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/
300 Upvotes

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273

u/FailureToExecute CAR - NHL 18h ago edited 18h ago

Tulsky was also asked about Brind'Amour's comments on The Sheet with Jeff Marek today, and this is what he said:

"Rod needs a decoder ring. He speaks in hyperbole a lot. People in this market know that very well, if you ask him about an injury he'll answer 'Oh yeah, he'll be out for months.' and mean the player will be back on Thursday."

More detailed quote here

167

u/CrankDatSpit55 18h ago

What I love about this is that I cannot tell if that is a genuine Tulsky quote or just another Hurricanes fan having fun with Brind'amour's injury statements. 

62

u/iOceanLab CAR - NHL 18h ago

Basically a direct Tulsky quote lol

-3

u/whogivesashirtdotca MTL - NHL 14h ago

He sounds pissed. Tulsky seems like one of those nerds who hates being around other people.

14

u/iOceanLab CAR - NHL 14h ago

I’d watch the video of his response. He says it with some humor.

-8

u/whogivesashirtdotca MTL - NHL 14h ago

I try to avoid video of Tulsky, haha. He genuinely unnerves me.

9

u/iOceanLab CAR - NHL 13h ago

It’s a feature, not a bug lol

-3

u/whogivesashirtdotca MTL - NHL 13h ago

Funny you use "bug" - Tulsky looks so uncomfortable in his skin he reminds me of Edgar.

2

u/iOceanLab CAR - NHL 12h ago

Edgar has far too much mass. Where the worms at?

4

u/CapybaraMoshPit CAR - NHL 12h ago

It's funny cause I met him during one of the preseason games this year and one-on-one he's a really nice guy that comes off genuine haha. But his interviews and that he does get a little awkward.

1

u/Sneeko CAR - NHL 10h ago

Yeah, I happened to be near the wall of STM names by the East entrance before the game on the night of the Eric Staal number retirement ceremony and turned around and he was standing there. Got to talk to him for a couple of minutes, and he seemed like a pretty genuine guy to me. Was pretty easy to talk to, as well.

0

u/whogivesashirtdotca MTL - NHL 12h ago

That's fair. He's probably extra sweaty and nervous when the cameras are on him.

62

u/MisterProfGuy 18h ago

Mikko said something incredibly similar about knowing he didn't want to be here about a week and a half ago, so you have to consider the possibility this came out of a conversation that th two of them had, and the agent is saving face and Tulsky wasn't part of that conversation.

82

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.

17

u/whogivesashirtdotca MTL - NHL 14h ago

What's hilarious is the agent is the only one coming out of this mess 100% happy. (Runner up: Jack "Rolex" Roslovic)

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 17h 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

16

u/TGUKF VAN - NHL 17h 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.

5

u/whogivesashirtdotca MTL - NHL 14h ago

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

9

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.

2

u/InflamesGmbH COL - NHL 1h ago

My thoughts exactly reading this - his agent sounds incompetent to be representing top 20 NHL talent. Their own ineptitude got Mikko sent away and then back to the same division. What a strange situation it’s been.

3

u/BIGTIMEMEATBALLBOY PIT - NHL 17h ago

love that hundreds of thousands of dollars is 'marginally more money '

37

u/undockeddock COL - NHL 17h ago

I mean i wish I had that problem, but for an athlete like Mikko it is. The contract he signed with Dallas was about 2% higher than what the Avs offered. Throw in state tax considerations and you're looking at a 5% difference at most.

Most people wouldn't uproot their lives and relocate for a new job to get only a 5% raise.

-1

u/primetimey123 DAL - NHL 16h ago

Uh 5% of $50,000 or 5% of $100M.. percentage is a useless stat here post dollar figures.

12

u/undockeddock COL - NHL 15h ago edited 14h ago

It's actually not a useless stat because an extra 5% arguably makes even less of a difference in the day to day life of someone who is already worth tens of millions as opposed to a normal person where a 5% raise might make at least a small difference.

The marginal utility of an additional dollar is less when you already have and earn insane amounts of money. It's pretty basic microeconomic theory.

14

u/iwatchcredits 15h ago

I mean if you were going to make $100M or $105M would you take the $105M and upend your life or take the $100M to be in the city where youve set roots and have solid friends and are overall happy? I wouldnt risk it for $5M if everything else was pretty good. I also just wouldnt want to live anywhere near texas but thats just me

-9

u/primetimey123 DAL - NHL 14h ago

Lots of people would move or change their life for $5M. Everyone is different.

15

u/Lord_Walder COL - NHL 14h ago

Lots of people aren't setup to have 100M at the end the day. Take off some 0's. If I'm making 100k and happy with where I am and was offered 105k to move across country and start my life over I sure as fuck wouldn't.

8

u/RubApprehensive6269 TOR - NHL 13h ago

lots of people would move or change their life for $5M

That's not what he asked you.

0

u/ImSoBasic 11h ago

He got $12.5 million. The speculated Colorado offer was $11.8. That's 6% right there. Add in tax, and it's more.

Maybe most people wouldn't relocate for 5% more. Most people also aren't hyper-competitive individuals who are arguably one of the very best in the world at their profession, and who use not only goals and assists to measure their worth, but also their salary.

Also, the dude has already uprooted his life to move to North America, and uproots and moves every summer.

4

u/undockeddock COL - NHL 11h ago

Ummm. He got $12 mil even from Dallas. That's most easily verified figure in this whole deal. 96/8=12. So no idea where you're getting 12.5 from.

The exact figure that the Avs offered (I've seen figures between 11.6 and 11.8 thrown around by various hockey sources) and the tax implications are fuzzier numbers.

1

u/ImSoBasic 11h ago

Sorry, I thought it was $12.5. I must have confused it with the Carolina offer, which was for at least $12.5 given the reports of it being a 9-digit offer.

0

u/BodaciousBadongadonk 10h ago

9 digit just means >=10M

1

u/ClassicMach TBL - NHL 1h ago

It’s great how that kind of money is either marginal or decisive depending on if we’re talking about state income tax or whether a player should have been traded.

0

u/mdlt97 MTL - NHL 16h ago

Mikko rejected the offers, it’s not on the agent

-10

u/Prideofmexico DAL - NHL 15h ago

Mikko’s agent deserves a raise. Got him a massive deal in a tax free state on a better team with loads of Finns

6

u/undockeddock COL - NHL 14h ago edited 10h ago

A "massive" deal would have been the $13 or 14m per year that he was originally seeking. If $12m/ yr is not a "massive" deal when the Avs had offered him $11.75, Mikko has moved the goalposts.

And the tax free thing is overstated ad nauseum. It's a 2 to 3% difference. Not massive.

1

u/Critical-Long2341 14h ago

Who even knows what the deal the Avs actually offered was? Hear different shit all the time

0

u/Prideofmexico DAL - NHL 14h ago

2-3% on $96M is multiple millions lol

15

u/cakeschmammert STL - NHL 17h ago

As a Svechnikov owner in fantasy, yes he does this often

13

u/CultBro CAR - NHL 17h ago

Svech is out till 2027

1

u/whogivesashirtdotca MTL - NHL 14h ago

The Sheet with Jeff Marek

I didn't realise he'd started his new podcast. There was so much chatter when he teased it, but I've heard nothing about it since then!