Friedman on Hamilton Offer Sheet, Revenge Factor

Elliotte Friedman was on Edmonton’s 630 CHED on Friday afternoon.

On any worries about the Oilers possibly signing Dougie Hamilton to an RFA offer sheet, with potential revenge ramifications against Oilers RFAs down the line:

“I think you kind of look at it this way – If you want to do it, you do it and then you figure it out later on. Don’t forget, Nurse and Draisaitl – those guys aren’t going to be in that situation for three years. You have time to do things if you want to do things. There’s no question about that.

“The way I kind of look at it is you have to take care of your own business first and you can sort out problems later if you want to sort them out later.

“This is the way I kind of see it though. You’ve got to expect a team like Boston will try to get revenge. I mean, you remember a few years ago when the Canucks put an offer sheet out on David Backes and what did the Blues do right back – they put an offer sheet out right at Steve Bernier to make sure that the Canucks were put in a tough position about it.

“And also, if you’re putting out an offer sheet on Dougie Hamilton, you’re putting out an offer sheet on the Chairman of the NHL’s Board of Directors – the only man who probably makes Gary Bettman a little bit nervous.

“It was funny. I was talking to somebody last week and they said, ‘I want to see the guy who puts out the offer sheet on Dougie Hamilton.’ Maybe it’s Edmonton – for Jeremy Jacobs – Maybe it’s Edmonton. I don’t know.

Friedman then tells this story: Canucks Considered Offer Sheet on Jamie Benn

On how much do he thinks an offer sheet on Hamilton would have to be:

“I think what you’d have to do is you’d have to probably do it in a similar manner to the way that Vancouver tried it in that case. I don’t necessarily think you have to do a four-year deal worth $28 million, but I think you might have to do a one-year deal that’s at $7 million that you know can turn into that kind of a four-year deal. You’re probably looking at about $7 million a year.

“But the thing is, it doesn’t only screw up their situation – it does screw up your own situation. So you have to be very wary of that.”

On how the Oilers may be less concerned about the picks surrendered on an offer sheet, but more about the money itself:

“The other thing is too, and Colorado did this this year and sometimes it takes a few years to figure out if it was the right move or not. But one of the reasons Colorado let Paul Stastny walk is that they knew that at some point in time they were going to have to pay Nathan MacKinnon. And they just said, ‘We have to be very careful. We’re in a position when we have to pay Nathan MacKinnon that we can cover it.’

“And I do think, like I said, Nurse is three years away. Draisaitl is three years away. McDavid is going to be three years away. But McDavid is a guy that you do have to take care of. You do have to look at the situation and say, ‘When the time comes, we’ve got to be able to handle that contract.’

“If you’re paying $7 million a year for Dougie Hamilton – and is he really a $7 million a year player? That will affect your ability to do other business.”

Source: 630 CHED/ Transcript: Nichols