In the midst of those moments, I wish for another early Bob Gainey moment like the one where he called out the Brisebois boobirds, or famously defended Price as a thoroughbred. And the media absorbed those narratives for the long run, and we were a better team for it.
Bergevin would do well to protect our young and vulnerable from the agenda-driven parts of the media, even if there there is a bit of fire to smoke - I bet the players would respond well to knowing the GM is with them, and it would honestly help with the league perception of Montreal as an *excessively* challenging place to play.
I'm hoping this happens when he's eventually signed...looks like Bergevin is meeting Meehan IN Toronto today.
I get a feelings things have reached a point where both sides realize it's time to move this process along. I wouldn't be surprised to see a deal struck sometime over the weekend.
So Guy Carbonneau was on RDS the other day and divulgred 'priveledged' information about Subban/Meehan. He said that Don Meehan has advised PK to take the 2 year deal on numerous occasions, but that PK refuses to do so.
Yet when questioned about this...Don Meehan said
"I don't know how Guy could obtain priveledged information about my discussions with Bergevin".
The PK Subban smear campaign continues...
Without taking a stance one way or another, what did you expect Meehan to say? "Yes, he's right. PK doesn't listen to my advice"???
The Habs hold almost all the cards here. I don't see any team offer-sheeting PK with the enormous cost of draft picks they'd have to pay, plus the cap hit they'd have to absorb. The Habs are sitting on a valuable property and have no urgency to trade it away, unless someone's willing to overpay. So if negotiations break down, Bergevin has the option to simply walk away and leave PK without a salary or a team to play on.
That said, I'm still hoping they give PK an extended contract. Locking that talent up will go a long way towards securing the team's bright future. Plus, it's a smart way to save money and cap space in the long run. A two-year bridge at approx. $4M per year might save about $2M total over the next two years, but then it finishes and PK becomes eligible to cash in. By 2015 his value and league salaries will have both increased, pressuring the Habs into something closer to $6.5 - $7M for multiple seasons.
Lock him up now at $5M over multiple seasons. Cap space isn't the issue for these two years, but it WILL become an issue when we need to sign our talented young guys. When 2015 arrives, I'd rather have PK locked up with a $5M cap hit than having to renegotiate a higher salary with him at the same time we're negotiating with Emelin, Diaz, Eller, with Galchenyuk and Gallagher close behind.
Bergevin knows this, of course. The disagreement sounds like it's more about philosophy than affordability. Can you make exceptions to rules, and what are the consequences among the other players whose contracts abided by the rules? Why would the players be any more resentful of PK's imbalanced salary than they were with Gomez's?
Maybe Bergevin should be making a deal with another GM to officially offer-sheet PK just so that the Habs can match it and save face.
Gomez wasn't a contract negotiation he was dealt for...Montreal did not give that contract to Gomez....You need to compare apples to apples...Gorges Price Pacioretty Diaz etc are going through have gone through this same two year deal before being extended long term for big money. Free agency signings and trades for players with long term deals don't apply when comparing to the Subban situation
for all those that say just give Subban what he wants. 6 years at 6 million.
What if I said that as soon as Price and Patches find out Subban got everything he wanted they demand a trade wont play another game for the Habs. Yelling at MB that the Habs forced they to accept a 2 year bridge contract and unless they get Millions each in compensation that they want a trade now. What if all the other players see all this and walk into MB office and say, if everyone is getting a raise WE WANT ONE TOO.
for all those that say just give Subban what he wants. 6 years at 6 million.
What if I said that as soon as Price and Patches find out Subban got everything he wanted they demand a trade wont play another game for the Habs. Yelling at MB that the Habs forced they to accept a 2 year bridge contract and unless they get Millions each in compensation that they want a trade now. What if all the other players see all this and walk into MB office and say, if everyone is getting a raise WE WANT ONE TOO.
How would you think of the Subban deal now?
