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Mercenary Criticism
by Alanah McGinley on 12/19/08 at 12:59 PM ET
Comments (16)
The announcement of the Mats Sundin deal yesterday seemed to impress the Vancouver media more than the fans. Not that the fans aren’t happy—most seem to be pretty psyched about it, including me despite some reservations about the terms—but I think many are suspicious. Or perhaps just cautious in their optimism.
But still, there’s always New York for a little “reality check”—or perhaps it’s just embittered, revisionist history?—such as that from Larry Brooks in the New York Post today:
IN the end, Mats Sundin made like Woodward and Bernstein following Deep Throat’s advice. He followed the money.
The 37-year-old free agent center followed the money to Vancouver, accepting a pro-rated $10 million deal from the Canucks instead of less than that to live in New York and play for the Rangers New York Rangers .
Sundin followed his wallet instead of his heart. Good for him. Just one more mercenary the way pretty much professional athletes essentially are.
While everyone’s entitled to their opinion—and I’m well-aware that plenty of hockey fans share Brooks’ thoughts—I think this is nonsense.
How exactly did he follow the money?
Let’s see, he was offered $20 million for two years and left it on the table, and eventually settled on $10 million for a one year deal.
So even if he played out the final 50 games—which he won’t—that is pro-rated down to $6,097,550. for the remainder of this season.
And then, if you believe Darren Dreger at TSN, he even knocked down those numbers, settling for about $5 million ultimately. (*Exact dollar figures now updated down below.)
It’s a lot of money, sure, but it’s only 25% of what he could have had if he had only “followed the money” in the first place.
Add to that this final point, also from Dreger:
“Sundin signed in Vancouver because of the fit, the fact no player was forced out to make room for him, and the promise the Canucks intent on being a Stanley Cup contender doesn’t end with him.”
As a commenter, Orst, on my post last night pointed out:
If true, that is pretty generous thinking on Mats’ part, to make sure that no one gets dumped just because he wants to play.
Indeed it is.
And all of this adds up to Larry Brooks’ idea of a mercenary player?
Sounds more like an unimpressed, mercenary journalist looking for a target, if you ask me.
One can criticize Sundin for plenty of things in how he’s handled his decision process in recent months, but I don’t think greed is one of those things. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Update 11:32am PT:
Here are Sundin’s comments from his teleconference today. (*Not really pertinent to this post, but I refuse to make more than one blog entry per day that’s just about Mats Sundin. Don’t get me wrong—I’m glad to have the guy around—but the topic is making my freakin’ head hurt.)
Update 12:45pm PT: Jason Botchford at The Province chased down the exact dollar amounts for us. Here they are, via the Canucks Nation blog:
The total cap hit of the deal for the Canucks is $5.625 million and that has been confirmed with the team.
This is how it breaks down:
For his pro-rated salary, Sundin will receive $1.625. Annualized, that is about a $2.6 million salary.
For his signing bonus, Sundin will receive $4 million. The Canucks have confirmed that they have $2.5 million in salary cap space.
The total annualized value of the deal is $8.6 million. That’s $1.4 million less than what Sundin was offered.
Filed in: vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: larry+brooks, mats+sundin, media,
Comments
It’s just too rich to hear Brooks of all people complaining about a player following the money. Damn that salary cap.
Also Alanah it’s not fair to call out Brooks like this. It’s hard enough for him to string coherent phrases together, you expect them to make sense? THAT’S why you’re not a real hockey journalist for a crappy new york city tabloid 
Posted by Yankee Canuck on 12/19/08 at 01:22 PM ET
Sundin followed his wallet instead of his heart.
Wow, I had no idea that Larry Brooks has the ability to see into the hearts of men he doesn’t even know. Someone should give him a reality TV show.
Posted by YzermanZetterberg on 12/19/08 at 01:25 PM ET
Good analysis! You’ve changed my mind b/c I was one of those folks thinking he was following the cash.
Posted by Shane from Saskatoon, Sk on 12/19/08 at 01:39 PM ET
If Sundin was only in it for the money he would have signed with Vancouver the moment they put that 2 year $20 million contract on the table. This guy didn’t want to be responsible for shoving a current roster player or players out of New York. Classy and selfless in my opinion. Brooks has got it 100% wrong.
