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At the beginning of the season I asked for input on what size of extension Seider and Raymond could command. There seemed to be a “leaning” toward longer term higher dollar for Seider with a 4 or 5 year lower deal for Raymond. That was 31 goals ago for Yzerman’s 2nd first round pick as the Red Wings’ GM.
Raymond’s 2nd half especially saw some creative solo performances in terms of intercepting a puck and creating a disruption in the opposing team or even turning into a goal. Every goal past 20 felt like a raise of some kind coming for the young winger. The season went all the way to the final game of the season in terms of being “in the mix” and Raymond was able to shine in big situations.
There is an awkward stretch when you’re not in the playoffs that goes through the first round. As you await the bracket to be reset for round 2 as well as look toward the Draft Lottery, it feels like time stands still. The office is busy, and more than a healthy contingent sat in Grand Rapids on Wednesday, but for the fans this year it went from a race to the end to a sudden stop.
In the days of paper and portfolios, free agent reps were busy printing stats/comparisons/projections and comparables that embodied the strongest showing for their client. GMs were printing, well, the discount version. At this point, stats are readily available in real time and the reps for Seider and Raymond are ready. Until we know what those extensions look like, the “official” timeline for Husso’s recovery, the official salary cap number and draft position a lot of business matters hang in the air. (Hopes of moving a bad deal or two are likely being bandied about as well).
Yesterday’s post touched a little bit on the game 2 loss in Grand Rapids that tied the series with Rockford at 1-1. The Griffins are saying all the right things in terms of accountability and, as Vladdy put it well, Cossa was hung out to dry. Those moments where there isn’t a Dman at the O zone blue line but 3 opposing players take off with the puck were rough to see. It’s all part of the growing process and Grand Rapids will try to regain a series lead tonight in front of a Friday night Van Andel crowd. The place should be crazy for this one.
We have a prospect pipeline with international champs and collegiate champs from this year, the more of those type of experiences the better in terms of growth under pressure. We’ll see how Grand Rapids follows up Wednesday’s loss tonight.
At this point, I’m doing 2 updates including one on Bally. Stop reading here if you aren’t interested.
Quick updates on 2 issues from the other day. First, it looks like Brind’amour and Carolina are back at the negotiating table. Getting RB to the D was a pipe dream, but a nice one.
Finally, Comcast made a move that heretofore I haven’t seen in the revenue battles of different channels.
Courtesy of Vladdy:
got the official email from Comcast they have dropped Bally Sports as they were not able to negotiate the contract terms they felt they needed. So hoping Amazon will still be the "White Knight" that comes in and buys the licensing / broadcasting rights for the Wings next season.
I let Vladdy know that, at this point, the Bally Sports app is likely already the “amazon app” as their deal was struck in January when an undisclosed amount of money was transferred. The app could well change names and change hands. It’s going to be an interesting summer and MLB likely won’t be thrilled with this latest development.
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