2021 NHL off-season thread

I saw him win a Cup for the Wings
Maybe past his prime then but still incredible

 

How do you say "Tom Dundon is a petty punk" in French?

The whole thing with Sebastian Aho was that the organization was going to re-sign him, but they waited for someone to offer sheet him to gauge the market. Trying to pin this on Bergevin is silly. All Bergevin did was speed up the process between Aho's folks and Dundon, who was screwing around. He told everyone in the Triangle and the league that he valued Aho ... yet refused to put a value on him until Bergevin's offer sheet. The Canadiens put in a nasty poison pill that required Dundon to pay Aho an eight-figure signing bonus when he finally reacted and matched.

Remember these three things:
1) Dundon was trying to get a GM to work without a contract. There's a reason Don Waddell had to take an interview elsewhere before finally taking the role on a permanent basis ... it was because Dundon didn't think he needed some contract for something as small and unimportant as a GM.
2) While the story of Rod Brind'Amour becoming an excellent NHL head coach is a good one, at least part of it stems from Dundon's cheapness. Remember, he was an assistant under predecessor Bill Peters, who resigned with a year left on his original deal because Dundon had taken over the organization and already made an enormous mess with the firing of Ron Francis as GM. Brind'Amour was one of the lowest-paid head coaches in the league for his first three seasons.
3) More on Brind'Amour ... Dundon was trying to get other owners to collude and hold back salaries on coaches and GMs. Brind'Amour leveraged himself and protected the organization by seeing that everyone was taken care of when his deal finally got done. Chalk that up to smarts and outright decency by Rod ... ... and his awareness than Dundon would fire half the people working in the ESA if it would save him 50 cents.

 

As a Habs fan, I don’t like the idea of paying KK $6 million. And it also means they have to qualify him again next year at $6 million if they don’t extend him.

He was benched in the finals. His upside looks to be a good 3C or possibly an average 2C. But that still feels a long way off.

Bergevin has to view his 3OA status as a sunk cost - it’s not part of his market value. Carolina could backslide without Hamilton and with iffy goaltending.

Take the picks. I don’t think Carolina actually wants to pay him the money.

 

Agreed. Perhaps this will help put the attempted move in perspective. Reportedly, the offer to Dougie Hamilton had a $6.25M AAV hit.

So, they were willing to offer that to a defenseman who they had to know had a big market, yet offer $6M to a guy with clear upside, but whose potential is still a big mystery.

This stupid attempt to troll the Habs could cost them $6M they could use for someone else(s), plus a high pick. Big price for a childish prank.

 

I absolutely love what Canes did. Teams should be sticking to other teams more, but you still have the Burke types who don’t think offer sheets should be used. Teams should be doing this in division and putting their competitors in cap hell.

 

Turning the number 3 overall pick in 18 for a late first and a third does not seem like good business. Neither does paying 6.1 for someone who would have been looking at 3ish on a bridge deal. It’s fun as hell tho.

 

It's not good business for the Habs, but holding on to him won't make him a better pick. I don't think his trade value would be any better.

He was a reach to fill a need, and despite being a project player they rushed him. Just terrible drafting and development.

I'm not happy with the fact that Bergevin is having to evaluate this situation which largely involves his own mistakes. I also don't like that he's in the last year of his deal and seemingly gone after this year, and is still making critical long term decisions.

 

If Habs let him go their centers are Suzuki and …
I think they have to cut payroll to match the offer
Carolina pick likely in the 20s

 

Carolina has a history of this
When Peter Karamanos owned the Canes he signed Sergei Fedorov to a 6/$38M offer sheet — $2 million a year for 6 years, a $10M signing bonus plus a $16M bonus for making the conference final
Fedorov sat most of the season but the Wings matched it and got him back in time for the Stanley Cup run
The Wings have yet to retire Fedorov’s number
That is believed to be the reason

 

+1

 

Quite a bit of insight on what you posted above in Jimmy Devellano and Roger Lajoie's book. IIRC, when that offer sheet came down, Mike Ilitch was hospitalized recovering from heart surgery. Mrs. I and a son had to act fast and come up with a ton of cash quickly.

 

Word is 91 will not hang from the LCA rafters until Marian Ilitch is no longer with us