Anyone else getting nervous about the Andrei Kostitsyn negotiations?
While Bob Gainey has been wooing Mats Sundin, who plays hard to get better than he plays hockey, there's another clock ticking:
AK46 can become a restricted free agent on Tuesday.
As Pat Hickey points out in his column today, Jeff Carter's deal with the Flyers – three years, $15 million – raises the bar for Kostitsyn, who posted similar numbers this past season and was drafted one spot ahead of Carter in 2003.
Carter has completed a three-year contract that paid $942,000 per. Kostitsyn's deal paid $942,000, $802,000 and $612,000.
Yes, AK46 is said to like Montreal.
Yes, he enjoys playing with his kid brother.
Yes, he's undoubtedly grateful the organization took a chance on drafting him and helped with his medical issues.
But No, he's not an idiot – and neither is his agent, Don Meehan. The market is overheated, and come Tuesday, some loony NHL general manager might dangle a Carter-sized offer sheet in front of Kostitsyn, obliging the Canadiens either to match an iflated number or say goodbye and settle for draft choices.
The Canadiens will not give AK46 $5 million based one good season. But if I'm Meehan, I'm not taking a nickel less than $3.5 million and I'm not going for a day longer than two years, with the idea of cashing in huge on the next contract.
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The Toronto Star updates the Sundin soap opera with a report that he was supposed to give the Canadiens an answer yesterday but didn't and is supposed to give the Leafs an answer tomorrow.
Theory is that if Sundin hasn't said Yes to either team by July 1, he'll be saying No to both.
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Two good pieces on free agent frenzy in the Globe today by Eric Duhatschek and Tim Wharnsby.