[Signing] Oilers sign Hyman (7yrs, $5.5 mil AAV)

[transplant99]

Just to make sure the point gets across!!!

Actually have no idea...weird.

Bothered me so much i changed it.

[868904]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Lanny...I (me) havent bought into anything.

But when i sit back and look at it both from the player/agent AND the GM angle, the barn door is open and if you want to keep your best young guys, you have to play on their field. Its how things have evolved. It started with Kevin Lowe and his asshat Penner offer and has been gaining momentum ever since. Then Dubas showed up and did the whole "hold my beer" thing.

I know you dont like what Francis did in the ED, but he has set himself up brilliantly to play that game moving forward IMO. Now he has to execute a couple things to make it pay off, but he certainly has all the weaponry to do so.

really thats all Im pointing out...and Im not even sure its the right way to go, but it was sure A way to go.

I have a feeling there is going to be pure chaos over the next little while...and its going to be both fascinating and fun to watch.

Tonight may end up a little anti-climatic but the next 10 days or so? I predict mayhem.

I think the problem for Francis is that he’s Not the only game in town. Detroit has even more cap space then they do and Arizona is also willing to take on garbage contracts for draft picks. The two trades Arizona made to acquire Ladd and Ghostbear are the types of deals Vegas made in 2017 to build up their picks.

The other problem is that teams are actually wise to it now. They didn’t think an expansion team could be competitive before Vegas. They created a monster in the Golden Knights and they aren’t going to do it again.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by 868904

I think the problem for Francis is that he’s Not the only game in town. Detroit has even more cap space then they do and Arizona is also willing to take on garbage contracts for draft picks. The two trades Arizona made to acquire Ladd and Ghostbear are the types of deals Vegas made in 2017 to build up their picks.

The other problem is that teams are actually wise to it now. They didn’t think an expansion team could be competitive before Vegas. They created a monster in the Golden Knights and they aren’t going to do it again.

Detroit has to sign a plethora of their own guys/Fa's to fill out their team though...Seattle doesnt.

Arizona has set an internal cap of 65M apparently and also need to sign a bunch of their guys.

Completely different scenarios.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Was it though?

I think there is a clear strategy from him.

Whether or not it gets executed is yet to be seen, but it;s there.

30M in cap space may be the single biggest weapon anyone in the league has to offer. More than any player or combination of players could return.

How is this for an example...

Knowing the Canucks are both a natural rival both geographically and division wise, and that they are in a serious cap crunch having to sign both Hughes and Petterson to large deals

What happens if he offer sheets Petterson to something like 7 years and 9M per year?

That puts serious pressure on Benning to match and then figure out how to ice a team moving forward.

If he doesnt match, then they get their franchise like C at age 22 for the better [art of the next decade, they seriously weaken their biggest rival and STILL have 20+ Million dollars to play with and recoup some of the lost draft picks.

I agree completely. Talk of Francis being an idiot is laughable. Did he take a couple picks that you or I might disagree with? Of course, everyone has different opinions on the potential of some players.

But what he did - what he built his strategy around - was to focus on cap space. And I agree that it is the most valuable commodity he could have come away with yesterday. Sure, there were names like Voracek and many others, good players. But their cap hits make them not that valuable.

Sitting on $30M in cap space (instead of maybe $10M if he had listened to all you geniuses), he can now go out and acquire some much better players than what was available in the draft.

And your example of offer sheeting someone like Petterson is a great example of just how much power he has. How he chooses to wield it is yet to be seen. But make no mistake, he has plenty of capital (hey, Pepsi!) to play with.

Specifically to the Petterson example, I would totally do that if I were him. Is Petterson a perfect player? No. But he is probably about as good of a player as Francis could get his hands on right now. Yes, VAN would match (and frankly, I doubt Petterson would sign), but damn that would be awesome and hilarious to see.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by 868904

I think the problem for Francis is that he’s Not the only game in town. Detroit has even more cap space then they do and Arizona is also willing to take on garbage contracts for draft picks. The two trades Arizona made to acquire Ladd and Ghostbear are the types of deals Vegas made in 2017 to build up their picks.

The other problem is that teams are actually wise to it now. They didn’t think an expansion team could be competitive before Vegas. They created a monster in the Golden Knights and they aren’t going to do it again.

Irrelevant.

Cap space is scarce and valuable. You don't need to be the only person with some in order for it to be valuable. And as transplant99 said, Detroit and ARI have their own problems to solve with their available cap capital (now I can't stop using it!), while Seattle's $30M is entirely free to do whatever they want with.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Lanny...I (me) havent bought into anything.

Well, when you trot out the PPG angle to find an equivalency to justify paying certain players similar money I can only assume you've bout into the madness. I'm glad to hear you have not.

I know you dont like what Francis did in the ED, but he has set himself up brilliantly to play that game moving forward IMO. Now he has to execute a couple things to make it pay off, but he certainly has all the weaponry to do so.

