CrashingTheGoalie

by Ron Spence

Tony Gallagher is questioning whether the Lightening tampered with Mattias Ohlund – before free agency kicked at noon on July 1st.

He makes the points: ”How the hell do you agree to a contract structured so bizarrely 15 minutes into free agency without any tampering going on?…[And] How long had Ohlund been thinking about it?”

To answer the second question – probably for nine or ten months.

Everyone knew that Ohlund wouldn’t be re-signed – with the salary cap being what it is, Mattias getting a little long in the teeth, and the Sedins and Roberto having to be re-signed at fairly high prices.

So, what would any prudent person do in this situation? He would look at his other options: who would want him, and how much were they prepared to pay?

And then the agent and player would discuss the options with Ohlund’s family (The Swedes are big on quality of life for their families when they are making decisions like this.).

Next, how would Ohlund know that Tampa was interested in him?

The fact that the Bolts would be forking out $25 million would be reason for them to be making inquiries.

Matt Walker – signed with Tampa Bay on the same day as Mattias – and knew that the Lightning were interested in him.

“Walker mentioned that he heard there was some interest in him from Tampa Bay,” wrote Erik Erlendsson of TBO.com, ”and when the Lightning came calling, it didn’t take long for him to agree to a four-year contract that will pay him $1.7 million per season.

“It was an easy decision for me once they called,’’ Walker said. “It wasn’t something I had to think over and over and I wanted to come to Tampa Bay.”

Tampa Bay would have made more detailed inquires about Ohlund, because of the larger sum of money, and because they wanted Mattias to mentor Victor Hedman.

Some of these inquires would have been made through mutual friends/acquaintances of Mattias Ohlund and Len Barrie.

Also, Mattias could have read about a potential Tampa offer on the internet.

Damian Cristodero of the St. Petersburgh Times wrote before the free agency opened: “On defense, a mentor for 18-year-old draft choice Victor Hedman is a good idea, and fellow Swede Mattias Ohlund might fit the bill. He plays a dependable two-way game and, with 105 penalty minutes, brings some muscle.”

So, both parties would have known about the interest of the other.

“‘I was ecstatic when they first called, [Ohlund stated]‘” Gallagher wrote, “as if there was time for a telephone call to him. Hell, the ink was dry before you could dial enough numbers to make a call from Europe to North America or vice versa. And then the topper: ‘It felt from the beginning that this is the place I wanted to be.’”

Mattias was aware that there would be offers coming in from Tampa Bay, Toronto and probably a few other franchises, but knew where he and his family wanted to go.

(With regards to the phone calls, I live in Thailand and phone B.C. all of the time and it takes 15 seconds. It’s 2009.).

*****

Tony also questioned the speed of the transaction.

In actuality, it was signed at 9:06, according to tbo.com, not at 9:15.

Now, to begin with, everyone knew how much money J. P. Berry and Mattias Ohlund wanted.

Tony himself wrote that Ohlunds “opening salvo of $5 million per for five years” had been presented to the Canucks long before Mattias had become an unrestricted free agent.

And how much did Mattias sign for – with the Bolts? It was a 7-year, $26 million deal.

So, there was never a question of how much Ohlund would be paid.

It was the terms.

I would think that Brian Lawton – a former players’ agent himself – prepared several scenarios for Berry and Ohlund to consider. Plus, who’s to say that the offer that was signed wasn’t a counter offer?

Ohlund was in Barry’s office with the Sedins at the start of NHL free agency.

“Daniel and Henrik were going to go home, but it looked like we were getting the deal for Mattias and they wanted to hang around,” Barry said. “They waited and we did that one and then all three were pretty happy for one another. They went out for a meal.”

Darren Dreger twittered – at 8:14 am – that the Sedins had signed with Vancouver – 46 minutes before free agency started.

So, it was a quick deal.

The fact that Lawton told tbo.com how fast the transaction was consumated would indicate to me – in itself – that there was no tampering.

“It was another day of moving away from the shadows and fog,”  wrote Martin Fennelly of the Tampa Tribune, “and insanity and jungle madness that has been the Tampa Bay Lightning. On Wednesday, about 347 seconds after free agency began, Bolts general manager Brian Lawton proved that some men in skates still really want to come here and skate for Uncle Oren and Len, signing rock-solid defenseman Mattias Ohlund.”

*****

Another possible – legal – scenario?

We see from the Dreger twitter that Sedins had been signed before 8:14.

Maybe J. P. Berry received permission from Mike Gillis – at that time – to entertain an earlier offer for Ohlund – just like the Flames were given the rights to negotiate with Jay Bouwmeester  before free agency kicked  in.

It wouldn’t have cost Gillis anything to grease Berry’s wheels – particularly since he’s also Mats Sundin’s agent.