What's Going On With Filip Gustavsson? (Podcast)

I hadn't thought of it, but Goose's contract is very close to Laine's contract @ 50%. I don't believe Columbus was excited about their goaltending last year, could this be part of the deal? 

In case anyone was wondering, in the Waddell era of the Canes, he did not spend a lot of money on goaltending. I don't know if he just can't pick out goalies or if he undervalues them, but Freddy Anderson was his most expensive 'tender. Personally, I believe this stance cost the Canes in the playoffs. Goose's deal is very moderate. I believe Elvis Merzlikins is higher, but I could also see Waddell wanting to move him. Merzlikins has a $5.4m cap hit for 3 years with an M-NTC. That wouldn't be an easy contract to get rid of, but he could be a buyout candidate next season.

While perusing around economic reading this morning, I found a little data on the Walz' era for taxation. Having a 9.83% highest tax rate on those making slightly under $200k is a brutal economic disadvantage for attracting players. In essence, to be on par with a non-income tax state, you'd have to offer a 5% premium over their contracts. 

While I've always thought this was a great place to raise a family, especially if you were out of downtown Minneapolis, it would appear as if financially this is not a destination to play in or take a discount to play in. 

I'll be honest, the economic data focused on the Walz era, but I would have to suspect that the taxes were pretty high under the Dayton era too. Almost a 10% income tax on top of the federal rate is very expensive, and according to the writer was a top 5 state income tax rate in the country. I don't really know that the players would be getting the bang for the buck that they would be looking for.

This has changed my mind on the attractiveness of this market for free agent players. Perhaps Guerin already knew this and realized he had to try and keep what he had and progress in the top 6 internally. It would also suggest that being better....almost elite...defensively was the way this team had to go to contend. I am really looking forward to Yurov coming over, and Buium getting inserted into the lineup. This should help the team's cap situation immensely. Both should be excellent producers with minimum salary. 

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Having a 9.83% highest tax rate on those making slightly under $200k is a brutal economic disadvantage for attracting players. In essence, to be on par with a non-income tax state, you'd have to offer a 5% premium over their contracts. 

Looks like the states with NHL teams and a 0% income tax are Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Nevada, and Washington. Pennsylvania is close to 3%, with all others at 4.25% or higher.

California, New Jersey, and New York are the only states in double digits and they're all above 11%. Minnesota falls a bit below Oregon's 9.9% in the top 5.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_income_tax#/media/File:Top_Marginal_State_Income_Tax_Rate.svg

This can certainly play some role in free agent decisions, and that 5% premium you suggest is possible. There are a lot of other factors, and I truly believe the huge cap issues for the Wild have been stopping them from being looked at favorably in terms of being a free agent destination.

They might have needed to pay slightly more for someone like Trenin, but as of next season, I imagine free agents looking at MN very differently, and considering the Wild a place where someone could compete for a cup, with Wallstedt, Yurov, and Buium all playing prominent roles at under lower cost contracts.

I think the Wild need guys who truly care about winning it all over guys maximizing their bank account anyway, so I'm not sure how much of a factor it will be in their overall ability to bring guys in and contend.

4 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Having a 9.83% highest tax rate on those making slightly under $200k is a brutal economic disadvantage for attracting players

I wonder if the subject of adjusting the cap to accommodate for varying state tax rates has ever been discussed.  Because it is a disadvantage.

Shout out to the Brother's Justin and Luke.  Just listened to my first HW pod and won't be my last.  Lot's of meat on that bone with very little gristle.  No kids in the background (Jesse on Judd's show). No barely a hockey fan takes (also Jesse).  No travel stories filler (Russo/Lapanta).  No Michelletti's.  No Wild org. employees with soft excuse-me Craig Leipold takes (Lapanta, John King). Just granular, Wild takes and speculation past and present.  I heard Guillome Latandress mentioned today.  God damn that takes me back.

There's a new pod in town and his name is Reggie Hammond.

Tax wise any Canadian provence or city would be worse than any American state i would think .

The Athletic did an article entitled 'Anywhere but Canada' on the breakdown of tax rates and essentially how far your salary/dollar goes per team/location (see screenshots). It focuses on John Tavares's contract and his dispute with the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency). Some interesting snippets from the article are:

• "If you play for the Toronto Maple Leafs and are a Canadian resident for tax purposes then you will be taxed more than 53 percent on your worldwide income, including any bonus and salary."
• "If you play for the Leafs, but are a tax resident of a U.S. state — like Florida — then you pay income tax in the U.S. Florida has no state income tax, so you would pay just the federal tax at a 37 percent rate. You would pay tax in Canada on a portion of your earnings based on the number of days you are in Canada, and then get a credit in the U.S. for the Canadian taxes paid, subject to limitations."

So the teams that have it worse than the Wild are Canadian, New York, New Jersey, California and DC. I wonder what they all have in common.

On 8/7/2024 at 8:55 PM, WheelSnipeCelly said:

"If you play for the Toronto Maple Leafs and are a Canadian resident for tax purposes then you will be taxed more than 53 percent on your worldwide income, including any bonus and salary."

That does help explain why Canadian team are now strongly favoring selection of Canadian players over US players. You'd have to want to be part of a Canadian team more than a US team in order to favor staying over leaving free agency.

A Flo Hockey article suggested that Canadian teams had concerns regarding retaining free agents who were not Canadian born, which made sense on it's own for an American, but when you add in the financial implications, it would make moving back to the states an even easier decision for many free agents.