younger less expensive Afinogenov could be an 80 OV player next year with top line type offensive ratings. The deal breaker for us will be Shawn Belle. Belle is a physical speciman, big strong defenceman who is a terrific skater. After a rough first year in professional hockey that saw him traded for a second year in his career he's shown some good progression this year. Our hope is that he can make the jump to the next level on a fulltime basis next year.

Another Jackets transaction saw veteran centre Mike Ricci moved out of town for two 3rd round draft picks. Ricci had been struggling for us lately, and we decided that it was best to try and find a better fit for him elsewhere. The move will help alleviate a good chunk of budget space for the Jackets next season. GM Sylvanfan admits that new CPHL rules regarding buyouts affected the organizations descision on this move. In the past we likely would have held onto a guy like Ricci and could have looked at negotiating a realease of the player. But now you can't do that unless you do it inseason. So we decided to accept a couple of assets for him now and see if he fit better in Quebec. They're probably less likely to be offended by the funk from that mop than the Columbus contingent.

Goffie · 02-02-2007, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJK

"We realize Max's agent is not going to be pleased with us" said Penney. "We almost passed on the deal becuase of that factor alone, but at the end of the day we need to do what is best for this organization."

No cheap signings coming up for Florida this offseason!

Mccree · 02-02-2007, 10:23 AM

Ricci hated it in Columbus and is looking forward the "night" life of Quebec.

MJK · 02-02-2007, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mccree

Ricci hated it in Columbus and is looking forward the "night" life of Quebec.

How does Cole feel about coming to Florida?

Mccree · 02-02-2007, 11:21 AM

^^^

He is very happy to finally be on a winning team!!! But WILL NOT TALK CONTRACT UNTIL JULY 1st.

Sylvanfan · 02-02-2007, 11:44 AM

Columbus has a winning record BTW.

We liked Cole, but it's undeniable that Maxim Afinogenov over his career has shown to be a more prolific point accumulator. Only a ######ed Canuck fan like HenrikSedin33 or Mayer, or Serge2K would try to argue that. Even Oiler fans have enough sense to realize that.

Martin, are you as in tune as a Canuck fan?

Mccree · 02-02-2007, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Columbus has a winning record BTW.

We liked Cole, but it's undeniable that Maxim Afinogenov over his career has shown to be a more prolific point accumulator. Only a ######ed Canuck fan like HenrikSedin33 or Mayer, or Serge2K would try to argue that. Even Oiler fans have enough sense to realize that.

Martin, are you as in tune as a Canuck fan?

I have no problem with the trade and in fact I think you are better off now. What does my comment about Cole have to do with the merits of the trade? Dave asked how Cole like Florida and I responed. It has nothing to do with the trade.

MJK · 02-02-2007, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mccree

^^^

He is very happy to finally be on a winning team!!! But WILL NOT TALK CONTRACT UNTIL JULY 1st.

Perfect! I have full confidence that a reasonable contract can be worked out. I am not worried about someone making a dumb RFA offer because chances are if it is just stupid I won't be matching it anyways and will gladly take the compensation package.

Preds GM - CPHL · 02-02-2007, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJK

Perfect! I have full confidence that a reasonable contract can be worked out. I am not worried about someone making a dumb RFA offer because chances are if it is just stupid I won't be matching it anyways and will gladly take the compensation package.

Im looking forward to the offseason!!!! All the wheeling and dealing is very exciting!

Sylvanfan · 02-02-2007, 01:59 PM

Well in my opinion a reasonable contract is 1.5 times the players NHL salary based on NHL cap being 44 million and CPHL being 67. So Eric Cole makes 4 million per year in the NHL to give up 2 years of unrestricted service and 1 year of restricted service. Hence a 6 million dollar per year contract for Cole is reasonable and 5 million per year would be a discount using that guideline....If Cole ends up costing less than Afinogenov on his next contract I'll have to tip my hat to you.

MJK · 02-02-2007, 02:02 PM

He won't be cheaper but I sure as hell won't be paying him anywhee close to $6mill.

IMO we will see some major changes to the cap around here forcing us to all use our heads a bit more when signing contracts. Some of the contracts being signed now are just crazy!!!!

