It’s finally September. I love the fall. It always makes me happy, never fails. Cool walks in the river valley, hot chocolate when you get home, those fab sweaters you can only wear when it’s not +30 or minus 40, and of course the sounds of skates cutting ice, sharp passes reflected in that patented sound that comes only on a tape-to-tape.
I don’t care what the weatherman says, I’m freaking ready to go. Let’s rock the casbah! Ba-dee-ya, dancing in September!
I know there’s some unease about the Connor McDavid contract, but he’ll be on the team this season and a Stanley will solve all problems. I suspect he signs a deal sometime during the year, but am surprised by some of the reaction to what has happened so far.
McDavid’s comments were followed by matching verbal from John Shannon and Ryan Rishaug. There’s something happening here, but I see many people trying to shoot down the media verbal. Hey, you do you, but my experience is that both men have heard something and it’s going to be an in-season contract.
By now, I would expect folks to be saying “they can’t let this go to the regular season” or “why hasn’t anyone in the Oilers organization said anything?” or even “do you think McDavid’s angry because of the offer sheets and has lost confidence in management?” but most of what I’m reading questions Shannon and Rishaug.
Like I said, we all have opinions and it’s a spot of bother for Stan Bowman. I would encourage those who are treating this like a small item to re-think it. There’s something happening, and denying it doesn’t make any sense at all. Don’t let this be your Trojan horse.
The next question to ask is “when will someone in the Oilers organization say something?” because the longer this goes unaddressed the bigger the story will get. By the time training camp arrives, this story will dominate everything.
Here at the blog, we’re moving forward with business as usual. Tomorrow, I’m back on the radio (Sports 1440) and will be on YouTube for that show and all that will follow. I’m excited about it, hope you tune in. Also tomorrow, the first edition of “Riesen to Believe” as we examine every player’s chances of makes the team. Go Elks!
Oilers Social Media posing “The Boys are back in town” with pics of tons of guys on the ice, including Drai, McDavid, Nurse, Ekholm, etc.
”Official Captain Skates” (which is an odd statement to me as, for me, these skates have always been “unofficial skates”) set for next week which is also when the rookies report.
Maybe these are the official captain skates but, in any event, Im here for it.
Mangiapene, Jones, Regula, Savoie.
Bots have found another way in. The spam filter needs updated.
IMHO this is a tempest in a teapot. August is slow news time for the NHL and various writers and blogs are trying to stir the pot to get eyeballs in a slow time more than anything.
What we know from satatements by the parties involved – Bowman has stated he is very pleased with the early discussions with McD’s agent and feels very encouraged. Also stated this will happen on McD’s timeline as he had a late run in the playoffs for the second year in a row, a busy summer off the ice including Olympic Camp orientation etc. Shows good communication and respect and regard for McD to not force the timeline. McD has stated multiple timesd his goal is to win IN EDMONTON, all other elaborations during his interviews are just good due diligence, needing time to consult with his family, agent and other affected parties and to carefully review ALL aspects of his contract – not limited to solely how much and how long. Also future cap expectations, risk reward of medium term vs max term deal, structuring renumeration for tax and personal considerations, etc. Player contracts are long and detailed documents and making ANY long term commitment of that impact deserves proper scrutiny and analysis from all parties concerned. Rome was not built in a day, though I suspect it may get done as early as this weekend or even next week.
To quote, ” If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, you’ll be a man, my son.” Altrernatively, ” calm yer teats…”
Thank you.
At the end of the day, we’ll know more tomorrow by 4:15 – Stauff is back on air at 4 after two weeks off. I don’t think it will take long for us to “know” the real deal.
I am confused. Will we know more at the end of the day or at 4:15 tomorrow? These are not the same times 😂!
Really? Verging on troll 👎🏻
Tin foil hat thinking.
