Rejoint: mai 2022
Messages: 9,184
Mentions "j'aime": 3,556
Hertl signed an extension in March of 2022, which means the 2021-22 season, at that point, they were set to miss the playoffs for the 3rd straight season after making the conference finals. He probably liked SJ and the organization probably viewed itself as a good team that was performing very badly. After missing the playoffs for a 4th straight year, the Sharks are obviously changing direction and admitting that they need a rebuild. So, in short, Hertl probably signed there because he liked SJ and he likely had hope that they would get better and that the worst-case scenario is that they would be forced to retool. Signing in SJ also gave him more money and it was easier to get trade protection and more restrictive terms. So, maybe he did figure that they might end up rebuilding, but his trade protection allows him to dictate where he wants to go pretty much for 6/8 years and he can never be sent down to the minors without his permission.
SJ definitely needs to be able to move either Hertl or Couture, sooner rather than later so that they could have some breathing room to weaponize their cap space.
It's a terrible idea for them to rush their prospects and put them into a losing scenario. They know that are going to be bad and they want to be bad. Might as well have their veterans and guys who just need a chance to play on their team play. So, that when they are ready to compete, guys like Eklund don't end up feeling like Eichel did in Buffalo. If they force their way onto the team by actually earning it then so be it.