Sylvanfan · 02-02-2007, 02:26 PM

This offseason should be particularly interesting. First year of agents, GM's won that season hands down. Numerous players agreed to lower vauled contract extensions, and no one went to free agency. To be frank it was a blood bath that was woefully onesided for GM's. Last year a couple of agencies fought back and some players got huge raises. For the most part the real rediculous contracts were signed between the end of the season and before July 1st, than of course some absolutely stupid RFA bids. The cap did go up 6 million dollars and agents were there to collect. I give agents the edge in that battle. This year it's the rubber match and I think both sides are sort of prepared for it. I'll be sure to share my opinion in October as to who won.

Mccree · 02-02-2007, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

This offseason should be particularly interesting. First year of agents, GM's won that season hands down. Numerous players agreed to lower vauled contract extensions, and no one went to free agency. To be frank it was a blood bath that was woefully onesided for GM's. Last year a couple of agencies fought back and some players got huge raises. For the most part the real rediculous contracts were signed between the end of the season and before July 1st, than of course some absolutely stupid RFA bids. The cap did go up 6 million dollars and agents were there to collect. I give agents the edge in that battle. This year it's the rubber match and I think both sides are sort of prepared for it. I'll be sure to share my opinion in October as to who won.

It is going to be fun for sure and I for one cannot wait.

MJK · 02-02-2007, 05:08 PM

I will NOT be overpaying for a player. I will pay a fair and reasonable price but overpaying is out of the question.

Mccree · 02-02-2007, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJK

I will NOT be overpaying for a player. I will pay a fair and reasonable price but overpaying is out of the question.

That is all I ask, fair and reasonable 1W contract but your overpaying may be a fair and reasonable to another GM

MJK · 02-02-2007, 05:40 PM

I would like to think I know the value of a fair and reasonable contract by now. Combining CPHL and NHL stats it isn't overly hard to get a deal done IMO.

I don't blame you for trying to get as much as possible, I blame the GM's that are allowing it to happen. The highest paid players on my team are either great NHL'rs or playing great for me in the sim. Paying some bum $5mill is not an option for me.

I firmly believe that the highest paid players should be the best players. That being said I will not have anyone playing on my team making over $8mill/season. Lidstrom and Kovalchuk are the benchmarks here.

Goffie · 02-03-2007, 05:03 PM

Well I happen to think this is a great deal for Dave and would have done the same thing if I were in his shoes. Yes Cole is a RFA but he did get a nice overall package.

Sylvanfan · 02-03-2007, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJK

I would like to think I know the value of a fair and reasonable contract by now. Combining CPHL and NHL stats it isn't overly hard to get a deal done IMO.

I don't blame you for trying to get as much as possible, I blame the GM's that are allowing it to happen. The highest paid players on my team are either great NHL'rs or playing great for me in the sim. Paying some bum $5mill is not an option for me.

I firmly believe that the highest paid players should be the best players. That being said I will not have anyone playing on my team making over $8mill/season. Lidstrom and Kovalchuk are the benchmarks here.

Well Cole is not a bum. I would think that league wide he would rate as one of the leagues top 90 forwards which makes him a top line player. But in the NHL he makes 4 million per year in a league where one player can make 20% of the leagues cap and the cap is 44 million dollars. Our cap is 1.5 times higher at 67 million and our top players are limited to 10 million or about 15% of the cap. Technically I'd argue theres more money for guys like Cole because the top guys have a lower ceiling.

I liked Cole a lot and I gave up a lot in this deal to bring in Afinogenov. But I suspected Cole would cost me 5 million dollars to get on a 3 year deal, and 4 at the minimum and at best would rate 78 OV next year. Afinogenov is a year younger, less expensive and signed, and I think he should be a 79-80 OV player next year. I feel that this deal does allow me to set up a good salary structure for my team and gives me a shot to retain a couple of my potential UFA guys or replace them next season with comparable players. This and the Ricci deal probably do put me in a pinch right now, but next season I'm hoping these moves will pay dividends.

Personally I think we have far too many players in that RFA range getting waaay more money than what they should. I had Tom Preissing for example in the summer. The demands were 3 million for a guy with one good NHL season and zero CPHL track record as he'd been a 61 OV player the previous season. His NHL salary is 500k and he was 3 years away from UFA status. IMO a player like that is where GM's give in and make bad deals.