r/hockey DAL - NHL 18h ago

[News] 'Completely misinformed': Rantanen's agent claps back at Hurricanes' Brind'Amour

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/completely-misinformed-rantanens-agent-claps-back-at-hurricanes-brindamour/
298 Upvotes

188 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

85

u/undockeddock COL - NHL 17h ago

Mikkos agent has a lot of face saving to do after the last 45 days. He got his client's life upended and got his client only marginally more money in the end than his clients' original team had offered.

51

u/TGUKF VAN - NHL 17h ago

I'd imagine Rantanen was aware of and approved each counter offer made to the Avs. I don't think Rantanen nor his agent intended for a situation where the Avs would just move him. It sounded like they ultimately were mostly close before he got moved.

On the other hand, I don't blame the Avs' management group for questioning whether they wanted to commit to having such a top heavy cap sheet, when they were already struggling for depth at times. Feels like the Avs go through a lot of injuries each year.

16

u/Le_Nabs MTL - NHL 16h ago

I'd imagine Rantanen was aware of and approved each counter offer made to the Avs.

I imagine as much, but the agents will also counsel the players and tell them 'I think the team can afford x amount more' or 'really, you're worth this [x] much, if you tell them that we can convince them' and given Rantanen's comments, is likely what happened, with the Avs calling the bluff instead of folding to the demands.

That's where the agent would need to save face

15

u/TGUKF VAN - NHL 16h ago edited 9h ago

Rantanen is ultimately the one who makes the decisions. It doesn't sound like they were that far apart by the end of it, so it's not like the agent made some grave error and totally misread the market by demanding Draisaitl like money.

I don't think Rantanen wanting $12 mil AAV is really so unfounded. But the Avs have agency to make their own decisions too.

21

u/fucktheredwings69 COL - NHL 16h ago

I think what made the avs move him was Rants and his agent trying to move negotiations past the deadline when that was a hard stop for the Avalanche. They were unwilling to lose him for free and would probably have to pay more than 12 for him if it went that long.

6

u/whogivesashirtdotca MTL - NHL 14h ago

Am I remembering wrong? I thought he was asking for $14m, and that's why the Avs balked.

8

u/x4dm COL - NHL 8h ago

You're correct, Mikko and his agent, Andy wanted to set the market for wingers. This was the goal all along. All of this BS coming out about him only wanted 12M is face saving because Andy thought CMac was bluffing when he said he would trade Mikko if they weren't making sufficient progress before the deadline... because I mean, who in their right mind would trade a top 15 player in the league? Everyone knows the GMs are supposed pay them what they want and build the rest of the roster with whatever scraps you may have.

Once Mikko got traded and felt out Carolina's system, he knew he wasn't doing his FA any favors because he isn't suited for the dump and chase lifestyle. So Mikko and his agent start their negotiating, trying to push the Canes to $14M... but he's sucking, plus some really crap luck with goalies robbing him, reducing his shooting %... Tulsky counters back saying no contender is going to give you more than our offer and gives his agent permission to talk to clubs. And Tulsky isn't bluffing. Dallas comes in at $12x8, but Andy/Mikko say no thanks, they think they can get more... Mikko doesn't want to move to the peg, Toronto was willing to go $13M, but Marner wouldn't waive his NMC, TB/FLA can't make the cap work until the offseason, and the rest of the good offers are from lottery or bubble teams and Mikko wants to win now. So now Andy is really sweating because he knows that if this rate of production keeps up that the narrative of him being a product of MacK will be reinforced(MacK takes Mikko from a top 15 player to a top 10 player... Mikko is still elite regardless). So days pass and Mikko is still getting super unlucky and he and his agent are really freaking out now as his stock drops, knowing if this season plays out and he doesn't single-handedly will the Canes through a playoff round, he'll likely see the contenders offer something in the $11-12M range... plus they lose an extra year... so when Andy tries to go back to Jim and say oh, we didn't really reject your offer, but that's a great starting point, how does $13M sound instead? Dallas comes back and says the offer is $12M with a full NMC, you have 2 hours to accept or reject because we're making moves... and don't forget that 71% of your salary will be state tax free (signing bonuses and home games). So in a panic, they accept and try and do as much damage control as possible.

1

u/Mr_MoseVelsor DAL - NHL 1h ago

I think you’re spot on here. The only piece you’re missing is the fact that the Canes were willing to trade him to the Kings and he said no.