Quoting: ricochetii
I've been thinking it over, and while I understand that KK is young and was likely advised to sign by his agent regardless of the $20, I'm having trouble believing either teammates or fans would see it that way.
Even IF he opposed it, Carolina said take it or leave it, and his agent convinced him it would be better for him, the optics are bad. Suddenly he lacks character and is a sell out.
MAYBE he can recover his reputation by firing his agent and apologizing, but Montreal fans aren't exactly known for being forgiving. He's going to face backlash and he won't be treated the same in the room.
If we match, this year is going to be miserable for him and I don't see him performing well under that pressure.
I was already tempted to let him walk simply because I don't believe Carolina actually expects us to, but I think these factors confirm it. I was cheering for him and hopeful this was going to be his year, but I think I'm going to switch to hoping we lose him and he completely bombs. It's a shame, because the guys really seemed to like the kid.
If this was just a business move, I wouldn't hold anything against him. He did however allow Carolina to spit in the Habs' face through him. I don't see how that just slides.
Let me say this, IF I was confident KK would have a monster year next year, my stance on this would have changed. I DONT think KK will live up to this contract and that's why I really hate how this transpired.
Fans will be on him for not producing.
Coach will be on him for not producing.
Management will be on him for not producing.
His teammates will be on him for not producing despite being happy for him, the human being, for getting paid.
He will be in a position where he has to really produce for him to push through this.
Also, I don't absolve him of any criticism because it was a "business move". If the roles were flipped, and the team just did the player dirty by just doing a "business move" in order to get bottom dollar, we'd be ALL over them too.
I have however, slightly changed my opinion on how to proceed. I think resigning him and putting him in every position to succeed makes more sense for the TEAM right now but I might ship him off elsewhere the minute I can if negotiations on his next contract prolong and for hopefully more than a late 1st and 3rd which will in the end be a better return. That way the Canes revenge OS was really just more of a nuisance than anything and can be considered settled after this.
The problem is, what if he is given all this opportunity and still doesn't live up to his contract? I feel this is more likely than the latter and we're not wrong to think that.