It has finally happened. The Montreal Canadiens have tendered an offer sheet to Sebastian Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes. The proposed contract is a five-year deal with an average annual value of $8.454MM. Sportsnet reports that Aho has indeed signed it, meaning the Hurricanes now have one week to either match the contract or allow Aho to join the Canadiens and receive draft compensation in return. A deal of this value would result in the Hurricanes receiving a first, second and third-round pick in 2020. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that the deal has the maximum amount of signing bonuses allowable—which would equate to approximately $21MM in the first 12 months—a contract structure the Hurricanes would have to match. If they do, Carolina would also not be able to trade Aho for a full year.
Appearing at a press conference soon after he received word of the offer sheet, Hurricanes GM Don Waddell admitted he was surprised that the offer wasn’t higher for Aho, and joked that it made his summer easier by removing any negotiations. To be clear, this will be Aho’s next contract one way or the other meaning he will carry a cap hit of $8.454MM for the next five years and reach unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2024. That’s obviously not an ideal situation for the Hurricanes, but actually isn’t a salary that is far away from what the two sides likely would have settled on.
In fact, this deal for Aho may well have ramifications around the league regardless of whether the Hurricanes match or not. The 21-year old forward switched to center full-time this season and reached new heights in basically every offensive category. With 30 goals and 83 points in 82 games, Selke and Hart trophy votes, Aho is deserving of a huge raise and was arguably just as valuable as some of the other top restricted free agents on the market. Those players and teams now have a five-year contract comparable, something that may not please some of the young stars.
It’s also important to remember that the first-round pick would be unprotected if the Hurricanes choose not to match the offer sheet.
That’s an A-NO from me dawg
Oof
I thought Aho had to sign the sheet first before the rest of it was even considered?
Did Carolina not even begin to negotiate with Aho? That seems like the most agreeable contract ever should be matched in a heartbeat.
Damn an offer sheet has finally been given wooo I wonder what Carolina will do, gotta think aho is worth man than 1st 2nd and a 3rd imo.
Not quite what Dundon lost on his football venture, but pretty close, LOL!
Lotto, reports were his camp was asking for 9.5 and were being offered 7.5 per year. Habs basically middling to see how much Carolina really wants to spend.
if the Habs strike out they may go for Kyle Connor next. Dont believe any team is willing to offer the most expensive players but the second tier guys may totally be worth it.
Who knows…maybe the Habs know that Dundon is just that broke or just that cheap, but I have to think this gets matched quickly.
I think both Bergevin and Aho’s agent blew it here. $9.5 million or above and I think the Canes let him walk.
The fact that they didn’t match this in 3 seconds shows how freaking cheap Dundon is, he is terrible!
Montreal’s making it interesting. We need more offer sheets like this. put pressure on the other clubs and maybe even get a player or two. no reason to not go after a few guys under that top threshold.
Seems like that just a waste of ink by the Canadiens. Unless Dundon is as incompetent as others seem to think.
They’ve got 7days. Relax
Offer sheet SZN
If Bergevin pulls this off, Habs fans should be ecstatic. A 1st, 2nd and 3rd for an elite 21 year old center? Larceny.
The Canes would be crazy not to match this sheet. Even if they have to keep Aho for the first year he’d still be a bargain to move the next year. This is almost a favour done by the Canadians and doesn’t look like a legit offer sheet, almost like MTL can say at the end of the day we tried♂️
I hope Bergevin is ready to be hated by his peer group. This is the sort of stuff that gets you blacklisted with other GMs.
and just barely under the compensation threshold to avoid giving another first rounder.
by rules if it was over 10 million on contract it would have been 3 first rounders they discussed it on NHL Network earlier.
There is nothing to say that the teams won’t work a trade that would eliminate the compensation
If they match they can’t trade him until after the first year I think.
Just heard some good hockey talk and heard confirmation…all of these people fleeing the Canes organization are because Dundon won’t pay anything close to normal salaries.
He might not have the money to match the offer. And with the AAF bankruptcy hanging over him, he might not be able to get a loan, either (like the Avs did to keep Sakic 20 years ago).
The Habs might get him.
Gerald I believe its 4 if it’s over 10.6 million AAV.
Also one thing to consider is not just the AAV but matching the terms. Montreal has front loaded this contract in the first 2 years so Carolina will need to pay out the same bonus structure as well. That could be the bigger consideration with their owner.
No, if I were him I’d wait the full week to tie up Montreal’s draft picks and cap space. Montreal will be restricted in who they can trade/sign/offer sheet until this is resolved.
Lol it’s explicitly written in the rules as a tool for GM’s to use. That ole boys club can get over themselves
There’s two possibilities here. One is that the other owners know that Dundon is either in over his head finacially or Bergevin is playing games with Habs fans. My guess is it’s the former, but we don’t really know just yet. I do wonder why Bergevin doesn’t just throw big money at Anders Lee instead, but maybe he did and Lee just doesn’t want to go to Montreal.
I do have to laugh at Waddell saying he’s waiting the full week to keep Bergevin from going after other teams free agents. What he’s really hoping for is that Bergevin pulls the offer sheet for Aho and goes after another teams free agent!
The real reason they are waiting to match is because Dundon is in Atlantic City trying to win the money to match at the craps table. You might be asking, “Atlantic City, why not Vegas?” Because he is so cheap and poor that he took a Greyhound bus to Atlantic City because the ticket to Vegas was WAY too much for him.
Geez, the coach and it seems half of the Charlotte Checkers roster have left the Canes affiliate. The optics are not good at the moment for Dundon.
Thanks price is right just seen story on it again on Aho, and my mistake I hit 3 instead of 4 with my fat fingers.
Lee just signed so he is of board.
If this works for Montreal, then this would be the steal of the year.
I have to wonder if, a few years down the road, the league will regret letting Dundon buy the team. Dude made his money in sub-prime auto loans, so he wasn’t exactly on the up-n-up to begin with (IMO, of course). The AAF failure doesn’t look great either. But who knows…
Steal fot mtl, if tom can’t pay
Carolina has no choice, but to match. After years of struggling, they finally have momentum in Raleigh with their run to the conference final. They can’t let their best player go for three draft picks. That would kill their momentum with their fan base. Like Matthew Barnaby said on Sirius/XM today, if the Hurricanes don’t match, they have no business being in the NHL.