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Пару дней назад появился текст на espn от ЛеБруна. Как минимум занятно, как максимум вполне в тренде. МАФ с нами до упора, мне кажется.
Why some pending free agents won't be re-signed or traded
The parity continues to drive home the point that the league is more and more resembling the NFL in that way.
That's what you get in a salary-cap system.
With that, though, I wonder how long it's going to take for more and more people in hockey to stop freaking out when it comes to pending unrestricted free agents.
In football, players come and go every offseason, but it seems there isn’t that same narrow focus on making sure pending free agents are either re-signed midseason or are traded for assets. They often fulfill their contracts and move on, and it’s not the end of the world. They get replaced.
My point, and yes, I do have one, is that cap space is in itself an asset. If Ben Bishop helps the Tampa Bay Lightning to another long playoff run, or even a Cup, and then walks away July 1 for nothing, well, it wasn’t nothing. First, the Bolts will have maximized his impact contractually, and secondly, Tampa recoups $6 million in space when he leaves, which the Bolts can then use on raises for restricted free agents Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin.
The St. Louis Blues knew they risked losing pending free agents David Backes and Troy Brouwer for nothing after last season but took that risk because it was worth giving the team its best possible playoff shot. A trip to the Western Conference finals would constitute just that. Had they dealt both or either, that first-round pick they might have received for Backes (which is what they would have gotten in a trade for him) doesn’t help the Blues knock off the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round.
They’ve got another one this season. Kevin Shattenkirk could be a UFA on July 1. I don’t see him re-signing. But the Blues are still a contender. Barring a trade where the Blues get a player in return who would have as much impact on this season as Shattenkirk, I think the Blues are comfortable allowing him to play out his deal, hopefully help the team win a Cup, and then if he walks July 1, that’s cap space that can be used elsewhere.
"The move for the sake of a move to me is illogical," Blues GM Doug Armstrong said Thursday.
While Armstrong wasn’t specifically referring to Shattenkirk, he was talking about it in the context of the big picture, getting a prospect or a high draft pick for a veteran pending UFA who might help you win now doesn’t make sense for teams that have playoff aspirations.
And I wholeheartedly agree. Cap space in itself is an asset, and we need to get used to that concept. More than ever, I’d argue, in the current flat-cap environment.
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Эх, раз (1991), ещё раз (1992), ещё много-много раз (2009, 2016, 2017...)
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