Justin Schultz Saga

[mister_mcgoo]

Shoeless, I would like to know what you mean by this. As a fan of the game, a big part of me is actually happy that Schultz chose the path he genuinely wanted. I love the Oilers and think it's a great thing for Hockey that they will be an exciting, marketable team again. The fact that this kid chose a team in a "hockey" market (who free agents notoriously shied away from recently) is something I truly admire. Really. But, how did the Ducks fail miserably? By all accounts they offered him a deal in March and were fine with him signing early to flush a year on his EL contract. The money was the same regardless of where he played. And he would definitely crack the Ducks top 4 the same way he would the Oilers. The Oilers are just a team on the the upswing in a hockey market - if that's why Schultz wanted to sign with them, that's fine and within his right, but he did the Ducks dirty and could have went about the whole thing a different way. I just don't see how the Ducks failed. What else could they do realistically?

I'm with Shoeless on this one fungchen...the Ducks really have no one to blame but themselves in this scenario, if people weren't flat our fired in that front office for this screwup then they are very fortunate. Part of running a successful franchise is having a CBA and cap expert on staff who is intimately aware of the contract implications of every single player on the roster and can coach the powers that be in their smartest course of action. The way this all played out suggests that the Ducks were completely unaware of the implications involved with Schultz until it blew up in their face (the part about him not being under contract shoulda been their first clue). And the fact that he wouldn't even listen to a counter-proposal by the Ducks tells me they did not 'manage' this young player well at all. The word on the street is that he really wanted to play in Canada and I believe that, but I also don't think the Ducks sold him very well on their franchise their city and their plans for the future.

[fungchen3]

I'm with Shoeless on this one fungchen...the Ducks really have no one to blame but themselves in this scenario, if people weren't flat our fired in that front office for this screwup then they are very fortunate. Part of running a successful franchise is having a CBA and cap expert on staff who is intimately aware of the contract implications of every single player on the roster and can coach the powers that be in their smartest course of action. The way this all played out suggests that the Ducks were completely unaware of the implications involved with Schultz until it blew up in their face (the part about him not being under contract shoulda been their first clue). And the fact that he wouldn't even listen to a counter-proposal by the Ducks tells me they did not 'manage' this young player well at all. The word on the street is that he really wanted to play in Canada and I believe that, but I also don't think the Ducks sold him very well on their franchise their city and their plans for the future.

Yep. We'll never know for sure.

[NikW71]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but does anybody know who the 4 teams that didn't show interest in signing Schultz were?

[DuklaNation]

RE:Niedermayer, he should have called earlier, not in dying seconds of this process. Its too late at that pt. we really dont know the exact facts here and shouldnt rush to judgment. some nasty games being played by the media here. show some integrity.

[Veritas0Aequitas]

RE:Niedermayer, he should have called earlier, not in dying seconds of this process. Its too late at that pt. we really dont know the exact facts here and shouldnt rush to judgment. some nasty games being played by the media here. show some integrity.

Agreed. They started the hype. He's taking his time. People aren't flaming Parise and Suter for taking their time (yes, I get they "earned" it for playing in the NHL but that should not matter.)