According to a number of reports, the Ottawa Senators and forward Anthony Duclair will be going their separate ways. The news suggests that Duclair believed he was worth more than the Senators were willing to pay so the Sens are letting him walk to free agency.
Why this is an interesting story is twofold. First, this suggests the Senators knew Duclair would head to arbitration and after strong seasons he was going to make big money if that happened. Second, Duclair has decided to head to free agency and represent himself.
This is an interesting time for Duclair to decide to go at securing his new contract on his own. Yes, without an agent, he’s not required to pay agency fees, meaning he keeps more of the money he earns at the end of the day. But, with so much uncertainty surrounding the flat salary cap and so many good players heading into the free agent market on Friday, Duclair is hardly on an island when it comes to players teams might want to look at.
If he mismanages his own situation he could cost himself millions of dollars.
Duclair Will Have Offers
Duclair finished last season with 23 goals and 40 points for the Senators. The season before, he scored 19 between his time in Ottawa and Columbus. Clearly, he’s going to garner interest. But, what exactly is he looking for?
Does Duclair want a long-term deal? Is he just trying to find the right fit until he can get himself another agent and then capitalize on a really strong season because he was able to land on a good team with strong centers?
This Could Go Really Well, Or Very Badly
Duclair is not the first player to rep himself. Drew Doughty signed a massive deal in Los Angeles without an agent. Alex Ovechkin did too. But, those are players who clearly knew their value in a league that wasn’t dealing with some much financial crisis.
If Duclair is confident in his value, what’s to say he fully grasps what the market will bare? The list of non-qualified players and free agents continues to grow.
At the end of the day, this probably all really depends on what Duclair wants. If he’s in it for the money, one would think having an agent would best help him navigate the multiple offers. Or, if he simply wants to lay out all the offers he gets on a table in front of him and pick one, what’s so complicated about that?
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