What if the Flying Spaghetti Monster infiltrates the locker room, eats all the doughnuts and replaces our players with Russian built robots?
It's about as likely as the scenarios you presented.
So Guy Carbonneau was on RDS the other day and divulgred 'priveledged' information about Subban/Meehan. He said that Don Meehan has advised PK to take the 2 year deal on numerous occasions, but that PK refuses to do so.
Yet when questioned about this...Don Meehan said
"I don't know how Guy could obtain priveledged information about my discussions with Bergevin".
The PK Subban smear campaign continues...
Yea seriously, which of them would leak that? It's not like Meehan would want to make his client look bad and Bergevin wouldn't want to piss off Subban either.
Everyone's just making **** up because they want to feel like insiders. If that had actually happened it would've been more widely reported.
This pathological fear of a "**** disturber" has screwed the Habs more times than I can count. Our obsessed, media-driven fanbase drills so deeply into players' psyches that we inflate it into a sick soap opera and make it as important as on-ice ability. The result: We drive players out of town where -- guess what? -- they flourish elsewhere. Let's get over ourselves. The Habs aren't a friggin' Oprah episode. They're no different than any other team -- a collection of 25 personalities that usually get along and sometimes don't.
Exactly so why should one player "Subban" be treated better then others on the team. He's not the best player on the team Carey Price is.....
Like I said Pacioretty Price and other young strong talent have gone though the same transition contract what makes PK more special then them?
Let me answer that for you...nothing! He definately insn't more important then Price and I's hate to see where Montreal would be without Max Pcioretty.
This is a team game and PK doesn't seem to understand this.
Ultimately I would love to have PK stay with the Habs but if signing PK means losing other young talent in the future because of a inflated ego and contract to go with it (cap Space) then trading PK is the best option providing they get proper return for him.
2 years 3.5 - 4 mil is more then enough
If he continues to mature as a person and improve, his long term deal will follow.
Gomez wasn't a contract negotiation he was dealt for...Montreal did not give that contract to Gomez....You need to compare apples to apples...Gorges Price Pacioretty Diaz etc are going through have gone through this same two year deal before being extended long term for big money. Free agency signings and trades for players with long term deals don't apply when comparing to the Subban situation
Yes, you're right that it's not a direct comparison. More of an example of how salary discrepancies -- however they originate -- are usually forgotten within the locker room. It would be interesting to know if Drew Doughty's holdout and huge payday from last season affected the relationships with his teammates. I'd guess not much at this point.
I'd also like to know if other teams are as structured as to years/amounts, or if it's just some Montreal organizational habit. I'd hope for a more concrete reason than some lame, "That's how we've always done it", excuse.
all you people talking about bridge/transition contracts....WHY?
Is it cause other players did it? You'll point to patches and price, but both of them signed "bridge" contracts when their value had dipped below their expected potential (of course they bounced back but not the point).
Had Price never lost his spot to Halak and Patches stuck with the team and produced like he did last year right off the bat, you think their agents would be taking the "bridge" contracts?
This is not Weber, or Emelin, this is Subban, a rare talent, one that wants to stay a career Hab. Give him his money.
Also ever think what he might cost after his bridge contract? You give him 2 years, has 2 phenomenal season and then demands 7M$
Successful, skilled RFA's won't get close to the salary and the conditions they would get in the Free Market. Subban worse than the rest because of his extra visibility...They were thrown under the bus in the last CBA talks. The fight had to be waged a couple of months ago.
Subban's one of the biggest losers with the CBA. He's stuck in this no-win negotiation. He'll need to suck it up and move on.
Successful, skilled RFA's won't get close to the salary and the conditions they would get in the Free Market. Subban worse than the rest because of his extra visibility...They were thrown under the bus in the last CBA talks. The fight had to be waged a couple of months ago.
Subban's one of the biggest losers with the CBA. He's stuck in this no-win negotiation. He'll need to suck it up and move on.
