cjm502 165 Report post Posted July 30, 2009 (edited) Article Link Free agent conspiracy theory Posted by George James Malik July 30, 2009 17:28PM On Sunday, the Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch claimed that a player agent had told him that the NHL has conspired against the remaining unrestricted free agents, demanding that its GM's hold off on signing the complimentary players out there so that they can drive salaries down. While I basically rolled my eyes given Garrioch's reputation, the Globe and Mail's James Mirtle, who tends not to engage in rumormongering, says that he's heard something very similar--before noting that the reality is that most teams are "capped out": July 30, From the Rink: I was actually told the exact same thing -- nearly word for word -- by a lower profile agent last week. At the time, I chalked it up to frustration on the part of one individual, but it turns out this is something being talked about with some regularity behind the scenes. "NHL teams know that [players will panic] and for the most part agents think NHL headquarters instructed teams to get as many players as possible to free-agent market to get players fighting against each other [for contracts]," the agent told me via email. "Some GMs have said that 'we'll wait until August because we believe we get better deals then.' None of them will say anything about Bettman instructing them since collusion charges could [come into play]." I trust the source that said that to me, but I'm still uneasy about spreading rumours that widespread collusion is going on. It would be incredible if all 30 teams were able to agree to not stock their teams as well as possible to further some nefarious league objective. Unbelievable, even. Still, it's also really shocking how many quality players are available, probably 20 of whom definitely should have found a home by now. Alex Tanguay is one, but how about Sergei Zubov, Robert Lang, Manny Fernandez, Mats Sundin, Petr Sykora, Jason Williams, Taylor Pyatt, Manny Malhotra, Dennis Seidenberg, Dominic Moore, Mike Comrie, Mathieu Schneider, Miroslav Satan, Mike Grier, Mike Peca, Blair Betts, Martin Skoula, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Rob Niedermayer, etc.? Not to surprised... Edited July 30, 2009 by cjm502 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake_Marcus 890 Report post Posted July 31, 2009 Sounds pretty retarded. I have to call bull-s*** on this rumour. Big time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
numberthirtynine 0 Report post Posted July 31, 2009 I'd be more inclined to tag this BS if we didn't have Special Gary running our league. Nothing much would shock me with him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Buppy 1,720 Report post Posted July 31, 2009 BS. A conspiracy like this would require far too much cooperation. Also, there's no motive for Bettman to do this, considering it could land him in prison if true. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake_Marcus 890 Report post Posted July 31, 2009 BS. A conspiracy like this would require far too much cooperation. Also, there's no motive for Bettman to do this, considering it could land him in prison if true. And it's a plan that would increase the likelihood of the KHL poaching players, which is also bad for the league. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SweWings 45 Report post Posted July 31, 2009 More a case of bad economy + failing teams + salary cap than conspiracy. The reason why this is even a borderline legitimate rumour, and I'm quoting South Park, is because 1/4 of people are.. well.. you know. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MacK_Attack 108 Report post Posted July 31, 2009 Teams have already peed their money up against the wall on the high-end players. There's just not much left for the guys in the middle and lower tiers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