Leon, I don’t think we can win it all playing on the same team, salary cap and all that. How about I’ll tell Stan to see if he can get a boatload of talent to play with you and then I will move on. We will always have the summer to hang out. This way, you will be a winner, Edmonton will be a winner and I will win somewhere. If he can’t get a decent return I will resign here.
I agree that both men should be respected but, at the same time, I remain far from convinced that either have heard anything.
Taking aside the fact that the only local insider that ever breaks Oilers news is Stauff (its always, Friedman, Seravelli, etc.), I do respect both these guys having contacts and information.
At the same time, when Shannon dropped his “he’s not signing before the regular season” comment and was asked why he thought that, he never said “I was told” or “I heard” and he is very forward with those types of statement. His reasoning was something about “that’s the best way for McDavid to manage the situation”.
Rishaug loves to say “I’ve done some investigating” and the likes but never said that he was told anything by anyone. I think he was playing off Shannon.
I am NOT discounting either comment, they have given me trepidation that there is a chance this does not happen in the next few weeks but I would still be surprised if it doesn’t.
Stauff is back on air tomorrow – that will be must listen.
I’m confident McDavid will soon sign with the Oilers and find the anxiety narrative somewhat amusing. However if McDavid is thinking of elsewhere I’m not worried about Bowman lacking leverage with other GMs. Any word that McDavid is available brings out every NHL owner offering the sun and moon and stars to have the best player on their roster. Relax and enjoy the ride.
— it is fascinating to think of cMd not signed at start of season.
— Maybe it’s something like “I can’t stand X on our team get rid of him” and /or “get another goalie we can’t win it all with Skinner”.
— Saying he wants to win in Edmonton and not resigning isn’t dishonest: fans just project what they want to hear
— That said management every time says he’s signing “when he’s ready” which is really country bumpkin IMO.
— Suspect the insiders are wrong and he signs before the start of year but he’s sending a message and maybe he’s got another agenda …
The Kaprisov argument is the best argument. The NHLPA does not want McDavid to compromise the Kaprisov negotiation with McDavid signing for a somewhat team friendly AAV. So they are asking him to wait until Kaprisov signs.
At some point, if Guerin and Kaprisov do not get off the spot, McDavid will just say eff it, and sign.
There is no “crisis” until Kaprisov signs.
McDavid is an Oiler this season regardless. The Oilers have as good a chance of signing McDavid next summer as anyone else.
Don’t worry. Be happy. This is all just a mind eff.
McDavid is going to go where he wants to go. Don’t let the click baiters in the media ruin your enjoyment of the season.
More likely a function of Jack Eichel needing a contract extension in Vegas.
Kaprisov is in much more volatile since he is said to be prone to forcing his way out of Minnesota while Eichel is generally thought to be content to stay in Vegas.
All three of McDavid, Kaprisov and Eichel have no movement clauses so control the process.
I’m not so sure Kaprisov’s next contract should be any higher that Draisaitl’s.
Kaprizov will be signing after the cap jumped 8.5% and he is younger.
There is no chance that it “should be” based on player value but it almost surely will (from accounts).
Now, I do think that Kaprizov is a top 5 offensive player in the league but he’s often hurt, a winger and a poor 2-way player.
Nobody would have him near Drai’s category but the market is ever evolving……
There is ZERO evidence that Kaprizov is a poor 2 way player.
He is +71 in his career.
His goal shares in his 5 seasons in the league are:
58.7%
54.8%
53.8%
60.2%
59.4%
Poor defensive players don’t put up those kind of numbers especially on a team that struggles to make the playoffs.
I associate “Don’t worry, be happy” with the Gretzky trade. It was a song that came out and was very popular then.
Lt, I don’t know how the team could do an in season contract. That would represent an enormous risk for the team. If 97 were to get injured, then he’d potentially slide into free agency with no return on the asset.
