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Save the GMs!
by Alanah McGinley on 07/09/08 at 04:04 PM ET
Comments (6)
While $2.5 million should be no laughing matter, I couldn’t help being amused by the series of events involving Steve Bernier yesterday. Nor could Adam Proteau at The Hockey News apparently, who would’ve enjoyed watching it go even further:
The only way this soap opera could be more entertaining would be if the Lightning’s braintrust discovered a hidden clause in the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement that allowed them to somehow supersede Vancouver’s ability to match and bring Bernier to Tampa Bay – a move that, by my calculations, would give the Bolts approximately 89 forwards heading into training camp.
Lordy. Is there any saving the NHL’s GMs from themselves?
I ended up in an unintentional argument with someone shortly after Bernier signed that offer sheet, who felt strongly that the whole situation says more about Bernier’s character than about anyone else. I can appreciate the point, but I happen to disagree with it.
My impression is that this mess says more about the boys in management.
Vancouver knew the risks in trading for Bernier, an RFA who was vulnerable to offer sheets, and obviously wanting to get the best deal he could. And who wouldn’t? He has no reason to be loyal to Vancouver three days into his trade. The onus was on Vancouver to get the deal done a.s.a.p. and they couldn’t.
That being said, it’s also easy to believe Vancouver was misled about Bernier’s intentions given a statement from his agent back on July 5th. At that time, Gilles Lupien said this on the subject of offer sheets and his client:
“I don’t work like that. I’ve always asked teams to be honest with my client and I’m sure he [Canucks GM Mike Gillis] is going to be honest with players after being a former player himself.”
So either Lupien was lying from the start, or something went very wrong in negotiations between himself and Gillis.
And then there’s the John Davidson aspect of this.
I’m sure the St. Louis Blues GM sincerely considered Bernier’s usefulness to his club in the very unlikely event that Gillis didn’t match his offer. But even if he didn’t ever want Bernier, there wasn’t much of a risk. For all intents and purposes, Gillis was pretty much trapped by that offer sheet and everyone knows it.
The result is probably a giddy group of GMs all over the NHL who (I’m betting) enjoyed what happened immensely. They may not like offer sheets in general, but I’m betting they loved that one. In their minds, this fiasco will cause the next GM to think twice before trying to poach one of their own players.
But it’s all just foolishness. As plenty of people have said, offer sheets are now a reality and if GMs can’t get deals done with players heading into their RFA year, it’s a risk they’re going to have to live with. And pissing matches don’t help anyone—they’re just escalating the prices.
The sooner they all figure that out, the less likely it is that we’ll be thinking of them as children in a playground spat, rather than managers of the multimillion dollar business enterprises that they are.
Filed in: nhl general, vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: gilles+lucien, john+davidson, mike+gillis, offer+sheets, steve+bernier,
Comments
The only question I could possibly raise is this: are we really sure that they aren’t a bunch of grown-up kids tossing millions of dollars around in pissing matches and knock-down, dragged-out versions of, “I’m rubber, you’re glue, whatever offer I make bounces off of me and sticks to you?”
I can’t think of any other reason for Cliff Fletcher to pay somebody with 72 games of NHL experience a 4-year, $14 million deal ($3.5 million a season)--that’s Mattias Ohlund/Sami Salo money, not a rookie bonus. To me, that move smacked of, “Hey, I’m a grumpy old GM who wants to prove that overpaying free agents will even bring them to Toronto!”
Why am I supposed to feel sorry for Fletcher or Dale Tallon, who also openly admitted that he’s overpaying to bring players to Chicago, when they lose somebody because of cap issues down the line? Is that the fault of greedy players, or greedy GM’s?
I don’t get it, but it seems like those Good Old Boys will do just about anything to deliver the managerial version of a cross-check to your opponent.
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 07/09/08 at 03:35 PM ET
I laugh when grown men display less maturity than my three-year-old nephew. He is advanced for his age, but even so… 
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/09/08 at 04:37 PM ET
YzermanZetterberg—I put up that Feaster post earlier on KK, and maybe you’re right. But whoever is doing Feaster’s job at the moment is basically acting as GM right now, right? Someone is to blame!
George—I was thinking about it, and I figure if I ran my business the way some of these guys run theirs (i.e. ego without any common sense) I’d have bankrupted years ago and currently be living in a cave.
Baroque—So true. These guys could probably save everyone a lot of time and money if they just dropped their pants and grabbed a tape measure.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 07/09/08 at 06:27 PM ET
When Valteri Filpulla was a RFA, before he filed for arbitration, Ken Holland had publicly stated multiple times that he would match any offer sheet.
My interpretation of his message was that he was announcing to other GM’s to keep their hands off his RFA. He was letting them know that an offer sheet would only create animosity between the 2 teams’ managements(and cost the Red Wings some CAP).
I am absolutely certain he would have followed through on his promise, because to do otherwise would have destroyed his credibility the next time he had a RFA.
Given Holland’s credibility, nobody challenged his statement…
Posted by w2j2 on 07/09/08 at 09:20 PM ET
Baroque—So true. These guys could probably save everyone a lot of time and money if they just dropped their pants and grabbed a tape measure.
No doubt one of them—probably Burke—would try to sneak a little Viagra prior to the pants dropping.
Posted by YzermanZetterberg on 07/09/08 at 11:41 PM ET
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About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003, 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 is one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast, as featured at Canucks.com.
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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As noted elsewhere at KK, you can’t blame it all on GMs, as Jay Feaster seems to be ready for a guest starring role on Without a Trace.
Posted by YzermanZetterberg on 07/09/08 at 03:28 PM ET