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2019 NHL Off Season News Thread

Meh ... if Mike's smart, and he is, then he asked about this before taking their AHL job. You know how this goes at the big boy franchises with more money than sense. Stashing your Plan B coach in the minors is a classic move, no matter the contract status of the guy behind the NHL bench. Ir's also just means that Rutherford was willing to shake Vellucci's hand and make him a promise that the Canes wouldn't. It doesn't guarantee that he'll actually follow through on that promise. Again ... welcome to pro sports and how stuff is done.

Frankly, where Mike may not be so smart is dreaming about coaching Sidney Crosby and Geno Malkin and forgetting that he also has to coach Jack Johnson and whatever other zombies Rutherford is collecting on defense. Oh, and Tanev ... don't forget him :0)
 
He's become irrelevant even to many Canadian hockey fans. But he, with his blather did the Canes a great favor!
 
Don Cherry is not hitting the open market. He says he was told by CBC after the playoffs ended that he’d be back.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/don-cherry-hockey-night-in-canada-return-1.5203326

Interesting footnote for anyone that really does not follow the Sportsnet network in Canada or understand the financial mess that the current NHL television rights agreement has put that company in. Bob McCown was a lifer on radio in Canada and was on the Sportsnet payroll until about 2 weeks ago when he abruptly was let go over a contract dispute. McCown was a big dog in terms of both salary and popularity and had the prime time sports radio segment for many years on the daytime drive home weekdays. The departure was apparently related to the cost cutting that Sportsnet has had to make at every turn to offset the financial hit they took on the NHL contract at the network. I would not be surprised if Cherry eventually sees a similar fate on HNIC.
 
What other big time sports networks are there in Canada? Anyone that is truly driving the rights cost up that high?
 
I'm fairly sure the issue is all the debt Rogers took on when they acquired other networks with pre-existing rights deals ... but let's be honest, Canada problems are not my main focus.
 
Kevin Lebanc re-ups with the Sharks for 1 year, $1 million

----wait a sec, that can't possibly be accurate, the guy was coming off an entry level deal that saw him put up 8G 12A, 11G 29A, and then 17G 39A last season

Checking....capfriendly.com says 1 year $1 million, so does yahoo.com, so does tsn.ca....

Ok, so someone want to explain what is going on here with this contract? Remember, per the CBA there absolutely cannot be ANY side agreements such as 'hey, we will get you a bunch of endorsements or things to make up for it' and you really are not supposed to have any wink wink arrangements such as 'we will get you on the next one'. How the heck does this kid and his agent accept 1 year $1 million from the Sharks after a 56 points season? What games are they playing out there on the West coast?!??? I'm sure the NHLPA and the rest of his fellow RFAs are not at all appreciative of this contract.

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Kevin Lebanc re-ups with the Sharks for 1 year, $1 million

----wait a sec, that can't possibly be accurate, the guy was coming off an entry level deal that saw him put up 8G 12A, 11G 29A, and then 17G 39A last season

Checking....capfriendly.com says 1 year $1 million, so does yahoo.com, so does tsn.ca....

Ok, so someone want to explain what is going on here with this contract? Remember, per the CBA there absolutely cannot be ANY side agreements such as 'hey, we will get you a bunch of endorsements or things to make up for it' and you really are not supposed to have any wink wink arrangements such as 'we will get you on the next one'. How the heck does this kid and his agent accept 1 year $1 million from the Sharks after a 56 points season? What games are they playing out there on the West coast?!??? I'm sure the NHLPA and the rest of his fellow RFAs are not at all appreciative of this contract.

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LOL...Twitter is filled with people offering to replace his agent!
 
Even their own fan boards are flabbergasted by this one. They were speculating $3M/yr before details emerged.

Speculation that there will be an extension signed in January 2020. References to the Kruger contract with Chicago (1.5M for 1 year) that turned into $9M for 3 years via an extension.

Main trade and free agent boards also pretty much speculating that this is cap circumvention with some kind of handshake (no paper trail) agreement and/or large insurance policy to cover the risk exposure for the player.

Yeah, this ain't right.
 
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