Canucks & Beyond
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Sedin’s Agent Not Optimistic About a Vancouver Deal, but is Anyone?
by Alanah McGinley on 06/26/09 at 04:57 PM ET
Comments (4)
“We’ve been negotiating for more than a year, so it’s hard for me to say I’m optimistic. We haven’t really made a lot of progress in a year. We’re going to have to address the gap that we have - but we’ve only got five days to do it.”
-- J.P. Barry, Henrik and Daniel Sedin’s agent, speaking with Sportsnet today.
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Mike Gillis has never been strongly motivated to sign the Sedins. If I had to guess, I’d say he’s not a “fan” and when he sits around late at night counting change in his salary-cap piggy bank, he can think of far better ways to spend his money.
But are there really so many better ways to spend it that don’t end up looking like Mats Sundin at the end of the day? I’m not so sure.
As Richard Loat pointed out to me yesterday (Facebook & Canucks Hockey Blog hockey dude extraordinaire, third from the right in this pic we took last night from Miss 604’s camera), one of the great and wondrous bonuses of signing the Sedins is the guarantee you’ve got two players that make magic together. Signing any other individual players, no matter how great they are, there’s always a question mark about chemistry.
(Marian Gaborik & Pavol Demitra are destined to tear up the NHL, you respond? Pffft, I’d say back atcha, politely.)
Speaking of Gaborik, some to-remain-nameless doofus today has suggested that the Gaborik rumors have all been a smokescreen created by the Canucks organization in order to put pressure on the Sedins.
Sweet geezus. That’s quite a jump-the-shark moment for someone in the hockey media. Here’s how it seems to go: Create a rumor, follow a rumor, run a rumor a thousand directions, fall in love with said rumor, then ultimately decide you’ve been misled by the very people denying the rumor for months (the Canucks), and then blaming them for the misinformation.
Clever.
The Canucks are good at keeping secrets and I may not be Mike Gillis’ biggest fan, but they’re hardly a diabolical entity seeking to control the universe, for godsakes. Gaborik rumors are a consequence of wild speculation mixed with some reasonably strong analysis of circumstances, by both fans and media. And that’s it.
Final thought: I’m willing to put up $5 saying Gaborik signs as a Canuck, but as to the Sedins, I have no idea. My feeling is that they’ll probably leave. I don’t think they’re “show me the money” type guys, but from the outside looking in, it seems like their relationship with management has been pretty poor. At the end of the day, I can see them walking away.
And that would be sad. They’ve done a lot for this team.
Filed in: vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: daniel+sedin, henrik+sedin, marian+gaborik, pavol+demitra,
Comments
But, take less than what? How do we really know what kind of deals they’ve been offered, if any? I haven’t heard them name a dollar figure or publicly state they felt any specific amount was too little. All I ever hear is the speculation on those dollars, by reporters and others. And lordy, I don’t see any reason to trust those figures for one second. It doesn’t take much to guess who their sources are…
Vancouver only ever leaks what they want to leak, has been my observation. 
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 06/26/09 at 05:35 PM ET
The Sedins have said on several occasions that they will not demand the last dollar to resign but I do not think they are prepared to accept a huge discount relative to market either. The problem is none of us really know who has offered what to whom. Some of the rumours suggest that Gillis wants around $5.25m for 4-5 years. If that is true it would be about 20-25% below market given the contracts that are out there for players with lower numbers than the Sedins. The Sedins have been exemplary players here and deserve better treatment than that which makes me wonder if Gillis only wants to resign them at a low enough number to implement another part of his agenda. It will be interesting to see what Lui resigns for (if he does) and how that compares to market. Based on their play in game 6 against Chicago I know who I would value closer to market.
Posted by Phil from Vancouver on 06/26/09 at 07:10 PM ET
As much as I like Gabo, I do not want the Canucks to sign him. His groin is in shreds, and he didn’t quite develop the chemistry with Demitra we expected.
As for Optimism… you clearly haven’t lived in Vancouver long enough if you are ever optimistic about the Canucks
Posted by JesGolbez from Burnaby, BC on 06/30/09 at 10:16 AM 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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Alanah’s Twitter: Not really hockey-ish. [LINK]
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I think it’s time to cut ties with the Sedins, simply for the fact that they don’t give us many options as far as flexibility because they come as a pair. We could sign two players that aren’t tied at the hip.
If the Sedins want to play here and stay together they have to take less, period,. They can’t have it both ways and expect us to remain competitive.
Posted by Brian Wawryshyn from Vancouver on 06/26/09 at 04:56 PM ET