1. Rantanen produces more points than aho and has it done more consitently.. who would I rather have over the two.. rantanen..
2. I get that but the point is, hes doing that for leverage.. same way Nylander did it in sweden...
3. You literally said hes worth 8.5 as a UFA.
4. Ill put any money he gets more than aho

there is a rumour and speculation out there that Rantanen has a deal close or in place already. One of the avs beat writers for BSN who doesnt play the speculation and rumour game at all, tweeted out that one of these names wont be on that list for long in reply to a tweet about all the unsigned RFAs.

Hope thats the case, would love to see a Rantanen long term deal all locked and loaded before the long weekend

I have been saying for a while now that someone is going to blink, who I have no idea but its not going to be Dubas. I've always thought Rantanen would be the 1st to move mainly because the Avs have so much space so they may not be so tight in their negotiations. Either way I doubt he'll get more than he deserves, aka less than 10 million, unless some other GM blinks and makes a huge mistake and goes overboard.

nah, Sakic has already talked about how they are on the same page when he was interviewed last week at his golf tournament. There is some serious specualtion and rumours that Avs and Rants have a deal framework already in place.

He wants to be in Colorado long term and wants to avoid a bridge deal (sakic was qouted saying that him and Rants dont want to do a bridge and thats the last option to explore before the season)

So why isnt the contract signed yet? Whats the hold up...

I think people dont realize that even Hockey management groups and agents do take vacation during the summer. if they dont get stuff done in july, they take the majority of august off. So it always seems like its some stalemate if a contract isnt signed in august, but its just business at usual

Okay, no offense but they are not taking a vacation on their biggest priority this summer

whats the rush? Camp hasnt started yet, guys arent doing captain skates yet. Agents and Management groups do take vacations time off, they arent pining around tryign to hammer something out every other day during the middle of the summer. If they dont get it done in july, they will break and pick up the talks late august, thats not usual either.

The rush is that he isnt signed... I dont think hes as close to signing as you believe.... If they were it would have been done in late July.

then you dont live in a realistic world, management groups actually do take time away and they will take a break in talks in order to do so, this isnt an uncommon thing. Do you really think Sakic and his AGMs are in the office every day working during the summer?

Its not me who believe trying to make it a reality, its what paid hockey writers who cover the Avs for a living believe from what they are hearing.
All signs are pointing that this is a not even remotely an issue for avs fans to be in a huff about, thats why there isnt a rush. Bc there is no fear

Im not saying he wont sign with the avs I do think he will..

But training camp is what 2 weeks away? The time is ticking... rantenens camp is waiting for someone else to sign to do a comparable.

But its not unrealistic to think they should be trying to work on the contract through out the summer, and not take vacation... thats like having a huge project at work and you taking a vacation... thatd be unacceptable

framework cant be done earlier, they dont need to be hammering things out every day during the summer if they have the general parameters in place, thats my point. If they have already have some good bones to a new deal already set early in the summer, they probably can just shelf things and pick them up before camp starts.

Dont get me wrong I would love to have him sign his contract today but I dont think this is out of the norm, before the offseason even started, we were warned that dont be suprised if this drags out into September, it happens every year that a group of RFAs do this.

Sure, I agree that this isnt out of the norm..

but no player, no coach, no gm likes when a player misses training camp as it feels like they set him back... so unless it gets signed this week or early next i cant see it being as close as some may imagine

oh for sure, its inexcusable if he misses a day of training camp but that isnt always on the management side of things for a stall in a contract. The player takes a risk by doing that if they think sitting out will put the fear into the team and meet more of their demands jsut to get him in camp.

If he isnt signed a few days before camp I can agree with that, then something majorly wrong happened and I would expect a longer hold out. From Sakics presser a couple weeks ago and from the info BSN Denver was hinting around about things are close...I would be shocked and disappointed since all the signs are there that this thing was almost done.

Point is in a slightly different situation so he may not need to wait on the others as he is probably setting his own benchmark being a center along with not having any very similar players negotiating at the same time as he is. I think Aho could have been the guy Point could have used in his negotiation out of the big group of RFA's this year.

Rantanen is very much in the same boat as Marner. Not sure if you've noticed but all the press on Marner and leafs is doing the job for Rantenan and the Av's and they're going to come off squeeky clean at the end of it while the Marner and the Leafs negotiation will/has started to get slightly nasty. Rantanen's agent simply has to say "ok Marner got X amount, we'll do this amount" and both sides can't really differentiate much from it.

