Quoting: JayTea
Guessing that was a Leipold move. Fenton screwed up by not addressing Spurgeon one way or the other before the draft. He couldn't sign a deal, but they could have had a handshake agreement ready for July 1 which would have given Fenton options if it was too much. Instead Fenton was on vacation July 2nd with that unresolved. That couldn't have made Leipold happy.
Fenton did nothing wrong with the handling of Spurgeon's contract.
-There wasn't going to be a handshake deal for less than market value. Edler ($6mx2) was signed before July 1st, then Myers ($6mx5) on July 1st set the floor for for any contract Spurgeon should have taken. Mid July Trouba ($8mx8) set the ceiling.
-Fenton made and offer heard Spurgeon's contract demands and just probably walked away from the table.
-Spurgeon had a career year and had a full season of play left for MN. Signing any 30yo, injury prone player for big money/term after a career year is a mistake. Let some of the season play out some before sitting back down. It was more likely that the player comes down from his career year and his contract will too.
-Roster flexibly for the season and beyond. Spurgeon would be a heck of a trade chip to have right now. There is the expansion draft to consider. There is also the cap to make work.
I'm not bashing Spurgeon here. This would all be his agent, not him doing the contract stuff. Agents get paid a lot of money to do this and they are pretty good at what they do. Fenton might not have been good at his job; he is looking better in hindsight; but I have no issues with how he handled Spurgeon.