Hossa's Agent: Contract Reports "Completely Inaccurate"
Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins
Jun 18, 10:05 PM | Hype this story!
Seth Rorabaugh of the Post-Gazette’s Empty Netters blog this afternoon posted an excerpt from an article to be published in tomorrow’s paper that contradicts early reports regarding a possible Marian Hossa re-signing.
“The newspaper and television reports generated so far are completely inaccurate,” Hossa’s agent Rich Winter said. “None of the information has come from the principals involved in the discussions. Ray Shero and I have not spoken with anyone about a contract, so I have no idea where the information is coming from. There is not even one basic piece of information from those reports that are true.”
Winter is referring to a well-publicized, yet undocumented rumor that suggested Penguins general manager Shero had offered Hossa a seven year contract worth an estimated $50 million.
Comments
Pens1967
Jun 18, 10:15 PM
Obviously, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Still, we are wise to remember Mark Twain’s famous quote:
“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
Dabich
Jun 19, 05:56 AM
WHAT!?!?! lol
Well, let’s see, 11 days till Junly 1 lol
Matt Bodenschatz
Jun 19, 09:03 AM
I’ve talked to several people about this quote and all seemed to have come away with the same notion: Shero and Winter haven’t yet talked. That’s actually false, but I can easily see how that would be perceived, as the quote is very poorly worded.
In actuality, the two sides have had discussions, they just haven’t done any talking to the media, so there is no way the rumored contract offer is real.
The full article can be found here.
Just a quick quote from the piece that verifies what i just said: “Penguins general manager Ray Shero and Marian Hossa’s agent, Ritch Winter, had agreed not to speak with reporters about the negotiations for a new contract.”
In other words, negotiations are ongoing, but they won’t be conducted through the media, so the only legitimate news we hear about an extension will be the first legitimate news we hear about an extension.
Nothing to worry about here at all.
henkegbgskea
Jun 19, 10:15 AM
another topic …..
sorry for that…
If and i say it again IF LA Kings rumors are true….
the only way i see it could happen is
if LA give us:
Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown and the number two draft pick.
Kings get
E Malkin.
Otherwise ?
Just forget it!
my humble opinon …..
=)
Matt Bodenschatz
Jun 19, 10:50 AM
Henke, that deal sounds nice on the surface, but dig deeper and it’s quite dumb for the Penguins.
Kopitar is is a $6 or $7 million player in the near future, and Johnson has the makings to be a stud defender, which means he too won’t be cheap, though Brown is signed at a multi-year affordable deal.
If the Penguins pull off this deal, they’ll be forced to make another similar deal soon after to create room for Kopitar.
The grass isn’t always greener. When a team has a superstar, it better hang onto him because the compensation just won’t be worth the trade.
Andrew R
Jun 19, 03:35 PM
Not always true Matt. Sometimes the grass is greener. Think back to Philly sending Forsberg, et al, to the Nordiques for Eric Lindros. Lindros ended up with 1 MVP season, but the Nordiques/Avs won 2 Cups.
To be fair, none of the Wayne Gretzky trades worked strongly in the favor of those teams trading him, but the point is, these trades can work and the best players of all time do get traded sometimes, even during prime years.
Also, anyone suggesting the Pens would land Hossa at noon on deadline day was called a speculative, daydreaming dolt. But it happened. A Malkin trade is very unlikely, but so was a Hossa to PGH trade. I love Gino, but an LA offer of Kopitar, Johnson, and the 2nd overall is intriguing. Again, there is no reason to believe such a deal is in the works, but its interesting to ponder. Thats why its great being a fan of such a compelling team.
Pens1967
Jun 19, 04:08 PM
Fittipaldo of the P-G was just on 1250. Here’s what he said:
He finds Winter to be contentious, but also willing to chat. He felt Winter wasn’t real comfortable talking to him but the question about the rumors prompted Winter to make the public statement and that he wanted his/Hossa’s side out there.
