Here’s the irresistible offer that no-one could refuse. Yes, it’s more money than Dean Lombardi wants to spend. Yes, it’s more years than Drew Doughty wants to give up. But as you will see, that won’t matter. Ready? Okay, here’s what Lombardi must immediately offer:
$8,000,000 per year for 8 years, for #8.
I’m not kidding. The Kings can afford it probably, and the term would make it worth it. But even if you don’t like this idea, it’s making me think of a general strategy that hadn’t occurred to be before. Meehan and Lombardi are (in theory) in the trenches squabbling over $200,000 give or take and five or six or seven years. Doughty is home, playing NHL12 and complaining that Lombardi won’t give him more than $6.8MM and Lombardi wants his UFA years for peanuts.
Wouldn’t it be clever to lower Doughty’s expectations by dwelling on $6.8MM or $7MM for months and then — tomorrow, say — coming out with a HUGE offer for a HUGE number of years.
You call Meehan and say, “get your client on the phone because I have something to say.” And then say, “$9MM per year, nine years, $81MM total, this offer expires in ten minutes. I’ll hold while you discuss it.“
I picked $8MM/8yrs and $9MM/9yrs because they seem sufficiently insane in terms of what Doughty is expecting. But any huge number will do, the only point being that it has to be big enough to get him to toss his UFA years argument out the window.
Also, if he turns down that kind of money, he will cement forever his reputation as a greedy bastard.