Tkachuk's camp must be looking at Marner and Rantenan and hoping they sign soon so that he can come in at a level just under what they'll make and both parties won't be able to get too far off from it. I think we all agree if Marner and Rantanen are 9M guys, Tkachuk basically has to be ok with 7M.

Point signing will help Marner's camp know what they can expect but its won't change too much. The others are linked 100%. Tkachuk is waiting on Marner and Rantenan. Rantanen is waiting on Marner. Marner is waiting the Leafs to budge first and also getting a little help from what Point makes.

Ultimately once one of Rantenan or Marner signs, all the other dominos will fall.

I agree completely with most of that. I do think that Dubas is not going to be pressured at this point. He's so diplomatic with how he handles the media, directing the narrative in very clever manners. For example, he wanted to take heat off Nylander and the young players after the playoffs so he threw himself under the bus over the contract hold out. He knows the media blows everything out of proportion so may as well take the heat and let the players focus on whats important.

The last time he spoke on this he pointed to the other guys saying no one has signed so lets wait and see what happens there. Essentially telling all the GM's, don't wait for me, I'm not budging first.

Eventually someone has to break. That's just how this works. My gut says Marner will sign with the Leafs but I do believe the Leafs will have to make some concessions on their current demands, however slightly it may end up being. 9M long term isn't happening IMO. Either Marner bites the bullet on the short term and takes the bridge that takes him as close to free agency as possible at a lower cap hit or he does go long term and it eats up every bit of the Leafs available free cap space. (That they can truly and reasonably afford)

I am not sure its going go as easy for him as he thinks. Ferris is a clown and his demands and tactics have been underhanded and over the top. I would bet he's a huge fan of Ballers and thinks he's a hollywood agent making it rain. Marner isn't a franchise elite centre and generational talent. He's a top 10 RW sure but those are not as hard to find as a top 10 centre. Ferris is going to have trouble justifying his demands once others sign.

Lol he isn't going to demand 11.6m when guys like Rantenan, Point and Tkachuk have signed already for less than 10M. He is only going that high because those others haven't signed yet. There is no perfect comparable for Marner at the moment so of course they're going to start high. That's literally negotiating 101.

The minute the others sign, mainly Rantanen and to a lesser extend Tkachuk, they're have a better idea of how to proceed. Until then? They won't budge either. There's no reason to yet. The antics/demands aren't really outlandish proven otherwise. Right now I don't think there's enough proof to deny them 100%. That's why its dragging out.

This is a stalemate and both are playing it by the book. The Leafs and Ferris at the moment are doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing.

Ferris is a joke but I get what you are saying. I also agree with what you're saying. I think Ferris thought this was going to be easier and that he'd get more public support, that isn't happening at all. Ferris has done a great job and hurting Marner's image. The telling thing for me was when the Leafs offers were leaked. Under 8 for 3 years under 10 for 6 and under 11 for 8 and Ferris countered with 3x10. Seriously?!?!

The moment that happened, my thought was Ferris thinks way too much of his ability. He's out to lunch and once Rantanen or Point sign, then things will start moving and that could end up with the Leafs lowering the offers currently on the table and Ferris will look like a bigger idiot. If Rantanen signs 8 years for under 10 Ferris is cooked.

What should he have done instead? Accepted the Leafs offer right away? Come on now....

The only reason Ferris can make these demands is precisely because the others haven't signed yet. Until then, he has all the right to continue to play hardball. Marner's image will be whatever it will be. I don't think any NHL player really gives a damn as long as they're confident they can produce and Marner's pretty darn confident he can.

One thing is for sure, I hear a lot of how Dubas is this and is that. Its not even just about Dubas. Its about Sakic, its about Treliving, Brisebois, etc. They have to not bend also. Because if Rantenen gets signed out of the blue for 10.5M.........guess what, Ferris gets plenty of power back in his corner.

Threatening offer sheets was his first move, it either didn't happen or it did and Marner decided he wants to stay in TO. The constant leaks to the media, the ridiculous asks, its all been just a circus and its what Ferris has done several times and he always loses. AA in Detroit had the same BS around his negotiation and he ended up getting wrecked in his negotiation, same with Josh Anderson. Ferris should drop all the antics and just be professional. This drama inferno helps no one.

In all fairness, Ferris has never represented a true superstar yet. Anyhoo, I can't wait to see how this whole thing turns out. I just want to be the guy that says "see told you so" but also the guy that magically disappears when it doesn't....Hahhahahaha

This truly will set a precedent for wingers so it can go any number of ways.

Totally, enjoy the last week of summer!