Being nice and fairness is a two way street in a good relationship. If he doesn’t sign before the season starts, to me that is asking the team (and it’s fans who pay that big contract) to accept a huge franchise altering risk. I get he’s the most talented player in the league and climbing the all time list in production. I’m not sure he’s the ‘best player’ at this point as things have gone with him on the ice
I’m not down with it if it goes that way. Especially for a franchise and fan base that went through the loss of it’s previous generational player in a sudden and mysterious fashion
My hope is that the plan is to sign early in camp which will have a huge positive wave to ride through the first quarter of a season. Maybe the Oilers silence is just comfort, and they just let Mcdavid enjoy his summer because the summers have been short lately. Short summers with huge disappointments to start them, everyone needed to just step away and right their minds. That’s how I’m soothing the anxiety anyway…..should work for another week or two then I’ll go full hair on fire.
An interesting concept twist for you to ponder .What if the owner offers up a piece of the team in return for a realistic AV and Term . That negotiation would take a little more time.
I think OP said earlier that isn’t allowed under the collective agreement, or something like that
Article 50.2(a) of the CBA allows only player salary and bonuses as compensation, in the format laid out by the Standard Player’s Contract. Nothing in terms of equity compensation (i.e. partial ownership of the team) is allowed. Also, items 19 & 23 of the SPC disallow any other oral/written agreements, inducements, promises, commitments, future contract revisions, any other consideration, etc. Even if a retired player wants to buy in to the team, it requires league permission and certainly can’t be something that was promised to the player in order for them to sign during their playing days.
Not to mention, my 24 years in corporate finance have taught me that highly successful business persons are loathe to give up equity in their business. The Oilers owner is the 100% owner and being 98% owner is not the same.
Agreed and same (37 years). In addition to the conflicts of interest that would be created by having active players with partial ownership in their teams, the owners would need to report a disposition. All that is beyond the scope of this discussion though. Owners own, players play. Hope this is all a done deal soon.
As an aside, Jagr remains minority owner and part-time player on Kladno (primarily because “He also feels a sense of responsibility and obligation to the club, its sponsors, and fans, believing his presence is crucial for the team’s survival and success.”
If it was desired it would happen. The NHL can’t look at financial dealings of anything unless it’s given, and can’t ask for govt intervention if it’s not criminal. I mentioned this before based on someone’s comment, I don’t think it would happen, but it absolutely could if parties involved wanted to skirt honesty
Ok, however to cover that off, Item 19 in the SPC requires both the team and the player to confirm there are no undisclosed agreements of any kind. So if there is dishonesty by omission, and the league initially approved the SPC, the team’s lawyers & accountants would still know about it, as well as the player’s agent & accountant. Then you have professionals involved who could lose their designations, a league who could terminate the contract and a player’s union who likely would not back him up when that happens. Not to mention all the public fallout that would ensue.
Thanks for the info I did not know that
If he choses to sign in-season, it will be the worst distraction and lower the probability of a cup. He has to understand that.
When Leon extended last season, I am pretty sure there was less discussion about where the cap was headed. Certainly the 3 year projection wasn’t out yet, and no one knew where the CBA negotiations would end up though there was optimism that it would be smoother than the past.
If Leon were negotiating this year he too might have spent more time weighing a shorter term. Last year the only major discussion seemed to be the AAV, then some discussion around annual cash payments and the split between bonus and salary (for both escrow and work stoppage protection). The full NMC was a given.
With more certainty regarding a rising cap, the two sides probably want to talk about the pros and cons to each side of shorter vs longer term which complicates the AAV discussion as well (unless McDavid after mulling it over all summer proposes 8x$14 to $15 million and the Oilers ask where do we sign?🤞). The NMC, the annual cash payments and bonus vs salary will be pretty easy, though upcoming changes to the latter 2 could enter McDavid’s thoughts on term as there will be less flexibility for these terms in his next contract whenever that is signed.
However, it is still just September 1 and Leon’s deal was announced September 3. I don’t expect McDavid’s deal that quick, but I think once they get face to face this week things can move relatively quickly.