Posted by Hockey Hermit on 12/19/08 at 01:50 PM ET
He could have had 20 mil for 2 years from the Nucks… yet didn’t want that. What he wanted, as we now see, is to only play maybe 40ish games in one season, plus whatever happens in the playoffs.
From a motivation standpoint, that would make me rather worried.
Then, we have the reality of a player moving from the JV conference to the Varsity.
As far as chasing the cash goes, OF COURSE that’s what he was doing… with certain modifications Sure, he could have gotten a larger net deal by signing up for two years at 20… but that would have been a ton more work. He’s already missed 19 of 41 road games. He missed the offseason, the training camps, all the practices. All the annoying stuff.
Essentially he left 5 mil on the table rather than do all the moderately tedious early-season work and the road-heavy travel schedule of the Canucks.
Hey, it’s Mats Sundin. It’s not like this is exactly new territory for him, right?
Posted by HockeyinHD on 12/19/08 at 01:50 PM ET
My thoughts exactly… pretty rediculous for Brooks to be spouting off about this when you look at the Rangers’ track record over the last few years (hell, you can go all the way back to Phil Esposito if you like…) Brooks should realize that they are the ones consistently hiring away players with piles of cash (getting your money’s worth from Gomez and Drury, Glen?). I have said all year that the Rangers aren’t as nearly as good as their record indicates, and if they were in the West they would be struggling for a playoff spot if they had to play teams like Detroit, San Jose and everyone in our division all season long.
Posted by Kent- WAACH Cast from Victoria, BC on 12/19/08 at 01:53 PM ET
Mats definitely followed the money. There are a number of teams that are much better Stanley Cup contenders than the Canucks that he could have joined for cut rate prices if his interest was to win a title.
Why didn’t he joined in the summer when the deal was first offered? I think it’s because he wasn’t sure until recently that he actually wanted to play but once he did he went after the most money.
Posted by Pension Plan Puppets on 12/19/08 at 02:36 PM ET
This guy didn’t want to be responsible for shoving a current roster player or players out of New York. Classy and selfless in my opinion.
Has he actually said that, or are you, like Brooks, assuming you know what’s in Sundin’s head?
It obviously wasn’t all about the money, or the Rangers would never have been in the running (and who thought that would ever happen?). But it’s stupid to assume that money wasn’t a big part of it (if that’s the case, you must also think Hossa signing with Detroit was only about the chance at a Cup). Still, Brooks’ whining is just bitterness that NY didn’t get the best toy for Christmas. Get over it Larry, sometimes not getting what you want is better for you.
Posted by K24 from NYC on 12/19/08 at 02:59 PM ET
Larry Brooks will be eating his words in June when the Canucks meet the Rangers in the Stanley Cup Final.
It will be discovered that the Rangers don’t have the depth the Canucks have, because Sundin settled for less money in his contract, in order to make room for a impact player brought in to the Canucks before the trading deadline.
Brooks will admit that the Rangers wouldn’t have had the cap room to sign both Sundin and this future to be revealed player - without gutting the lineup they had back in December.
He will say this sadly, as Canucks lift the Stanley Cup at Madison Square Gardens, having beat the Rangers in 4 straight.
Posted by Todd from Vancouver BC on 12/19/08 at 03:27 PM ET
I’m on the run today, but a quick note: the annualized amount of Sundin’s salary proved to be $8.6 million for the full year ($5.625 million at the pro-rated amount)—as nailed down by The Province this afternoon. (see the updates on the post itself for links and details).
And for anyone who’s wondering—I don’t want there to be any misunderstanding that I think Sundin is some angelic “I just play because I love hockey. Who cares about money!” saint. I don’t think he is at all, nor do I expect him to be. My issue with Brooks’ editorial was more with his suggestion that the whole deal with Sundin’s decision was about the money.
Anyway, I’ve already argued my case, and I appreciate that some of you have different opinions on this.
