Quoting: nepTrystan
Yeah
Still don't understand the hockey point for carolina for the offer sheet except revenge for Aho and they did a nice job putting the habs in trouble, but at what cost? (I'm honestly going to laugh hard if by some reasons the pick finish top 3)
I’ve posted this in some other threads but here’s my perspective.
I think they like KK upside and think they can fix him and give him a fresh start in a less pressure packed environment. Play him with some higher end talent and get his confidence up. It was also reported they tried trading for him before the OS so I don’t think this was just to spite GMMB for the Aho OS (although Dundon certainly didn’t appreciate the gesture and didn’t forget).
A late first (assuming the team plays up to their expectations) and a third is not a bad cost to acquire the former third overall pick just three years ago and he’s just 21 still. 6.1m is a massive overpay for next year but they remain flexible past next year no matter what happens (this is the important part for me).
Worst case for Canes is KK is awful, they let him walk instead of extending him or signing his QO and they miss playoffs resulting in a higher pick. I don’t think this scenario is that likely personally. Instead I think he’ll play pretty well and they’ll sign him to an extension at lower than his QO (sounds like framework of this deal has already been discussed with his camp, I’m thinking 4/5x4-5m). He could also play really well and not want to sign a smaller deal and insist on his QO number for his next deal, which if that’s the case I think canes would be fine paying it.
KK also serves as insurance or leverage for Troch potentially leaving next offseason when his deal is up. Canes like having options and flexibility at their disposal based on how they’ve been running things the last few years.
Lastly, the revenge factor does play a minor factor. Dundon didn’t like GMMB calling him cheap and wants to stick it to him by either making his cap situation a potential mess or by stealing a player who may have underperformed but wouldn’t look good losing your third overall pick from a few years ago. It’s actually a really well laid out OS imo and constructed in a really smart way even tho on the surface it may look petty and dumb.
Sorry for the long post but hopefully that provides some insight from our side of the fence.