[The Athletic] Sondage auprès des agents de la LNH : équipes les meilleures et les moins bien gérées, plus gros contrat, futur commissaire
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arctoslinnaeus
@Wild du Minnesota
[The Athletic] Sondage auprès des agents de la LNH : équipes les meilleures et les moins bien gérées, plus gros contrat, futur commissaire
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arctoslinnaeus
2 Comments
Some interesting parts about the MN wild:
* With 4 votes, voted 2nd best run franchise in the NHL (behind TBL with 7 votes and a total of 27 votes).
* Also voted easiest front office to deal with (5 votes out of 27)
On Minnesota and GM Bill Guerin: “I know every team has to make the hard decisions, but you can’t question Billy’s track record now and what he’s been able to accomplish and get things done. I think now it really comes down to whether or not this group can win.”
**Hughes vs. Makar: Who will make more and how much will they get?**
Let’s just say it’s safe to say that the highest-paid defenseman isn’t going to be making $11.5 million for much longer.
According to the agents we surveyed, both Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar are going to reset the market for top blueliners in a big way, especially with the salary cap set to hit $104 million next season.
“It depends on term and it depends on if they go to marketplace,” one agent explained. “If Makar’s going to stay in Colorado, he’s going to make less than he would by not staying. If he put himself out to market, there would be a team that would give him $20 million. If Hughes goes to open market, he could get $18-20 million. But it really depends on where. Do you want to make $20 million on a losing team or do you want to make $15 million on Minnesota, who always makes the playoffs and has a shot?”
« I can see them signing $15 million (a season) on three- or four-year deals, » added another agent. « We’ve taken that strategy. Much different defenseman, but (redacted), we had an eight-year deal on the table and took a shorter-term deal, only ate up two years of UFA, because we want to get back at the table after this guy’s got another 120 NHL games played because of where the cap is going. »
On whether the culture of contracts will change with a higher cap: “The question becomes, are GMs going to get used to the new normal and just allow for these guys to make $16 to $20 million or is the culture of hockey going to say you can’t ask for that much because you’re being selfish? I think people need to embrace the new culture that the economics have changed and general managers get comfortable in that, I think these guys should get closer to that $20 million.”
On setting a new bar for all defensemen: “They better be dead set on resetting the market. Why isn’t Quinn the Kaprizov (number of $17 million) and above? He should be setting that standard because defensemen right now are still underpaid relative to the top forwards in the game. And Makar, no reason he should be any different. In fact, in my view, he should be above Hughes. … Listen, when Kaprizov does what he does, these two better be doing it, too.”
On how it relates to athletes in other sports: “These guys are generational players that should push the envelope like the basketball players, football players and baseball players do.”
With these contacts the cheapest tickets will start at $150 soon… I’m happy for « generational players », but there is a chance they will end up playing in the emptier stadiums at some point…