Signing an RFA to an offer sheet is one of the tools teams are allowed to use in order to build their roster, but it is one that most GMs keep safely tucked away in their toolbox. A combination of unwritten rules about the unsavory nature of such tactics, the high price of compensation and the fear of reprisals against their own team's RFAs have made offer sheets almost as rare as Bruins power-play goals in the postseason.
There have been just a half dozen offer sheets signed since the owners' lockout wiped out the 2004-05 season and introduced a new salary cap system to the league. Of those, only one was not matched, with Dustin Penner going from Anaheim to Edmonton in 2007. That move caused such animosity between then-Ducks GM Brian Burke and Oilers counterpart Kevin Lowe that Burke at one point was prepared to rent a barn in Lake Placid to set up a fistfight with Lowe before commissioner Gary Bettman put the kibosh on that ill-advised plan with threats of indefinite suspensions.
If any GMs are willing to dust off the section of the collective bargaining agreement that allows for offer sheets, and risk any ensuing dust-ups with their counterparts, the compensation costs have now been made public thanks to James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail.
Mirtle broke down the range of compensation, which is based on a formula calculated annually from the NHL's average salary. Teams signing an RFA to an offer sheet have to surrender the following draft picks if the offer is not matched:
$1,110,249 or below – No Compensation
Over $1,110,249 to $1,682,194 – Third-round pick
Over $1,682,194 to $3,364,391 – Second-round pick
Over $3,364,391 to $5,046,585 – First- and third round-picks
Over $5,046,585 to $6,728,781 – First-, second- and third-round picks
Over $6,728,781 To $8,410,976 – Two first-round picks, second-round pick and third-round pick
Over $8,410,976 – Four first-round picks
Teams must have their original picks in those rounds in order to make an offer in the corresponding salary range. Draft picks acquired from other teams in a trade cannot be substituted for the team's original picks.
While offer sheets are rare, with the last coming in 2010 when San Jose tried to pry defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson from Chicago with a four-year. $14 million offer, there are some RFAs this summer who could make GMs think about employing the tactic. Even if the team matches the offer, it can still be a good way to hamstring a rival's ability to manage their roster. That happened with the Blackhawks, who were forced to trade Cup-winning goalie Antti Niemi — to San Jose, no less — after tying up so much of their limited cap space on Hjalmarsson.
This summer, Nashville defenseman Shea Weber is the biggest RFA potentially on the market, with fellow blueliner Erik Johnson and forwards Evander Kane and Nick Foligno also potentially enticing targets. But the teams most at risk could be Vancouver and Boston, where RFA goalies Cory Schneider and Tuukka Rask could be subject to overtures from other teams in need of help in net.
The Canucks are faced with trying to deal Roberto Luongo and his huge long-term contract to make the transition to Schneider, who will command a decent raise of his own from the $900,000 cap hit he held last year. The Bruins are also looking to pass the torch to Rask now that Tim Thomas has decided to sit out the season, but face the added challenge of bumping Rask's $1.25 million salary up to starter's money with Thomas' $5 million cap hit still on their books.
Rivals could make things very difficult for Vancouver GM Mike Gillis and Boston's Peter Chiarelli, but if history is any indication, there aren't many willing to risk the fallout of such a move. So hold off on checking the classifieds for barn rentals for now.
Photo via Facebook/Tuukka Rask
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