The owner has money issue and if Carolina matches, they cannot trade him before July first 2020. This means they are garanteed to pay half the contract in the first year of that contract (11.3M+9.87M bonuses). Also, if there is a lock-out, they would have to pay the 7M signing bonus on that year. For a small market like Carolina, this is a huge issue.

How is it not good? Besides, offer sheets are there for a reason, so why not make use of them.

This honestly helps Carolina get to a number they like with Aho, and Montreal is just hoping to god that Dundon doesn't want to give out the $21M in performance bonuses in the first year. But they'll match, and I'm sure the Canadiens know that. They have enough money to still sign someone like Gardiner within the next 7 days and not be over the 110% offseason limit.

Or, its a contract that squeezes the Canes out of a great RFA for financial reasons.

We have everything to gain, and nothing to lose.

They match? We lose nothing...

They don't? We win big.

Well... they were offering him 6M... so I'm not sure it is a number they liked..

I think I understand the strategy from this “low ball” offer sheet. Lots of factors at play. One of the first things I was questioning was “why not give an extra $100k on the AAV and make the compensation 2 1st’s + 2nd + 3rd?” Literally no one will question that it would be overpaying for some like Aho, and it would make all the more enticing to let Aho go. So why just under $8.5mil???

This is just MTL literally trying to take advantage of what they believe is an Owner (Dundon) who doesn’t have the stones to pay 1 player a large chunk of the teams revenue of an entire year. Because if CAR matches this deal, this almost guarantees for the next two seasons they will lose $$$ and finish in the negative of their yearly earnings. Additionally , with a lockout looming, and the possibility of getting zero revenue next year. CAR will still have to pay almost $10mil, to 1 player. That’s big.

So if the Habs believe that actual “up front “ cash is enough to steal Aho from CAR (and I’m assuming that this is really their current belief, cuz why even bother then?), why give an extra 1st?

Historically speaking though... PHI tried this exact strategy on NSH with the Weber offer sheet, and it didn’t work.

It is such a ballsy move.

That's a hostile take over, just pure business. Like how Ray Kroch took over McDonald's.

I also believe that MTL did offer a trade for Aho that was way superior to the compensation now. They offered the easy way... this is the hard way!

BTW Dundon is a billionaire

True. But I prefer the idea of two GMs agreeing on a deal. It's just a better way to do things. Carolina didn't want to trade Aho, and Montreal used an offer sheet instead, and that's totally fine. It's in the rulebook that that is allowed. They just need to know that it's a big risk, and some teams may not want to trade with Bergevin now, or maybe Waddell will get Bergevin back with an offer sheet on a Habs' player sometime. Who knows? Maybe someone like Domi, who is an RFA next year.

I don't think this was worth it for Montreal. It's great value for Aho, but that's exactly why it's not worth it for Montreal. Because I'm 95% sure Carolina will match. I don't see how they wouldn't. All Montreal is doing is becoming that team who actually did the offer sheet. And that might not be a good idea. It could change other GMs' strategies dealing with the Canadiens.

In asset maybe, in cash flow? Probably not.

And there’s the rub. Dundon is a billionaire, and MTL is asking him to put his money where his mouth is.

This is the kind of stuff I really love. Very little of this deal has to do with Hockey. This is all about business economics crossing over with sports management. As someone who’s taken a few economics courses in University (as electives lol). Strictly from a business perspective, this deal is a nightmare. Accepting this deal basically forces you to take the next few years at a loss in terms of revenue. Dundon will probably have to dip in the capital from another one of his business’s or of his own personal stash to deal with this, and that’s just bad business, period. From a sports management perspective on the other hand, this is a no brainer. The compensation for letting Aho leave just isn’t good enough. It’s actually crap. The AAV is also almost spot on, and although the term isn’t what CAR want, it’s still manageable. But Wadell right now has no say anymore on what happens next. This guy is literally just going to his boss saying ‘’hey, I have this ****ty offer sheet I need to deal with... I just need $12mil cash for it to go away right now....and another $9mil cash next July 1st...’’
So it’ll be interesting what Dundon decides.

It’s easy for us mortals to tell a billionaire how to spend $21+ million, and odds are CAR matches. But it’s cool to see GMs try something like this, it really doesn’t happen often.

I'm going to be the 1 guy who said no because it's not enough to get Aho, only enough to piss of Carolina.

I think the reason everyone is voting yes is not yes and in "good move by Montreal" but yes as in "good signing for whoever gets him".

They still have 11 Million Dollars with the cap cushion to pursue anyone they choose. This doesn't constraint them in any way.

Carolina only made 26 Million dollars in Revenue (money earned, doesn't factor in expenses).

They paid 6.5 Million to Marleau and if they match this, they have to pay 21 Million dollars in the first 12 months. That's 27.5 Million dollars they have to pay when they only earned 26 Million last year. That puts them at a 1.5 Million dollar loss right away. Also last year they were near the cap floor, where this year they are closer to the cap ceiling if they match. It's a lot closer than you think.

Oh man, i wish they would offer this to Marner, it's a steal.

I don't see Waddell throwing offer sheets around because by the looks of it Carolina (ie Dundon) can't afford that. I also highly doubt that now some GMs don't want to have any dealings with Bergevin afte rthis, unless they really don't understand that each GM's job is to serve their own team and no one else. As for whether or not the offer sheet was worth it for Canadiens, well, I don't see how it wasn't. Bergevin and co clearly saw that they had a decent enough opportunity to get Aho with a below-market-price offer, and if it doesn't work out in the end they literally lose nothing. So basically at the end of the day it was just a good piece of business for Canadiens and nothing else because the can win but not lose.

They either get a player for cheap or they **** up another team's cap structure and rift the locker room.

Win-Win for Bergevin.

With the cap cushion, Bergevin still has 11 Million in space to make more moves.

Marner already chose his comparable, it's matthews.
They have stated that multiple times.

LMAO - Is Marner gonna choose his cap-hit too?

Nylander's "chosen" comparable was Draisaitl ... Dubas' chose Pastrnak ... and the end result was $6,950,000.

That's $300,000 more than Pastrnak ... and $1,550,000 less than Draisaitl ... so I doubt Marner "choosing a comparable" has the power you describe.

On top of that ... Nylander signed 1 year after both of his comparable's ... so he gained an extra $400,000 (6%) based on cap-growth alone.

Marner's comparable's (Aho + AM) are both entering year 1 of their deal ... so cap-growth won't get Marner an extra $400,000+ like it did for Willy.

you keep thinking that. He'll let 94 points do the talking.

LOL kk I'll keep on the lookout for Marner getting $11,600,000 x 5 ... when Aho just signed an offer sheet for $8,500,000 ....

I agree. Only downside was not getting him to 7 or so, but that would have changed the compensation. This deal is a steal on day one, it will age even better.

Hurricanes Match, It is official.