Vanek's thought process when signing the offer sheet...

[LabattBlue]

I was thinking about this the other day and went to look for the old threads from when the signing occurred(summer 2007). Unfortunately, there is about a years worth of threads that are no longer out there(board crash??).

 

Anyways, I was trying to figure out what Vanek was thinking when he signed the offer sheet?

 

 

1. He didn't care whether he played in Buffalo or Edmonton as long as he got the 7 mil per year?

 

or

 

2. He was hoping that the Sabres wouldn't match as he was looking to play somewhere else for whatever reason(Not on the same page as Ruff? Unhappy the Sabres let Briere and Drury walk? Something else?)

 

He had to believe there was at least a small chance that the Sabres would walk away and if so, he ends up in Edmonton(for the next 7 years), which has developed a reputation as one of the least desirable places to play in all of the NHL.

 

He was only 23 at the time and sooner or later was going to cash in, so it's not like this was his last contract chance at $$$.

 

 

So two years later...what do you think?

[johnnychemo]

I think it went along the lines of "7mill/year? wtf where do I sign?" and to hell with where he plays.

[wjag]

I think it went along the lines of "7mill/year? wtf where do I sign?" and to hell with where he plays.

I'm with you... I think it was "cha-ching"

[carpandean]

I'm with johnny-c on this one. Even if he really wanted to stay in Buffalo, $7.143 million per year (front-loaded with $18 million in the first two) was just so unexpectedly high that he couldn't pass on it. Thinking back, how much do think he expected from the Sabres without that offer sheet? Maybe $5 million per year? That's a ton of money to leave on the table.

[R_Dudley]

 

So two years later...what do you think?

 

Well I start with he made one hell of a comittment coming over to North america to play hockey at age 14 in 1998. Think about a 14 year old with no family here and w/o language skills and making that comittment. IMO at that age I'm pretty sure that it had to be motivated by the love of the game because the skill level compared to other's was unknown and payout/money was never a guarantee.

 

Given the above I believe him when he said he was surprised by that offer $ and I'm sure flattered someone wanted him that bad. After the sacrifces he made to be here I think any player is looking forward to a good contract and being rewarded. So after what happened with Drury and Briere hell yeah he thought there was a real good chance of it not being matched. Did he care whether Buffalo or Edmonton or just the money? I don't think it was originally about the money however every agent's job is to get his player(and himself) the most money he can. So that means you have to set your own worth. Once it was set for him by Edmonton I think you don't care which one because it was much higher than he was going to ask for. So what was he going to do refuse Edmonton if Bflo doesn't match... Nada chance

[shrader]

It was pretty well documented at that point that he was out there negotiating for the best deal he could possibly get. That's exactly what he got.

[SDS]

he was thinking "pass the tissues" because he said he cried when he got the offer.

[nfreeman]

I think he was thinking much less about $7MM per year than about "holy mackarel, all I have to do is sign this paper and someone is absolutely, 100% guaranteed, going to pay me $50MM before I turn 31." How much would the Sabres have paid him? $10MM for 3 years? Maybe $15MM for 4?

 

That was a dark period.

[PASabreFan]

I think he was thinking much less about $7MM per year than about "holy mackarel, all I have to do is sign this paper and someone is absolutely, 100% guaranteed, going to pay me $50MM before I turn 31." How much would the Sabres have paid him? $10MM for 3 years? Maybe $15MM for 4?

 

That was a dark period.

 

Dark? Maybe. But did it sow the seeds of current success?

[nfreeman]

Dark? Maybe. But did it sow the seeds of current success?

I appreciate the optimistic view. The current success though, however rewarding, doesn't (yet) IMHO approach 2 consecutive final 4s, nor does it eradicate the stain of frittering away what should have been an annual cup contender out of sheer incompetence.

[PASabreFan]

I appreciate the optimistic view. The current success though, however rewarding, doesn't (yet) IMHO approach 2 consecutive final 4s, nor does it eradicate the stain of frittering away what should have been an annual cup contender out of sheer incompetence.

 

The original Mr. Ed says, "Whoa, now, wait a minute fella, don't beat me again. It's bad enough they sent most of me to the gluuuuuuueeeee factory."

 

So I won't.

 

nfreeman, drop your bat.

[PASabreFan]

The original Mr. Ed says, "Whoa, now, wait a minute fella, don't beat me again. It's bad enough they sent most of me to the gluuuuuuueeeee factory."

 

So I won't.

 

nfreeman, drop your bat.

 

Whoa, Mr. Ed is cringing now.

 

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/News/2009/11/05/11650151-cp.html

[korab rules]

Cha ching. Nothing more, nothing less. Occurred in the bad old days when Regier felt he could take forever to negotiate a contract. He relied on the other "gentlemen" in the NHL to not exercise their right to sign players to an offer sheet. As occurred frequently, he miscalculated.