It can be looked at in a myriad of ways, really.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 12/19/08 at 03:57 PM ET
i’m so sick and tired of people talking about players following the money, or how hockey is just a business to them.
first of all, its hypocritical. How many people would refuse an opportunity in another city, not because they felt their current position was a better fit, but out of pure loyalty to their current company or city?
second, they are presupposing that money is the one and only incentive—like mats would have taken any job in any city on any team just to get a better paycheque. i think you’ve done quite a nice job of debunking that idea.
i think mats went through the same process that anyone would in his situation. he picked the team/city/contract that cumulatively was the best fit for him. he wants to play on a good team, for decent money, in a city he likes. he weighed all the pros and cons and decided that vancouver overall gave him the best combination of team, city, money, and overall quality of life.
as fans its sort of our perogative to expect players to be as loyal to the team as we are, but we just have to watch them—that’s not our career. players don’t have that luxury anymore than you do in your job. would brooks take a comparable job in a city he liked for an organization he respected for considerably more money? even if he has loyalty to new york, loyalty isn’t something you base your career and your quality of life on—its something you base your fanhood on.
Posted by philb on 12/19/08 at 04:12 PM ET
Was someone offering Sundin more money to play somewhere else?
Were there teams more likely to win the Cup who Sundin could have signed with for less money than a pro-rated 8.6 freaking mil?
Look, I understand that there’s going to be a knee-jerk reaction to defend Sundin. The guy’s not a total jerk to the public, he’s not offensive in his behavior in any way, etc etc etc.
But the reality is what it is. He took the biggest deal out there rather than spending the rest of his career with the Leafs… and by the way, he could have gone to any of a number of contenders last year if he gave a flying fig about the playoffs, so let’s not pretend he picked the Canucks because he’s trying to land a late Cup.
He left the 2 year deal on the table because, hello, he can just do this same deal next year if he feel like it and get another pretty desperate team to offer him a pro-rated 8+ mil deal to play half a season and the playoffs.
If he plays it right he’ll get around 10-11 million bucks to play fewer than 100 regular season games and two postseasons of indeterminant length.
That’s totally in the Sundin wheelhouse.
Posted by HockeyinHD on 12/19/08 at 04:55 PM ET
I think there’s just a lot of bitter people out there who were hoping Sundin would re-sign in NY or TO.
Honestly, if you look through Larry Brooks’ stories from the last week, it sounds like he was sitting in on every NYR internal board meeting and conference call, considering the “latest news” (*cough* rumours and BS *cough*) he kept spouting. He’s about as credible as Eklund ... who, for what it’s worth, was using Brooks as a source for his similar posts about the NYR-Sundin deal being an “E4 (almost E5)”... yeah, right on the money as usual.
I find it’s easier to bet against Eklund and his sources as most often the opposite of what he says is the reality, unless he’s just parroting something he saw on TSN or Sportsnet as an “E5”...
Posted by nick from vancouver, bc, canada on 12/19/08 at 07:31 PM ET
What kind of ticks me off about guys like Brooks is the implicit suggestion that the Canucks just aren’t as good as the Rags - look at the preseason predictions these guys made. I don’t mean to suggest that the Canucks are a contender. Brooks seems to be concluding that Sundin signed for the money BECAUSE the Rags are the better team.
Posted by Andy from Van on 12/19/08 at 08:11 PM ET
I don’t think the Rags are a better team… I think they have a MUCH better shot at getting to a Cup Final than the Canucks do.
Thomas has been super hot to start the year for Boston… but really, is there any East team out there that’s so incredibly scary? Enh. I don’t see it. Maybe if Pitt gets it together and gets healthy… but until that happens the East is pretty much a total toss up and there aren’t going to be any huge favorites one way or the other.
The West? A little different. A Chicago, SJ, Detroit playoff road isn’t unrealistic. That seems a bit tougher.
Posted by HockeyinHD on 12/19/08 at 10:27 PM ET
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About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003 (with a notable gap in time through 2010, kicking it with new baby Lucy while living knee-deep in chaos while reading “parenting for complete idiots” during every spare minute) sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen.
In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah was one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast. She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
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Indeed. He left the Canucks about $3mill under the cap, which is tons of space for trades to make that last push…..
Posted by Karina on 12/19/08 at 01:18 PM ET