Free Agent "Frenzy" Day

[Megaterio Llamas]

Sammy Blais is off to Montreal (Sorry, Megs)

I know, it sucks eh.

Congrats to Sammy on getting a one-way deal, though. I just wish it were here with us.

[2Fingers]

I can’t keep up with nicknames, who is sushi again. I know who scooter is.

[Meds]

I can’t keep up with nicknames, who is sushi again. I know who scooter is.

Lekkermaki

[Lancer]

Still no takers on Rossi!!!
Might be a Canuck deal there yet.

If Rossi and management don’t reconcile, and Rossi just wants out towards training camp, Guerin may have a distressed asset of his own to deal with.

Never say never.

[Hockey Widow]

I'm really happy we have not gone crazy these past few weeks. Really happy. I say that not really knowing much about Rossi. If we are still in the hunt for an upgrade at centre I really don't want Allvin to start going crazy. Never say never, I agree, but please, just when it seems common sense is prevailing, or maybe its forced upon them, I don't want to see them part with one of our few grade A prospects and next year's first.

[Megaterio Llamas]

Topper is going to hate to see Juulsen go to Philadelphia

[Cousin Strawberry]

Topper is going to hate to see Juulsen go to Philadelphia

Topper can finally peel off the Rick McLeish name bar off the back of his old tattered Flyers jersey and plop on a fresh Juulsen one

[Picker of Cherries]

Suter still not signed? The longer this goes the more it feels like the Canucks might have a second surprise signing for us.

[Chef Boi RD]

Still no takers on Rossi!!!
Might be a Canuck deal there yet.

Word on the street is Guerin’s price is high if you want Rossi, he’s in no rush to trade him. I was worried Allvin and his chipmunk were gonna sell the farm to get him. I like everything they’ve done so far…so far. They resigned three character Canucks, didn’t trade picks and I’m warning to Kane being a Canuck. I imagine Hughes is happy. Just need Petey to snap out of it and Chytil to stay healthy. I like hearing they are working hard to extend Sherwood, another character player.

[Cornuck]

^ This, and a healthy Demko.

[Cornuck]

Phillip Di Giuseppe is off to the Peg with a 2 way contract 1 x 775k

[theman]

Sounds like the Canucks are still trying to re-sign Suter but they need to move money out first.

https://x.com/dhaliwalsports/status/194 ... 94738?s=61

[UWSaint]

My memory could be imperfect, but I remember in the "old days," there wasn't the same kind of free agent frenzy. I recall a lot of time the process took a week or two. The cap coming online (and being set at a level where most teams didn't have a lower internal cap) must have changed the dynamic considerably.

Since the frenzy started, players who don't sign on day 1 (or sometimes day 2) have generally found themselves in a soft market. Teams have spent their caps or filled their projected roles. There's little question in my mind that if Pius Suter had snagged a deal on day 1 of free agency in 2023 he would have made more than $1.6 million; last year, Lankinen probably would have gotten more. (In fact, IIRC, Lankinen rejected better offers than he got with Vancouver because he was banking on getting something better (in term or salary). There were a few teams that took advantage of this every year, and poached value from the shifting market dynamic.

But this year, the forces that drive players to sign on day 1 aren't nearly as strong. So many teams have cap room -- cap space is not a limited resource. And so few free agents are quality players, meaning its a players' market.

What does this mean? As the supply of players goes down, because the buying power remains strong, the market is tilted MORE towards the best remaining players than it was July 1. While Ehlers decision to sit back and talk to lots of teams and take his time would probably result in a worse contract in previous years, now it could result in a higher contract. He has the time to negotiate -- see whether other teams would better the offers; players in the frenzied environment don't have the same time because teams don't have the luxury of extending offers indefinitely where the good players will all be snacked up in a day. So Ehlers may be able to create a bidding war environment. Suter, too, may end up with a far better contract than whatever he was offered yesterday.

If Ehlers and his agent figured out these changing market dynamics before yesterday (and that's what's actually happening) and had patience as a plan), I have to give them props. It would be a risky strategy based on recent history, but recent history was based on vastly different conditions.

[Hockey Widow]

Brock said in his meet the press that as FA opened he was at the gym but couldn't work out as he was on the phone with his agent. They had several offers from teams that were in the ballpark and he was talking them all over with his agent. He was trying out different scenarios and trying to get his emotions around certain fits, imagining playing for different teams. He said none of them made him feel good as he had a sick feeling in his stomach. During their conversations his agent interrupted and said Patrick was calling. So his agent spoke to Patrick and they passed around a few ideas and for the first time in months he felt it was possible he could get a deal done. Said he told his agent just get it done. And it came together rather quickly. He added that he had Garland and Demko in his ear encouraging him to get the deal done and stay and that was huge for him.

Other reports have said his agent's magic number was 50 million. So it was a matter of the right term to make the cap work. I suppose we could have kept the term shorter, 5 years, and given him 10 per

So the story is as it seems. Both he and the Canucks needed FA to open so they could both see that there was a viable market for Boeser. Perhaps because of the low ball offers at TDD the Canucks believed he would not get close to the 50 million but once they saw that he was going to get that somewhere, perhaps even more, they circled back and increased both term and cap. Brock needed to get to FA to feel the pain at leaving and he was able to compromise and take a bit less and put aside any hard feelings. Allvin had always said that he would circle back when FA opened to make one last effort, which he did. As a side note, Boeser was in Europe the last 2 weeks and was not really communicating with the Canucks. It was a purposeful getting away from it and trying not to focus on July 1st. He only got back to Canada June 29/30.

So perhaps this is a good example of both parties being patient and not doing something reactive. While I would have liked a 5 year term I am happy with the cap. And his last 2 years he has a modified trade clause so he is moveable, or as we have seen in the past, perhaps not.

[UWSaint]

Sounds like the Canucks are still trying to re-sign Suter but they need to move money out first.

https://x.com/dhaliwalsports/status/194 ... 94738?s=61

That would take Hoggy and Joshua, no? Maybe he could be had for Chytl's salary, but I would think Canucks would need to sweeten a deal that moves Chytl out. I think Suter's a better player, more valuable to the team, but will give Chytl credit for having a D to O transition game that other Canuck centers lack (including Suter).