Offer Sheets
Well, the dust is starting to settle on Bob Clarke, GM of the Philadelphia Flyers, decision to sign Vancouver Canucks restricted free agent and budding young forward Ryan Kesler to a $1.9 million offer sheet. For those who don’t know, the last time an offer sheet was used was nearly a decade ago when the Columbus Blue Jackets tried to steal Sergei Federov away from the Detroit Red Wings by offering him a very lucrative contract. Detroit matched, but resentment lingered - some would say continues to linger - between General Managers who feel forced into the difficult choice between dishing out the dollars and watching a young prospect depart for little return.
In Vancouver’s case, they are now paying Kesler $1.9 million, approximately double what Vancouver is thought to have offered before the offer sheet was put on the table. For a team still looking to add depth, particularly on the wing, the extra million dollars could have and would have been spent elsewhere gladly. But the other option, watching Kesler depart for a mere second round draft pick, was hardly any better.
There are numerous reasons why offer sheets are so rare. One is that Clarke now gets to carry the distinction of being the only GM in recent memory to use one, an ugly little smear other GM’s, particularly Nonis in Vancouver, are certain to remember if and when Clarke is looking to deal in the future. There are only 30 GM’s (no, Mr. Wang does not count, no matter how much of the job he decides to take on) and only so many places to go looking for that missing piece to complete your team. It never helps to piss off your working partners.
A second reason is that the salary cap exists for all teams. Next year it could be Clarke who is squeezed close to the cap with restricted free agents to tie up. If Antero Niittymaki steps up this year, he’ll be in line for a substantial raise and could garner attention from around the league. Same goes for Joni Pitkanen, possibly the best all around defenceman on the team last year - certainly the most consistent - at the young age of 22 and the bargain price tag of $2 million. And the next summer will be no better for Clarke, with Umberger, Carter and Richards all becoming RFA’s.
Offer sheets are very interesting now that the salary cap is in place but will likely not be used any more often than we’ve seen this summer. Many teams in the league could offer Brian Gionta or Paul Martin contracts that the New Jersey Devils literally could not afford to match, yet not one team has done so. The GM’s are smart enough to realize that the short term gain of “stealing” one player won’t mean much when they lose their jobs because no one will trade with them down the road. And no one wants to sweat that their budding young star will be the recipient of an offer sheet when they have cap issues of their own.