Are the RHL agents a**holes? 2025-07-01 Are the RHL agents a**holes? RHL Agents Audit - 2024 Data sources : RHL 2024 Player agent sheet, Capwages signings - July 1st 2024 to June 30th 2025 Every year come the end of June, the RHL Agents go through the gigantic task of negotiating close to 300 RFA and UFA re-signs with the RHL GMs In 2024, 280 players inked new contracts in this process. Of these 280, 114 have also signed a new contract in the NHL since then. That gives us 114 case studies to evaluate the work of our RHL Agents which have the unpopular task of trying to land a contract as close as possible as what players would get on the open market in the NHL Lets deep into how they’re doing. SAME TERM Those are the easiest to compare, the players signed in the RHL for the exact same number of years as they signed in the NHL. Out of 46 comparables, our agents missed by more than 250k AAV on only 8 occasions. Call that eye of the tiger. Kevin Stenlund got a sizeable bargain in the RHL while Martin Necas and Nils Hoglander got a small break. On the other end, Ilya Samsonov and Charlie Lindgren, two average goalies, much prefer their RHL paycheque. Thomas Harley, Parker Kelly and Erik Brannstrom complete the list of players for which there has been some statistically significant discrepancies. Getting bullseye on so many major deals is truly a remarkable feat by the agents. Sam Steel, Peyton Krebs and Steven Stamkos are among the most successful deals inked by the agents this year. RHL TEAM PLAYER NHL TERM NHL AAV DATE RHL TERM RHL AAV YEARS DIFF AAV DIFF PIT Kevin Stenlund 2 $2,000,000 Jul. 1, 2024 2 $1,000,000 0 -$1,000,000 COL Martin Necas 2 $6,500,000 Jul. 29, 2024 2 $5,800,000 0 -$700,000 LAK Nils Hoglander 3 $3,000,000 Oct. 6, 2024 3 $2,500,000 0 -$500,000 MIN Jack Drury 2 $1,725,000 Jul. 17, 2024 2 $1,500,000 0 -$225,000 CBJ Tyler Tucker 2 $925,000 Feb. 28, 2025 2 $800,000 0 -$125,000 COL Marc McLaughlin 1 $775,000 Jul. 16, 2024 1 $775,000 0 $0 CBJ Tyce Thompson 1 $775,000 Jul. 10, 2024 1 $775,000 0 $0 DAL Dylan Ferguson 1 $775,000 Jan. 7, 2025 1 $775,000 0 $0 MIN Alec Regula 2 $775,000 May. 2, 2025 2 $775,000 0 $0 NJD Sam Steel 2 $2,100,000 Feb. 14, 2025 2 $2,100,000 0 $0 NYR Declan Chisholm 1 $1,000,000 Jul. 6, 2024 1 $1,000,000 0 $0 SEA Keaton Middleton 2 $775,000 Jan. 2, 2025 2 $775,000 0 $0 VGK Nathan Smith 1 $775,000 Jul. 1, 2024 1 $775,000 0 $0 FLA Jansen Harkins 2 $787,500 Jul. 2, 2024 2 $800,000 0 $12,500 EDM Ilya Solovyov 2 $775,000 Sep. 18, 2024 2 $800,000 0 $25,000 FLA Cameron Hughes 2 $775,000 Jun. 20, 2025 2 $800,000 0 $25,000 MIN Glenn Gawdin 2 $775,000 Jul. 1, 2024 2 $800,000 0 $25,000 MIN Mike Hardman 2 $775,000 Jul. 1, 2024 2 $800,000 0 $25,000 TOR Jaxson Stauber 2 $775,000 Apr. 29, 2025 2 $800,000 0 $25,000 WPG Callahan Burke 1 $775,000 Jul. 4, 2024 1 $800,000 0 $25,000 WPG Josiah Slavin 2 $775,000 Jul. 7, 2024 2 $800,000 0 $25,000 DET Peyton Krebs 2 $1,450,000 Sep. 17, 2024 2 $1,500,000 0 $50,000 DET Andre Lee 2 $775,000 Mar. 10, 2025 2 $850,000 0 $75,000 LAK