Offer sheets in the NHL are few and far between. There’s only been five sent since 2010, and only 42 total since the first one in 1986. Before the instillation of the salary cap as a result of the 2004-05 lockout making offer sheets exponentially more difficult to deal out, there were some high profile players who received contracts and signed with new clubs. Signings that would’ve changed the course of NHL history, but that never came to be when the original team matched the offer. So sit back and enjoy some of the craziest stories about game changing offer sheets that didn’t happen.
Number 5: Teemu Selanne to the Flames
The Winnipeg Jets drafted Finnish forward Teemu Selanne 10th overall in 1988. During the early 1990’s the Jets let their European prospects develop in their native country, but with Selanne tearing up the Finnish Liiga, Winnipeg’s management wanted him to come to North America. Because they never signed Selanne to a contract when he was drafted, he was technically a restricted free agent and thus prone to an offer sheet.
The Calgary Flames were on the brink of something special in 1992. Their forward group consisted of Theo Fleury, Robert Reichel, Gary Roberts, Gary Suter and Joe Nieuwendyk, but they wanted a little more fire power to their lineup. They sent a three-year, $2.7 million offer sheet to Selanne in the summer of 1992. That was over double what the Jets were originally offering the young forward. Even though the Jets organization was struggling financially, they matched the offer sheet a few days later. Luckily for them they did, as Selanne put up 76 goals and 132 points during his rookie campaign, winning the Calder Trophy for his efforts.
Number 4: Shea Weber to Philadelphia
The Nashville Predators had a rough 2012 offseason. They already lost Weber’s partner Ryan Suter to a 13-year, $98 million contract from Minnesota, and they were primed to lose Shea Weber as well. The Flyers, who were desperate for a top defenseman after Chris Pronger’s career ending injury earlier in the season, sent Shea Weber the richest offer sheet in NHL history, clocking in at 14 years and $110 million. $68 million of the deal came via front-loaded signing bonuses. Five days later, in a stunning move, the Predators matched the offer sheet. The 2012-13 lockout and subsequent new CBA prevented teams from sending similar offer sheets in the future. All we can do is imagine what impacts of Shea Weber signing with the Flyers would’ve been.
Number 3: Keith Tkachuk to the Blackhawks
Three seasons after the Jets fought off the Flames’ offer sheet for Teemu Selanne, they faced another challenge, this time from the Chicago Blackhawks. By the time 1995 rolled around the Jets were at bankruptcies’ door and relocation was already in the works. That seemed like a perfect scenario for the Blackhawks to swoop in and steal away captain Keith Tkachuk, whom was disgruntled and made it known he did not want to re-sign with the Jets. The Blackhawks signed him to a front-loaded five-year, $17.2 million deal. Even in their financial ruin, the Jets took just six hours to match the offer sheet, much to the chagrin of Tkachuk himself. He was immediately stripped of the captaincy in retaliation for the circus, but he still put up a career-high 50-goal, 98-point (a personal best) season during the Jets final year of existence before they moved to Phoenix.
Number 2: Joe Sakic to the Rangers
Are you ready for a wild story? In the summer of 1997 Colorado Avalanche forward Joe Sakic was due a contract after losing to the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Final. With huge sums of money already invested in Peter Forsberg and Patrick Roy, teams knew he was vulnerable to an offer sheet, which came to fruition when he signed a three-year, $21 million deal with the New York Rangers. What seemed like a sure-fire loss turned around thanks to the movie Air Force One, which premiered earlier in the year. The company that owned the Avalanche at the time was Communications Satellite Corp (Comsat) and their movie-making subsidiary Beacon Productions, who co-produced the movie. The profits from the blockbuster film gave the team the funds to match the offer sheet and retain the services of their captain, and the remaining money went to constructing the Pepsi Center, now known as Ball Arena. So you can thank Harrison Ford for Sakic remaining in Colorado and eventually their second Stanley Cup in 2001.
Number 1: Sergei Fedorov to Carolina
The Detroit Red Wings entered the 1997-98 season without star forward Sergei Fedorov, who was holding out for a new contract. On February 22, 1998 the fledgling Carolina Hurricanes, who were in their first season after relocating from Hartford, sent a six-year, $38 million offer sheet to the Russian forward. The contract was heavily front-loaded and laced with incentives, including a $14 million signing bonus and a $2 million bonus for playing 21 games. The most controversial part of the deal was including a $12 million bonus if the Canes reached the 1998 Conference Final. With the Hurricanes almost assuredly missing the playoffs and the Wings a Cup contender, Detroit argued that that was an unfair disadvantage as they’d have to pay the bonus if they matched. Nonetheless the Red Wings matched the deal four days later and ultimately ended up paying the bonuses, as the Wings won the Cup in 1998. Fedorov made $28 million for their 43 total games, which makes that the largest single-season amount ever paid to an NHL player.
Honorable mentions
Scott Stevens to St. Louis
Stevens was the only player to sign two offer sheets. The first came in 1990 when he was a 26-year-old playing with the Washington Capitals. The Blues sent him a four-year, $5.1 million offer sheet, which the Caps didn’t match, thus receiving five first round picks as compensation. The following summer, the Blues sent an offer sheet to New Jersey Devils forward Brendan Shanahan. At the time, because Shanahan had less than five years of professional experience, the Devils weren’t allowed to match the offer sheet, instead receiving Scott Stevens as compensation after arbitration.
Fast forward to 1994 and the Blues once again tried to offer sheet Stevens, who was still a Devil. New Jersey matched their four-year, $17 million offer. It was later found out that the Blues management team contacted Stevens before free agency opened, thus they were, after a five year investigation, ordered to give the Devils $1.4 million in cash and a first round pick for tampering. All in all, he’d spend 10 more years with the Devils winning three Stanley Cups along the way.
Niklas Hjalmarsson to San Jose
The Blackhawks were fresh off their first of three Stanley cup wins during their dynasty years in 2010. 23-year-old defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson signed a four-year, $14 million offer sheet with the Sharks, a number which put a heavy financial burden on the Blackhawks, but nonetheless, they matched just three days later. Subsequently, because of the lack of cap, their starting goaltender, Antti Niemi, ended up leaving Chicago in free agency and signed a one year deal with the Sharks. Hjalmarsson was a key part of that Blackhawks squad before and after that offer sheet. Their Cup era might have looked very different had Chicago not matched.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: pintrest.com/sports.yahoo.com
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