Article: McDavid's Contract Doesn't Change the Kaprizov Calculus

[Tony Abbott]

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[Citizen Strife]

The Wild didn't just buy Kap's on-ice contributions. They bought the aura that brings.  They bought, "hey, MAYBE another star can win here.". Without him, forget any of that.

They also bought into everything afterwards.  His legacy is tied to Minnesota, and pretty much cements him as the face of the franchise until the (highly unlikely) scenario of someone better coming along.  Anything he did before or since record wise will be shattered.  He pretty much IS the Minnesota Wild in face and name as long as any of us are still alive.  That is a marketing coup.  He and the Wild both will make ungodly amounts off his likeness, barring some weird PR collapse.

A cup would be nice, but so is not being a complete laughingstock franchise.  Minnesota IS allowed nice things sometimes.

Edited 3 hours ago by Citizen Strife

[Patrick]

The McDavid and Kaprizov contracts are nearly perfect inversions of each other. One is a fantastic deal for the franchise, showing negotiating skill and a player committed to winning. The other is a massive overpay, showing a panicked amateur negotiation and a player who only cares about money. 

Edmonton fans are absolutely overjoyed by this deal. They aren't panicking about what might happen in 3 years. 

 

[0 Stanley Cups]

I like the way the Wild's defense and goaltending is built better than EDM or TOR, now we need a big UFA, hopefully a center, to come here and give Kaprizov some help on offense, which will be easier said than done now that we know MIN is not a coveted destination even for homegrown UFAs (Boeser, Nelson, etc.).

[Imyourhuckleberry]

I'm not at all surprised that McDavid took less money than Kaprizov, but I was quite shocked to see it was below $14M, keeping him as only the 2nd highest paid on his own team.

McDavid's team has been close though, and he has to believe that he can win there in the next few years, particularly with Florida(and Vegas) now having to adhere to a more reasonable postseason salary cap.

The other aspect is the endorsement money that he makes as the premier player in Canada, which is likely a lot more than Kaprizov has available to this point of his career. And if McDavid does hoist the cup for Edmonton, those dollars would likely jump up substantially.

It's been over 30 years since any Canadian team won the Stanley cup. If McDavid can bring the cup back to Canada, where hockey is their #1 sport, his status will elevate to a level he couldn't reach by doing it for a US team, and his endorsement deals will likely be far greater than his salary.

[Pewterschmidt]

40 minutes ago, Patrick said:

The other is a massive overpay, showing a panicked amateur negotiation

This is the part of this post I'll agree with.  I'm sure Leo & bill wish they'd begun their offer at $13M and worked their way up to $14-$15M.  Still making him highest paid player in league.  Starting at $16M looks dumb now.

[MNCountryLife]

Sorry guys..  The cold truth is that this signing makes Kirill look greedy.   

Smart move by McDavid.  His endorsements will jump.  All of Canada will love him for this...and he increased his odds of putting his name on the Cup. 

[Patrick]

22 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

It's been over 30 years since any Canadian team won the Stanley cup. If McDavid can bring the cup back to Canada, where hockey is their #1 sport, his status will elevate to a level he couldn't reach by doing it for a US team, and his endorsement deals will likely be far greater than his salary.

Canada has a population of 41 million. 14 million of them are foreign born and follow cricket not hockey.  There is a zero percent chance his endorsements exceed his salary.

[MNCountryLife]

McDavid is the best player in the league.  Leon is arguably in the top 4.

Kirill and Boldy are awesome.  But neither is top 5 in the league....  BG needs to find a way to build a team that can beat Edmonton....That is a tall order.  Especially for the next 3 seasons. 

[MNCountryLife]

4 minutes ago, Patrick said:

Canada has a population of 41 million. 14 million of them are foreign born and follow cricket not hockey.  There is a zero percent chance his endorsements exceed his salary.

McDavid is estimated to have made $6M in endorsements last year.  While they may not grow to exceed his salary I could see him matching it.  Brilliant signing by McDavid.

[Will D. Ness]

2 years in Edmonton, then what?

I don't think the best player in the NHL should be hedging bets this young.  I would hate to see McDavid turn into Lebron... "I'm taking my talents to Toronto"  

Superteams destroyed the NBA (amongst other things).

[Tony Abbott]

2 hours ago, Patrick said:

The McDavid and Kaprizov contracts are nearly perfect inversions of each other. One is a fantastic deal for the franchise, showing negotiating skill and a player committed to winning. The other is a massive overpay, showing a panicked amateur negotiation and a player who only cares about money. 

Edmonton fans are absolutely overjoyed by this deal. They aren't panicking about what might happen in 3 years. 

 

Very kindly, I ask: What negotiating skill?

[Scalptrash]

2 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

The Wild didn't just buy Kap's on-ice contributions. They bought the aura that brings.  They bought, "hey, MAYBE another star can win here.". Without him, forget any of that.

They also bought into everything afterwards.  His legacy is tied to Minnesota, and pretty much cements him as the face of the franchise until the (highly unlikely) scenario of someone better coming along.  Anything he did before or since record wise will be shattered.  He pretty much IS the Minnesota Wild in face and name as long as any of us are still alive.  That is a marketing coup.  He and the Wild both will make ungodly amounts off his likeness, barring some weird PR collapse.

A cup would be nice, but so is not being a complete laughingstock franchise.  Minnesota IS allowed nice things sometimes.

....until he gets hurt...again.

[Scalptrash]

Team friendly is the term that was missing from this article and by not signing a team friendly contract, it could be argued that Kirill doesn't believe in this team winning a championship. He's a low maintenance guy, and now he can just play out his career here without pressure and super high expectations. It was, by far, the safest choice.

Whether it was Kirill or his agent, it quickly became apparent that it was more about the money, and financial security, than winning. McDavid wants his name on the cup and he wants the cup back in Canada. Once he accomplishes those goals, he'll follow Gretzky's path to the south and the dollars.

I still suspect that after Kaprizovs' injury at the hands of Stanley, his skating has never been the same and he's more susceptible to injury. Signing a long, guaranteed, front loaded bonuses contract may confirm that. We'll see. Until he plays 70-80 games in a season, where's there's smoke, there's fire.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

The Kaprizov contract is more than I wanted the Wild to pay him, but everyone should stop suggesting Kaprizov looks greedy. These guys have agents and the agents get paid by maximizing the value they can get on contracts.

Kaprizov could have instructed the agent to take less, but most of the players stay out of the discussions and let their agent handle everything until the agent tells them that they are at the offer they think is the best deal they can get them.

Kaprizov's agent is greedy, he believed he could get more, and he was right. McDavid's agent is probably not as excited about the deal McDavid pushed for, but clearly McDavid was already on a $12.5M deal for several years, so he isn't hurting for money. He wants his name on the cup, which several million dollars more in his bank account cannot buy him. A few million dollars more available for the players around him could help him achieve his ultimate goal though.

Edited 19 minutes ago by Imyourhuckleberry

[Citizen Strife]

McDavid may never get his cup, so acting like Kaprizov won't cause he took more money isn't a 1:1 comparison either.  If Cups were just given out to the best players, Gretzky would have 15-20.

One player doesn't win on his own.

[Patrick]

42 minutes ago, Tony Abbott said:

Very kindly, I ask: What negotiating skill?

Exactly. They negotiated so skillfully that McDavid volunteered this to help their goals.