Rishaug’s comments do not match Shannon’s. His are less pessimistic, as at least he concedes no one who is commenting really knows what McDavid’s camp is really thinking and a deal before camp is still possible. Shannon states like he actually knows, which I doubt is true.
If he’s trying to maximize his earnings he’s unlikely to ever win.
Sad but true. Look at what Ekblad took so he could stay, and Zito tried to trade him last summer and probably after, I’m sure he could have got more
I wouldn’t want to be Bowman. If, for conversation’s sake, Connor is not ready to sign by say December, he’d need to at least start considering the possibility of a trade. So does he approach McDavid’s camp about places he’d be willing to go, or does he try and work out a trade with a team, and hope McDavid is willing to go there? Maybe a sign and trade? In any event, Bowman’s gonna earn his pay this season one way or another.
There’s no waiting until December. Should have been done at the draft if he’s unwilling to sign or trying to maximize his earnings.
Edmonton isn’t a team that can afford to do either. Better off going the Winnipeg route and drafting and developing.
LowTide I know your feelings on owners getting involved in Team Construction Decissions, I feel the same way, and that would apply also to player involvement no matter whom you are. If that is what is happening here then somebody is offside
To me the most logical circumstance is that they need to let Kaprizov set the market first which doesn’t point to a hometown discount for 97.
Now whatever happens with McDavid, management surrounded him with a team that went to the finals two years in a row before his resigning summer, ascending finally to the elite clear top of the league. In a more fair world the Oilers win last year I will never believe that that finals was a fair shake.
This is mind you after a “down” McDavid season. A 26 goal regular season, and now two finals in a row where he did not put the team on his back. Herculean task albeit, but these are the godly circles he is associated with.
If McDavid doesn’t think this is the team that can win it all, he’s wrong. But he’s also not arriving with his gong in time with the big season-ending Day in the Life crescendo.
There might be one time to trade McDavid, and that might be in the next couple weeks.
The return now for Edmonton’s second best player could put a Tsunami behind Leon Draisaitl. I don’t know if that results in a cup, I suspect the NHL won’t let a Canadian team win it if it can help it. It’s a shame we have a league that has punished this Oiler team for its skill and near nostalgic attachment to a kind of hockey that exists only in the 1980s in Edmonton and with the Soviet Red Army.
The prettiest team to never win? McDrai was good for the sport in an era when beauty is punished by reactionary tyrants.
In any event you gotta play the games. The 1990 cup was Messier’s. Leon can carry this team. Maybe to win the team will need to cash the beauty and win in a manner more befitting the ugly times we live in.
Good luck this season Oilers. I’ll be watching through the thick fog of gambling, banking, and sport drink adverts.
Agree with the Kaprizov theory. I also do have curiosity if McDavid had won at least one cup here, if he would consider that mission accomplished and possibly want to move closer to home (Toronto) or into the sunset (Tampa etc.), or stay here for more cup contentions.
I would also not be surprised if Minnesota is slow playing that thing just to cause some turmoil in Edmonton.
An Eichel extension in Vegas might be more impactful.
“I’ll be watching through the thick fog of gambling, banking, and sport drink adverts.”
Indeed. Ugh.
Is McDavids trade value highest at the beginning of the season, mid season or at the trade deadline.
I’d suggest right now… as much as it pains me to type. Having him at $12.5M before another $4M added has significant value. Just my opinion.
Doesn’t matter what the timing, any trade of 97 means the return is not worth it.
But one must make best of a poor situation.
It would have been at the last TDL. By now most rosters are set. Next best time would have been at the draft.
Doing a deal at any point going forward there’s less leverage for Bowman and more for the opposing GM. It would be clear EDM would be trading from a position of need.
Logical, but rosters can be upended. Hers is $15 million of good players for your marketing miracle. In other words there are intangibles that can come into play, greed being what comes to mind first.
