Larsson needs a contract by friday

[devs30rko]

could be an active week for the devils.

or at the very least it could force lou's hand to finally find a way to ditch rolston. (all do respect to him, i was happy with his play the 2nd half, its simply a necessary casualty)

because this is the last year of the cba the bonus on larssons contract could put his cap hit in the 3mil range. and with parise left to resign there goes all your money. in fact you probably need another 2 mil or so.

the transfer agreement between the nhl and the sel states that all players under contract in the sel must sign their nhl contract before july 15th. that date can be extended to august 15th if the devils pay skelleftea 100g. otherwise larsson must play in the sel this year.


obviously, we have 2 mil that we can afford to lose. it looks like lou's hand is going to be forced on guys like salvador, rolston, and maybe even zubes and clarkson

 

[nj_cup]

Even without this development there is Noway that rolston zubrus and Salvador should be on this team. The 3 million a year to green is hurting us already. I didn't think it would happen so fast!

 

[Nasty_Magician]

I actually see him playing the year in the SEL. I would like to see him here but I really get the feeling Lou wants him to learn a little more before he throws him out there.

 

[nj_cup]

I don't want him over In Europe for that learning I want him in the ahl if anything.

 

[MCDevils]

Well we're going to be able t exceed the cap by 10%, so it's not like we won't be able to ink him. It'll just take some extra work before the season starts. Lou said they're going to do everything in their power to get him inked by Friday. And even if they need to pay the 100k for the extension, that might let Lou shave off 100k over the life of the contract anyway. I'm not worried.

 

[nj_cup]

so to recap so far

coach not found yet even though we knew since april we needed one

parise not signed. even though we know he is the franchise player and given the past drama with free agents not a good sign.

cap problems for the 2nd year in a row.

 

[MCDevils]

so to recap so far

coach not found yet even though we knew since april we needed one

parise not signed. even though we know he is the franchise player and given the past drama with free agents not a good sign.

cap problems for the 2nd year in a row.

What team that's trying to win a cup doesn't have cap problems? What's the benefit of getting these things done as quickly as possible. It's Lou's job to negotiate with these people.

 

[nj_cup]

It's the point. Why isn't this getting done sooner? How can a franchise player like Parise remain unsigned with negotiations only starting 2 weeks ago? Same with a coach. Can't wait to start another camp with salary problems looming and people wondering who's staying. It isn't healthy. It's not a sign of a stable front office imo

 

[Devs_Jets_Yanks27]

I agree. I wouldn't be happy if I were Zach. Doing all this negotiating/signing on Greene, Fayne, Sestito.

Does Lou want Zach to follow the likes of Nieds, Rafi, Gomez, etc?

I know I don't run a hockey team, but the fact that ZP is anything but priority #1 to Lou, is, to me, a direct slap in the face to Zach.

 

[TiLoBrown]

Can we please stop lumping Gomez in with the rest of the good guys? Its almost as bad as lumping in Avery with Cooke.

 

[nj_cup]

I will admit that I dont remember what the problem with gomez was but I gotta believe if u take care of people early on and keep them happy they won't be looking to leave first chance they get. Happened

Not only to Zach but how does this look to the fans? Not for anything Lou has to answer to us we do support this team by buying tickets etc. And I'm sick and tired of hearing his one word replies to serious legit questions. Status quo? Wtf really? That was funny for a bit but let's go already what the fuck is the hold up?

 

[nj_cup]

At this point I don't see Parise signing a deal before the season. And we all know Lou doesn't negotiate during the season. So once again we will have Parise drama hanging over our heads come deadline day. No move will be made and he will walk. And we get screwed again

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Am I the only one that doesn't think the sky is falling with Parise? We have no idea what this guy will be like. Cup you will be the first guy complaining if we sign Parise to a 7 year deal and it turns out his knee is completely shredded and he is a fraction of the player he was. Go to arbitration, give him a year to prove he's still worthy of a big time contract.

 

[nj_cup]

Well that's fine and all but then 2 problems...he then knows he will be ok and then the rest of the nhl wi will know too. So then in Zach mind hey what's another couple months why sign now? See what I can drum up on thr market? They were in no rush to sign me why should i be?

I would think his knee is fine otherwise im sure he would be pressig hard for a contract doesn't seem that way imo.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

I'm really not that worried. Everyone thinks of arbitration as this awful standoff that is guaranteed to ruin a relationship. If I'm Lou, the cards I'm playing are A: We clearly want you here otherwise we wouldn't have gone to arbitration. If you remained an RFA we could have lost you to another team and I didn't want to see that happen. B: We want to see how your knee holds up throughout the season and compensate you accordingly.

This is nothing malicious like you guys are making arbitration out to be and it's a very fair argument that Zach would have a tough time arguing against or getting hurt feelings over. I really don't think he has this screw the Devils/I'm bolting town as soon as I get the chance mindset that you've conjured up.

As far as free agency next year, we will have as much cap space as anybody so I'm not worried.

 

[TiLoBrown]

I thought you were going to arbitration because we're waiting to clear cap space for 2 seasons from now?

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Also, I hate that people keep blaming Lou for the departures of Gomez, Rafi, and Nieds. Let's take a look at those 3 cases for the billionth time so we can try to put this stupid myth to rest that big name players hate the Devils and it's Lou's negotiating style that alienated them enough to leave:

Gomez: Stated during the season he was looking for $5+ mill a year during the season (top line center money). Offseason rolls around and he gets $7+ mill, max, superstar contract from the Rags. Gomez is a 2nd line center getting paid elite player money. I would love to have Gomez still on the team, but not at that price. Also, Gomez won 2 cups with us, nothing left to prove here, can't blame him for going for the big payday.

Rafi: We saw that the guy couldn't be the number 1 guy on D. He decided to play out his career for his hometown team, for more money than the Devils were willing to offer, and where he could be the roleplayer on D which is where he excels. Again, won 2 cups with us so why not finish your career with a big payday closer to your family?

Nieds: Has been discussed to death, but the guy won 3 cups and a Norris trophy with us. He decided to sign with Anaheim to help his brother win a cup. We offered him equal money but the family bond was the deciding factor. "But why didn't Lou try to get his brother?" The Nieds are from British Columbia. Did you ever think maybe it's easier for the family to go to a game in California than to fly across the continent?

 

[Nasty_Magician]

And again, I'm not saying LL is perfect. He's had plenty of bad signings, and I'm sure there have been times where his tactics have backfired, but I think everyone needs to relax a bit. Have a little bit of faith people.

 

[nj_cup]

True and I agree that its a small chance he leaves. However you said they want to see him here long term yet are worried bout his knee;? Then why do arbitration? If other teams have the same thinking? Let's see how his knee is? And with cap space that isn't everytime as we learned with nieds

 

[MCDevils]

True and I agree that its a small chance he leaves. However you said they want to see him here long term yet are worried bout his knee;? Then why do arbitration? If other teams have the same thinking? Let's see how his knee is? And with cap space that isn't everytime as we learned with nieds

There's probably the most minute chance of this going to arbitration. Lou said so, Zach said so. They did this so no one can submit him an offer sheet, and it buys them an extra month. Sorry but this is what it looks like when a GM is negotiating a contract instead of the owner as we saw with the 17 year debacle.

Doughty and Stamkos still aren't signed either. It takes time with these mega deals.