Reports out of New York (Larry Brooks, New York Post) that Nic Antropov‘s agent, none other than Mark Gandler himself, is looking for a long-term deal for at least 5 million per season.
Glen Sather is quoted “Based on the first volley from Mark Gandler, there is a slim chance ,” the general manager said following the fifth round of the Entry Draft. “There’s a snowball’s chance in hell that’s going to happen. It’s ridiculous. I hate to criticize an agent, but let’s have a little bit of reality here.”
For those not familiar with Mr. Gandler, he was the agent responsible for the ridiculous career choices of Alexei Yashin. After 3 separate holdouts (for more money) on his contract with the Ottawa Senators in 5 years, there was a full year wasted in 1999-2000 after being suspended for not reporting and honouring his contract. This marked the end of Yashin’s time in Ottawa, and on draft day, 2001, Yashin was sent to the New York Islanders for defenceman Zdeno Chára, forward Bill Muckalt and the second overall draft selection, which the Senators used to draft highly-touted centerman Jason Spezza. Islanders’ GM Mike Milbury promptly re-signed Yashin to an enormous 10-year, $87.5 million USD contract.
The final 4 years of the contract would be bought out in 2006-07 after another playoff loss in the first round , with Yashin held pointless in the 5 games. Amazingly, Yashin’s agent, Mark Gandler, claimed that his client was keen on a return to Ottawa once his contract had been bought out by the Islanders. “It’s a new chapter and we’ll be calling Ottawa for sure,” Gandler was quoted in the Ottawa Sun as saying, adding “He’d love to return to Ottawa, in fact.” However, the Senators showed little to no interest in bringing Yashin back into the fold, and Gandler was subsequently “not happy with” contract offers from various NHL teams, resulting in threats of his client returning to Russia to resume his hockey career, where he plays today.
This is the cross-roads Nic Antropov is standing at today. Surely he can see for himself that this request is absurd for 28 goals with 59 points and a -14 player who has spent a large part of his career injured. Playing hardball is a slippery slope and with most GM’s anticipating a reduced salary cap on the horizon, Antropov should look to the past to see his possible future.
