Players regret latest CBA as they get screwed this offseason!

Some big names might have been taken off the free agent market, but many good players remain available and they can only blame the flattened salary cap and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As Darren Dreger pointed out on Tuesday night during TSN’s Insider Trading, a good player who might have cashed in a $4 million salary last season is getting offered way less, and player agents are struggling to make deal days after the opening of free agency. 

“Certainly, to those player agents who are still in the mud and likewise their clients, the players. I mean you’re right, most of the big-name guys are now off the board but I’ll give you an example how paralyzed the system is right now. I can give an example of a player who was making between $3 million and $4 million last year – a very good player – who has had teams offer a lot of one-year deals at $1 million or less. So, teams are value shopping if you want to put it that way which is being polite. They’re looking for a steal of a deal and that is not sitting well with the player agents or the players appreciably and understandably.”

It is even believe that many players are now regretting the deal they struck with the National Hockey League this summer when came the time to negotiate the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, adamant that some specific clause vis-a-vis the pandemic and flattened cap should have been included. 

“To the point where there’s some grumbling and looking back in hindsight in what could have been included in the collective bargaining agreement. Why didn’t they pursue franchise exemption for a player so every team could have that one guy? Or looking at some of the other things like simply raising the cap floor. Not the ceiling, the cap floor. But most of this is predictable and the system is where it’s at most expected would get there.”

As Dreger’s colleague Frank Seravalli mentions, a player like Mike Hoffman is not getting the interest or offers he was hoping for, and it is easy to see how these uncertain times are really affecting the market. However, Hoffman remains patient and hopeful. 

“One player who has held firm on his value and his belief is Mike Hoffman. Who is somewhere probably between $5.5 million and $6.5 million on a one-year deal. A guy who averages 27 goals a season. He can be had on that one-year deal. The teams that are most interested at this point are the Boston Bruins, the Columbus Blue Jackets and also the Nashville Predators. But other teams like the Habs, like the Canucks could be in the mix if they’re able to move pieces.”

So much math needs to get done before every move. I hate math.