Post by NsHLPA Director Mark on Jun 8, 2005 9:28:36 GMT -5
Gentlemen,
It is the season for signing your free agents. Please read the following post for your benefit in dealing with your agent:
UFAs: Send your offers at will. Most of your UFAs are looking for salary increases based on their play. Remember, you do not have to swing for the fences, the UFA process is called negotiating for a reason and most of us enjoy the banter. You need to watch your bottom line and the agents need to watch out for the best interest of the players.
There will be times when a player will take less money to stay with the team they are currently with as opposed to going into the free market . When I say "less money", I mean that they could make more money playing for another squad...not in reference to taking a paycut. Only in very special circumstances will a player take less money to play (on par with how often it happens in the NHL).
There will also be times when a player will want to play with another squad no matter what you would offer (due to playing time, poor usage, poor play, or lack of chemistry).
The bulk of the players will be looking to resign with their squads, however, please understand that if you waited this long it is going to cost you more money. The lure of going to the open market is strong so the players have little to lose by waiting another month or two. Your offers need to be aggressive.
RFAs:
To properly offer a qualifying offer you must send your agent a list of the RFAs you want to qualify. List their current salary, and then list their qualifying offer salary.
Qualifying offers will be for one year at a time.
After the offers have been qualified I will forward them to the commissioner's office to be compiled. The list will be posted for bidding during the same time that the UFAs will be posted. Keep in mind that the team that qualified them still has first right of refusal. In other words if you qualify an RFA and another team bids on them, you still have the decision to either sign them for 95% of the bid price, or take the compensation (which is rather good in some cases).
Qualifying offers is the easiest way to keep costs down with limited risk. However, it is a process that must be done much more frequently.
Mike Henderson is working with the same teams as he has been. If your agent has been Bob Finley, please send your offers to me at mediamark@nsimhl.com.
I look forward to the offseason going smoothly. Thanks!
Mark Kopsack
NsHLPA Director
It is the season for signing your free agents. Please read the following post for your benefit in dealing with your agent:
UFAs: Send your offers at will. Most of your UFAs are looking for salary increases based on their play. Remember, you do not have to swing for the fences, the UFA process is called negotiating for a reason and most of us enjoy the banter. You need to watch your bottom line and the agents need to watch out for the best interest of the players.
There will be times when a player will take less money to stay with the team they are currently with as opposed to going into the free market . When I say "less money", I mean that they could make more money playing for another squad...not in reference to taking a paycut. Only in very special circumstances will a player take less money to play (on par with how often it happens in the NHL).
There will also be times when a player will want to play with another squad no matter what you would offer (due to playing time, poor usage, poor play, or lack of chemistry).
The bulk of the players will be looking to resign with their squads, however, please understand that if you waited this long it is going to cost you more money. The lure of going to the open market is strong so the players have little to lose by waiting another month or two. Your offers need to be aggressive.
RFAs:
To properly offer a qualifying offer you must send your agent a list of the RFAs you want to qualify. List their current salary, and then list their qualifying offer salary.
Qualifying offers will be for one year at a time.
After the offers have been qualified I will forward them to the commissioner's office to be compiled. The list will be posted for bidding during the same time that the UFAs will be posted. Keep in mind that the team that qualified them still has first right of refusal. In other words if you qualify an RFA and another team bids on them, you still have the decision to either sign them for 95% of the bid price, or take the compensation (which is rather good in some cases).
Qualifying offers is the easiest way to keep costs down with limited risk. However, it is a process that must be done much more frequently.
Mike Henderson is working with the same teams as he has been. If your agent has been Bob Finley, please send your offers to me at mediamark@nsimhl.com.
I look forward to the offseason going smoothly. Thanks!
Mark Kopsack
NsHLPA Director