Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Clarke's The Beginning?

Many in the NHL were shocked at yesterday's offer sheet from the Flyers for young Vancouver restricted free agent forward Ryan KeslerIt has been almost a decade since Carolina tried to lure Sergei Fedorov from the Wings with a huge front loaded deal, that many thought the days of RFA's getting an offer sheet were essentially over.

Even with the new CBA, making offers like yesterday a potential strategy to be used by teams when they see one of their opponets in cap trouble by making an offer they can't match, it wasn't used last year.The question now is, will this be an isolated occurrence, or become more widely used?
It would seem to make sense that GM's could use the offer sheet as an effective weapon, however its not likely. Why? Most of these guys realize that they will have to work with eachother for trades and other moves, so they don't want to become isolated if they were to be the one who screws other GM's.

FAUXRUMORS fully expects the Gionta rumors to begin to swirl around now. "Who will make an offer for him with NJ in a cap bind"? The answer is simple: No one! Lou Lamarello being one of the most respected GM's is likely to not be a target.
Also to signing a player to a big contract has a double edge to it. Not only do you commit valuable salary cap money to one player, you also potentially lose out on 4-5 1st round draft picksHowever, more subtler moves to pick up a 2nd tier forward will probably be a bit more common from here on out, where the loss won't be more than a 2nd rounder.
As always keep it here for all the latest.

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