Bratt is a restricted free agent so he has less negotiating power than Gaudreau does, who was unrestricted. I'd imagine if Bratt gets lowballed him and his agent would gladly look at offer sheets.

I feel with Demko's injury its time for Vancouver to fully rethink its position for 2022-2023

As I feel with that they should start maybe thinking about moving guys with value and for 2023 retool around Petterson, Hughes, and Demko

First order of business would be add some really good blue liners via FA or trade

I think people forget that NHL players are closer to you in terms of finance than the owners. Yes, the majority of them are millionaires and the money they make through their career will likely sustain them through the rest of their lives, but the owners are billionaires. One billion dollars is a thousand million dollars; or a whole magnitude above.

Saying "players take less for the team" is a pro-owner sentiment; no NHL player should cut slack for their bosses because it's their labor that actually increases the value and revenue of the team and of the league. You should always support players getting the most money possible for their value instead of criticizing them. They only take less because it provides them extra job security as you said.

Players may take small discounts (like Bergeron and Krejci having low cap hits but a bunch of performance bonuses)

I understand that, but Lebrun is stating that he doesn't think NJ wants to pay Bratt more than Hughes, but they were ready to throw 9 mill at Gaudreau.

STEVE!

STOP! STAMMER TIME!

It continues…

But there is a floor and a cap. So instead of arguing players vs owners, it’s in reality, players vs other players.

for the love of C H R I S T

That's three torn labrums now. When will we catch a break? Just ever?

Bedard's gonna look real good playing between Gaudreau and Laine though

for the love of C H R I S T

That's three torn labrums now. When will we catch a break? Just ever?

Upset about Voracek hes an absolute beauty.

Bedard's gonna look real good playing between Gaudreau and Laine though

Get hard for Bedard

The most beneficial option for the players would be to remove the hard cap which can be accomplished collectively.

I’d be against removing the hard cap for parity reasons, all the original 6 franchises + like Vegas, LA, etc would just be dropping cash left and right while teams like AZ, NYI, Ottawa that are smaller markets would have to start building bargain bin teams since they wouldn’t have the payroll others have

I wonder what he would do after retirement. Analyst? Coach? Front office exec?

Demko out 6 weeks. Management needs to realize that this season is a lost cause.