Jack Rathbone 1 $775,000 Jul. 1, 2024 1 $850,000 0 $75,000 SEA Devin Cooley 2 $775,000 Jul. 1, 2024 2 $850,000 0 $75,000 NYR Jacob Bryson 1 $900,000 Mar. 20, 2025 1 $1,000,000 0 $100,000 SEA Guillaume Brisebois 1 $775,000 Jun. 30, 2025 1 $875,000 0 $100,000 NSH Nolan Foote 1 $825,000 Aug. 9, 2024 1 $950,000 0 $125,000 NSH Pavel Dorofeyev 2 $1,835,000 Jul. 1, 2024 2 $2,000,000 0 $165,000 ANA Adam Beckman 1 $775,000 Jul. 15, 2024 1 $950,000 0 $175,000 CAR Tanner Laczynski 2 $775,000 Jul. 6, 2024 2 $950,000 0 $175,000 COL Philip Tomasino 1 $825,000 Sep. 18, 2024 1 $1,000,000 0 $175,000 NSH Jan Jenik 1 $775,000 Jul. 5, 2024 1 $950,000 0 $175,000 NSH Raphael Lavoie 1 $775,000 Jul. 8, 2024 1 $950,000 0 $175,000 NYI Riley Tufte 1 $775,000 Jul. 1, 2024 1 $950,000 0 $175,000 NYR Garrett Pilon 2 $775,000 Jul. 1, 2024 2 $975,000 0 $200,000 CHI Nikita Alexandrov 1 $775,000 Sep. 30, 2024 1 $1,000,000 0 $225,000 NJD Mads Sogaard 2 $775,000 Jul. 15, 2024 2 $1,000,000 0 $225,000 OTT Ben Meyers 1 $775,000 Jun. 3, 2025 1 $1,000,000 0 $225,000 TOR Steven Stamkos 4 $8,000,000 Jul. 1, 2024 4 $8,250,000 0 $250,000 UTA Max Jones 2 $1,000,000 Jul. 1, 2024 2 $1,250,000 0 $250,000 TBL Erik Brannstrom 1 $900,000 Jul. 1, 2024 1 $1,250,000 0 $350,000 WSH Parker Kelly 2 $825,000 Jul. 1, 2024 2 $1,250,000 0 $425,000 VAN Thomas Harley 2 $4,000,000 Sep. 17, 2024 2 $4,500,000 0 $500,000 TBL Charlie Lindgren 3 $3,000,000 Mar. 3, 2025 3 $3,700,000 0 $700,000 DET Ilya Samsonov 1 $1,800,000 Jul. 1, 2024 1 $3,000,000 0 $1,200,000 SIGNED TO SHORTER DEALS IN RHL As you’d expect, all players inking shorter deals than their NHL counterparts got a pretty sizeable discount on the AAV. Only exception are Yanni Gourde and John Tavares who everyone will agree left a ton of money on the table signing with their alma matter. Looking closer at the bargained contracts, seems like Kevin Bahl, Lucas Raymond, Joey Daccord, Yakov Trenin and more ended up with what we could define as clear GM-friendly deals. STATUS RHL TEAM PLAYER NHL TERM NHL AAV DATE RHL TERM RHL AAV YEARS DIFF AAV DIFF RFA MIN Alexander Romanov 8 $6,250,000 Jun. 30, 2025 2 $2,750,000 -6 -$3,500,000 RFA CGY Kevin Bahl 6 $5,350,000 Jun. 29, 2025 3 $2,200,000 -3 -$3,150,000 RFA TBL Johnathan Kovacevic 5 $4,000,000 Mar. 7, 2025 1 $1,200,000 -4 -$2,800,000 RFA NSH Alexis Lafrenière 7 $7,450,000 Oct. 25, 2024 2 $4,800,000 -5 -$2,650,000 RFA NSH Joseph Woll 3 $3,666,667 Jul. 1, 2024 1 $1,500,000 -2 -$2,166,667 RFA TOR Noah Cates 4 $4,000,000 Jun. 3, 2025 2 $2,000,000 -2 -$2,000,000 RFA SEA Will Borgen 5 $4,100,000 Jan. 27, 2025 2 $2,750,000 -3 -$1,350,000 RFA COL Lucas Raymond 8 $8,075,000 Sep. 16, 2024 5 $6,750,000 -3 -$1,325,000 RFA ANA Joey Daccord 5 $5,000,000 Oct. 9, 2024 3 $3,750,000 -2 -$1,250,000 RFA COL Yakov Trenin 4 $3,500,000 Jul. 1, 2024 3 $2,300,000 -1 -$1,200,000 RFA UTA Keegan Kolesar 3 $2,500,000 Dec. 13, 2024 2 $1,500,000 -1 -$1,000,000 UFA CGY Chandler Stephenson 7 $6,250,000 Jul. 1, 2024 4 $5,500,000 -3 -$750,000 RFA NYI Mark Kastelic 3 $1,566,667 Jan. 3, 