When asked by Laird/Mack about Hossa’s willingness to sign with Pgh, Fittipaldo felt Hossa had made his feeling clear about wanting to stay, if possible, and has made Winter aware of that and what he wants in a contract as well as playing situation. Fittipaldo, again when asked by the hosts, felt that Winter was not trying to push Hossa into free agency. He thought Winter was bothered by the rumors. He said Winter was adamant there was NO part of the reported deal that was true, neither salary nor length.
More generally, Fittipaldo said while the rumored numbers made some sense from the Pens’ perspective, maybe they didn’t make sense from Hossa’s side either in terms of salary or length. He thinks Hossa might get 8M on the open market.
Fittipaldo said Shero has consistently declined to talk or comment so no one really knows what’s going on or what Shero is thinking. He also said Orpik’s agent hasn’t met with Shero yet.
This is as fair a rendering of what was said from my notes as possible.
Matt Bodenschatz
Jun 19, 04:19 PM
Thanks, Pens!
Pens1967
Jun 19, 05:16 PM
Happy to post the recap, Matt.
Just to add a little, Starkey was also on 1250 a few minutes ago. He claims to know for a fact Hossa has been texting his teammates. He also says he’s known Winter for many years and believes he’s not necessarily being completely forthright.
He did say he thought the most interesting negotiations will be between Hossa and Winter. I don’t know the background of all the politics in the NHLPA, but Starkey said because Winter had be part of a coup that deposed some of the NHLPA leadership,
it wasn’t in his interest to have Hossa sign for below market.
FWIW.
Slipstream
Jun 19, 09:32 PM
Rob Rossi was on WDVE this morning and vigorously defended his reporting on this. He stated that he has personally discussed the Hossa situation with Rich Winter. Jim Krenn asked if maybe Winter could have forgotten that he talked to a reporter. Whereupon Rossi said, well, it would be quite a memory lapse to forget a 35-minute phone conversation and various email exchanges—all within the past seven days. Rossi also said that Winter went so far as to forward part of their email discussion to a high-up Penguins official (and Rossi didn’t sound happy about that, either).
I’m shocked, SHOCKED to think that an agent could be untruthful. All my ideals have been shattered beyond repair.
Hey, either could be lying. But given that Rossi has to show at least some accountability (to editors), I’d wager on his veracity a heckuva lot more than I would the agent’s. The agent’s only accountable to the notion of making as much $$ for Hossa as he can. If he has to lie to do it, well, that won’t bother Rich Winter any.
Matt Bodenschatz
Jun 19, 10:55 PM
Slip, welcome aboard the FF discussion forums…thanks for the recap!
Dabich
Jun 20, 05:47 AM
Wow, just wow.
Pens1967
Jun 20, 06:37 AM
Rossi-gate!!
Well, Judith Miller and the NYT stood by her reporting, too… Personally, I wouldn’t hang my hat on the Trib’s editing standards either given the background of that paper’s ownership. That said, it’s clear Winter has a negotiating game to play too. Maybe he did use Rossi for that purpose. Rossi’s reputation as a reporter has already taken some hits, so it’s in his interest to protect himself even if it means publically calling out his source.
I do think it’s odd there’s been nothing in the P-G. I think Molinari might have been on vacation, but Seth Rorabaugh is updating Empty Netters every day at least once.
Pens1967
Jun 20, 08:44 AM
The Pens Blog has an interesting note up that the team may have an interest in tendering Marcel Hossa, who’s an RFA, an offer sheet.
Matt Bodenschatz
Jun 20, 11:56 AM
Pens1967, The PensBlog was mocking another rumor mongering site out of Pittsburgh with their rumors. They have no insider information and make it a point to not suggest they do. They even have a disclaimer at the bottom saying everything was just made up. This was just one of their jokes — and a good one, I might add.
Pens1967
Jun 20, 04:02 PM
Matt, thanks. Sometimes it’s a little tough to tell with that blog what is serious and what isn’t. :)
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