Last TDL and the draft are water under the bridge. What we are discussing is best value now. The longer this goes on the less leverage Bowman has
Precisely my point.
Tomorrow, the realistic window opens tomorrow and I expect to hear about extensions for Podz, Walman and McDavid in the next couple of weeks.
I would remain surprised (but not as shocked) if McDavid isn’t re-signed prior to the open of camp.
So if Bowman can’t sign McDavid I’ll be cashing my chips on that hire.
Depending what Bowman gets for Connor no-way can this turn into Marner. It’s pretty simple if he doesn’t resign buy game 1 it’s trade time as Connor has made his decision. The big question for me is why did Leon sign 8 years if he knew Connor was Bailing elsewhere?
I’ll suggest because Leon wanted what was best for him
Exactly. McD must have told Leon he planned to sign the same max contract. If he doesn’t, he’s spitting in his best friends face.
Exactly if McDavid walks at the end of the year so that his future team doesn’t have to give up anything he’s leaving his best friends (teammates) ex Junior Coach and Ex Agent in one hell of a pickle. Also anyone that doesn’t believe these players talk to each other about everything including contracts is one naive person
The thing that worries me is that the longer the “no new contract” goes, the bigger the distraction gets. I don’t think that helps the team. If he isn’t going to sign, that’s understandable. If he is, why wait? Doesn’t waiting hurt the team? Is he a team-first guy or not?
I think he is, but like I said, the waiting worries me. Don’t see any good reason to wait if he’s going to sign eventually.
He needs to be traded if not signed by game 1 as the year will become a circus.
The Oilers (all aspects of the organization) are significantly better with McDavid on the team for the upcoming season (sales, playoffs). I doubt he’s traded by game 1.
What about the next 10 years McDavid walking for nothing will gut this team for years. Look at the return Winnipeg recieved for Dubios. Also look at what became of the Islanders after losing Traveras. If he’s moving on after this year the seasons shot anyhow if they keep Connor all year. How do the players follow a Captain that’s bailing on his mates. It’ll become a circus year with a million questions on where is Connor choosing to go.
LT “when will someone in the Oilers organization say something”… I read this two ways… would you mind clarifying?
John Shannon: ““I think there’s people in the Oilers offices holding their breath. But Connor is in no hurry. It’s not going to be announced in training camp. He’s going to go into the regular season without a new contract.”
Ryan Rishaug: “I believe not signing a deal before the start of the season is a real possibility. More real than perhaps thought by many at the end of the season. That’s why we’re hearing a lot about that option right now. That said I also believe that decision has not been made yet. He and his agent Judd Moldaver continue to weigh options and it’s still possible he does get something done. Nothing has been decided yet.”
Those are the two media items we’ve seen. The Oilers, as far as I can tell, have said nothing. Now, it’s September long so maybe Bob Stauffer isn’t available to tweet out “we are completely aware of Connor’s comments and have been in constant communication. The plan was always to meet in September and after the Calgary camp. Nothing has changed.”
Shannon’s words are the most provocative, but the silence suggests he’s right. Oilers management always had a plan (sign McDavid) but may have to come up with an alternative. Is it the Marner plan? That would not go well with the fan base. Do they HAVE a backup plan?
Silence from the Oilers means unease. That’s not good for business. August has been bad for the organization two years in a row.
Understood, and thanks. Is it not realistic to suggest Bowman (the organization) has this covered (signing, or the alternative plan) and isn’t leaking the intel to media. I must admit, when Holland was around we’d know days ahead of the plan, Bowman seems different in this regard. At least that’s my hope and the media and fans (although for genuinely fair reasons) are making this bigger than needed.
I think Bowman is doing what he thinks is best for the situation, which is keeping the org silent, which keeps the waters more calm around this. It doesn’t provoke Connor in any way, and shows he’s trustworthy and doesn’t do his business in the media. I like how rational and in control he seems
Discretion. The better part of valour.