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Canadians Tell Gomez to Stay Home


NJDevils1214

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I feel the same about him. I think he got in WAY over his head with that signing with the Rangers. I really think that his agent said "here, sign this. NY is the best place for you, you'll be a star, this is how the NHL is" and he signed the contract.

I don't hate the guy. I don't really want him back, either. It's a business. He did what was right for him. Now, if Lou offered him the same contract and he told Lou that New York is the best and that he hates the Devils, ok, then I see. I don't think he's a bad guy. Driver left for the Rangers, MacLean went there the second his contract ran out in SJ. Holik went there. It happens. None of them had any success there, anyway.

For perspective's sake, if any of us worked at Bob's Hardware Store for 55,000 a year, and John's Hardware Store offered us 105,000 a year guaranteed for the same job, and you told Bob and he told you "I'm not paying that", 99% of us would enjoy our drive to John's in our new car.

Glen Sather, the least creative GM in the NHL who still thinks signing good players to superstar contracts will lead to superstar performance, basically told him, "The Devils aren't using you right, here you could put up 100 points," and pretty much everyone over there, right down to the fans, bought into it. No one had any concrete plan why that would be the case of course, and when Gomez basically put up, well, Gomez numbers, Sather and the rest of the Ranger faithful were actually surprised.

That being said, his contract was more money than a guy like Gomez ever should've expected to get (and if not for 2005-06, he probably wouldn't have gotten that much), and signing it is the easiest part...the press conferences, the schmoozefests...these guys don't realize what they're in for until they actually have to start earning the money, and are expected to play at a level much higher than what is realistic.

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Was the money as different for Gomez as it was in your Bob's vs John's example? ($55k vs. $105k)

Roughly. In 2005-06 he made 2.2 million here. He got awarded 5 million from the arbitration case for 06-07. The first year of his Ranger contract was $10 million, then it went down as the contract went on... (from Cap Geek):

2007-08 $10,000,000

2008-09 $8,000,000

2009-10 $8,000,000

2010-11 $8,000,000

2011-12 $7,500,000

2012-13 $5,500,000

2013-14 $4,500,000

Edited by Devil Dan 56
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Could be true....

Either way, it was a great non-signing....he went to NYC and let his career plummet begin. He went to Montreal to completely ruin it....

Hopefully Parise becomes the next case of career derailment after leaving the Devils for the bright lights of free agency and Brinks trucks full of money they don't deserve.

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The NHLPA is reviewing that case and already spoke with the NHL head office about it. I kinda hope they are stuck with him somehow

They already have to pay him and have his cap number for the rest of the year, now they should have to waste a roster spot on him too? The Habs have every right to do what they want with their roster...if Lou sent Krys Barch home (the way he did Langdon in 2006), there'd be no issue, but the NHLPA is raising a stink because they want Gomez to have a chance to get his full contract value, even if it's by getting hurt.

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They already have to pay him and have his cap number for the rest of the year, now they should have to waste a roster spot on him too? The Habs have every right to do what they want with their roster...if Lou sent Krys Barch home (the way he did Langdon in 2006), there'd be no issue, but the NHLPA is raising a stink because they want Gomez to have a chance to get his full contract value, even if it's by getting hurt.

This is a ridiculous reading of the situation. If Gomez said 'hey, I want to play', and talked with the NHLPA, the PA should at least look into it. I don't think it has anything to do with money on Gomez's end, either for Gomez or the NHLPA.

Lou sent Langdon and Oliwa home, but I'm not convinced that he didn't do so without their permission, and I'm not sure had they raised a question about 'uh hey I want to play, somewhere', that Lou wouldn't've looked into it - if not in the AHL, on a loan, then maybe in a foreign league.

Edited by Triumph
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....but we do not know what Lou offered, so to use the arbitration figure as the Devils "offer" would be unfair

It's pretty much believed that Jersey didn't bother to offer anything once they saw the numbers that the Rags offered. Gomez signed pretty quickly that off season.

The point is I really don't blame him. I don't like that he went there, but the days of loyalty to a team are long gone about 90% of the time. Marty is one of the few exceptions, and people crap on him anyway.

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Regardless of whether or not he's a "good guy," he hadn't scored a goal in a little more than a year. And if Gomez is your highest paid player, with results like that, doesn't it seem like a no-brainer to buy him out?

Maybe it's because I'm 14 and I started following the Devils at about the same time Gomez left. But if I'm the GM for this team, in a huge hockey market whose fans hate when their team misses the playoffs, then it makes logical sense for me to send him off for this season and work with the rest of the team to play some clutch, playoff hockey. And in a French-Canadian accent!

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I give the Canadiens kudos for being up-front about it. Otherwise they can have him report to camp, practice & just not dress him for games between Feb-Apr. Or they could do the same with him in the AHL. It seem more honorable this way to say up-front we're buying you out in 5 months & then you are a free-agent

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im actually nervous that it could happen... i think its a real possibility that Lou would do it...

on the other hand... if he'd come back and produce i could make more fun of mtl lol

He'd almost definitely be way better than whatever options NJ has for 3rd line LW. Use him as 2nd line C on PP, switch out Josefson. It would make trading a defenseman much easier too.

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Gomez coming back to the Devils or not is impossible for us to tell, IMO. It would take a serious conversation between Lou and Gomez, where Lou is convinced at the end of the conversation that Gomez is a different person emotionally than he was 4 or 5 years ago. That's assuming Lou would even be willing to have that conversation in the first place. Since I can't know if Lou would talk to Gomez, or how that conversation would go, I can't imagine guessing what the Devils might do.

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