Joined: Jul. 2021
Posts: 1,038
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I agree. The qualifying offer is only for one year, so most players would rather have term, even if it means less AAV.
However, I do believe that the $10M qualifying offer reduces his trade value, because if you can’t sign him before June 25, you have to give him a qualifying offer to prevent him from becoming a UFA. Then there’s a chance he’ll accept it, so unless the Sharks allow other teams to negotiate an extension with him before the trade, a team trading for him now would have to be prepared to overpay him for a year and risk losing him after that. If they’re not willing to take that chance, then to them he’s really no different from a pending UFA.
I think that’s why he hasn’t been traded yet. San Jose probably wants a return that you’d expect for a long-term acquisition, but other teams are looking at him as a rental with an expensive option for an additional year and no guarantee of anything beyond that. Either that or the Sharks are allowing the contract negotiations and they’re taking time.