I think his strategy is stupid and very short sighted.

Vegas will be a powerhouse for years to come because they made deals to give them extra picks, they grabbed players they knew they could trade and get extra picks, and they built a team that had potential down the line. Because of the stockpile of assets they had built up they were able to make some trades for top end talent which drew the attention of others. When you do things right, have a team with a good base, and a war chest of assets, you're going to be on the right path to success. Vegas did it right.

Francis was a fool because he didn't make any side deals to accrue extra picks. He didn't go out of his way to pick young players that will become a long-term foundation. He didn't take players he knew he could trade and get some good return. He looked past this and appeared to be only concerned with having a bunch of cap space. Well, cap space is only worth while if you can use it. If you were a prospective player hoping to be competitive and chase the cup, would you look at Seattle's roster and say, "yup, that's a team with a future and will be competitive for years to come!" Not a chance. It's a weak roster with nothing in the pipe to back it. Francis has Seattle's draft picks to work with as trade capital, and that's about it. That is a terrible foundation and not one that top players should be looking at unless they only care about the Benjamins.

really thats all Im pointing out...and Im not even sure its the right way to go, but it was sure A way to go.

It's one way to go, and its usually a way to failure. I've cleaned up a few companies that had management who thought they could just throw money at problems and things would be okay. No coherent philosophy. No planning, let alone succession planning. No discipline in building a long-term strategy. Just spend, spend, spend. This is what Francis appears to have in mind, and its unlikely to work. All that house of cards needs is one over-priced contract to not perform, and the whole things comes crashing down. You can't spend you way to success.

I have a feeling there is going to be pure chaos over the next little while...and its going to be both fascinating and fun to watch.

Tonight may end up a little anti-climatic but the next 10 days or so? I predict mayhem.

I agree with you there. Free agency is going to be a mess. At a time when salaries should flattening, along comes an inflation agent. The players may love this short term spend, but it won't lead to long-term success.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Having a bunch of cap space is one part of it. The second part is whether you want to use it to acquire futures, as Arizona is doing, or if you want to use it to compete, as Edmonton is... uh... trying to do. If you're Buffalo, you know there's no way you're going to be good this year so if you take on some bad deals for this season to make yourself better in 3 years, no harm done. All upside.

It's not really clear whether Seattle is doing that or if they want to try to make the playoffs this season. If I had to guess I'd say they will try to be competitive in what is a pretty weak division. I'm which case, they're not really competitors in the same market as Detroit and company.

[Enoch Root]

Yes, how they use the cap space is yet to be determined.

I agree that they are likely looking to be competitive now. Their defense is already solid. And their goaltending should be solid as well (we'll see). Their bottom 6 - like Vegas - is rock solid.

All they need, to be a competitive, and likely a playoff, team is some top 6 talent. Easier said than done, of course. But with $30M in their pockets, if they spend it well, they can really set themselves up nicely.

Also, they have more bodies than they need, so there will be trades coming, which should get them some more picks as well.

Did he overplay his hand? Yes. But to be fair, Seattle was NEVER going to come away with anything close to what Vegas did, simply because Vegas got to go first, and the other 30 GMs learned from that experience.

[topfiverecords]

Soooo...how about Hyman?

[sureLoss]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1418680215530872834

[Sofa GM]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

https://twitter.com/user/status/1418680215530872834

Oh thank goodness, I thought this was going to fall through.

[Toonage]

Still sort of expect him to pull a Versteeg here

[joejoe3]

Holland and Dubas working on compensation could mean 8yrs lol!!!

[Erick Estrada]

Crossing my fingers for the 8 year deal.

[868904]

I kind of think it'd be better for everyone else if the Oilers had to do 7 years. Make that cap hit higher and harder for them to win with McDavid.

Giving them the 8th year means nothing really, they will be in rebuild mode anyways.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by 868904

I kind of think it'd be better for everyone else if the Oilers had to do 7 years. Make that cap hit higher and harder for them to win with McDavid.

Giving them the 8th year means nothing really, they will be in rebuild mode anyways.

Yeah but the extra year makes him harder to trade if they are in cap hell. They will at least try to re-sign Draisaitl and McDavid and this and the RNH contracts will be unmovable objects taking up $10 million in cap space.

[Skyceman]

We’ll see how much the Leafs squeeze out of the Oilers now. A 5th rounder?

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by Skyceman

We’ll see how much the Leafs squeeze out of the Oilers now. A 5th rounder?

2nd lol

[Sofa GM]

Originally Posted by Bonded

2nd lol

This isn’t too far fetched, could save the Oilers almost $500k per year cap space which is precious for what they have to do next year with Nurse, PullanRV etc. 8 yrs vs 7 yrs is critical for them

[You Need a Thneed]

As I looked up for the Jones trade, it does not need to be Toronto that signs Hyman to an 8 year deal, then traded to Edmonton.

Edmonton can sign Hyman to an 8 year deal after they make the trade, but it has to be prior to free agency opening.