2025 2 $1,000,000 -1 -$566,667 UFA BUF Elias Lindholm 7 $7,750,000 Jul. 1, 2024 6 $7,200,000 -1 -$550,000 RFA SJS Jake DeBrusk 7 $5,500,000 Jul. 1, 2024 4 $5,000,000 -3 -$500,000 RFA FLA Ty Emberson 2 $1,300,000 Apr. 19, 2025 1 $1,000,000 -1 -$300,000 UFA OTT Jake McCabe 5 $4,491,898 Oct. 28, 2024 4 $4,400,000 -1 -$91,898 UFA CBJ Frank Vatrano 3 $4,571,189 Jan. 6, 2025 2 $4,500,000 -1 -$71,189 RFA CBJ James Hamblin 2 $775,000 Jul. 1, 2024 1 $775,000 -1 $0 RFA DAL Logan O'Connor 6 $2,500,000 Sep. 23, 2024 3 $2,500,000 -3 $0 RFA SEA Curtis Douglas 2 $775,000 Jul. 7, 2024 1 $775,000 -1 $0 RFA NYI Cale Fleury 2 $890,000 Jun. 20, 2025 1 $900,000 -1 $10,000 RFA OTT Marshall Rifai 2 $775,000 Sep. 5, 2024 1 $800,000 -1 $25,000 RFA NSH Egor Zamula 2 $1,700,000 Jul. 7, 2024 1 $1,750,000 -1 $50,000 RFA WSH Justin Barron 2 $1,150,000 Jul. 30, 2024 1 $1,250,000 -1 $100,000 RFA TBL Joey Anderson 2 $800,000 Jul. 1, 2024 1 $950,000 -1 $150,000 RFA CHI Filip Hallander 2 $775,000 Apr. 28, 2025 1 $950,000 -1 $175,000 UFA PIT Yanni Gourde 6 $2,333,333 Jun. 2, 2025 2 $4,000,000 -4 $1,666,667 UFA MTL John Tavares 4 $4,380,000 Jun. 27, 2025 3 $7,000,000 -1 $2,620,000 SIGNED TO LONGER DEALS IN RHL “If you want to lock them up, you better pay” up sums up both the mentality and the analysis of players that got inked for longer in the RHL than their NHL counterpart. Interestingly, only one real long-term deal got even longer for it’s RHL counterpart, and it was all to the advantage of the GM as the LA Kings can now enjoy 8 years of Moritz Seider at a discounted rate. The players that cashed on a longer RHL contract are also for the most part players that decided to bet on themselves with one-year prove-it deals. A notable example of that is Jonathan Drouin who successfully turned his career around by accepting to join his junior buddy Nathan Mackinnon in Colorado. He signed for 1 x 2.5M then, but just watch him go the bank in the upcoming hours… RHL TEAM PLAYER NHL TERM NHL AAV DATE RHL TERM RHL AAV YEARS DIFF AAV DIFF LAK Moritz Seider 7 $8,550,000 Sep. 19, 2024 8 $8,000,000 1 -$550,000 BUF J.J. Moser 2 $3,375,000 Jul. 11, 2024 3 $2,900,000 1 -$475,000 CGY Joel Hofer 2 $3,400,000 Jun. 28, 2025 3 $3,000,000 1 -$400,000 COL Eetu Makiniemi 1 $775,000 Sep. 25, 2024 2 $800,000 1 $25,000 DAL Mason Shaw 1 $775,000 Jul. 3, 2024 2 $800,000 1 $25,000 FLA Dennis Cholowski 1 $775,000 Jul. 25, 2024 3 $800,000 2 $25,000 SEA Felix Sandstrom 1 $775,000 Jul. 1, 2024 2 $800,000 1 $25,000 TBL Sammy Walker 1 $775,000 Jul. 11, 2024 2 $800,000 1 $25,000 TOR Filip Roos 1 $775,000 Jul. 1, 2024 2 $800,000 1 $25,000 COL Jonathan Quick 1 $1,550,000 Mar. 12, 2025 2 $1,600,000 1 $50,000 WSH Tyler Madden 1 $775,000 Jul. 1, 2024 2 $825,000 1 $50,000 ANA Michael Callahan 1 $775,000 Jul. 12, 2024 2 $850,000 1 $75,000 COL Jeremy Davies 1 $775,000 Jul. 1, 2024 4 $850,000 3 $75,000 VAN Kole Lind 1 $775,000 Jun. 23, 2025 2 $850,000 1 $75,000 TBL Philippe Myers 2 $850,000 Jan. 3, 2025 3 $950,000 1 $100,000 VGK Liam Foudy 1 $775,000 Jul. 10, 2024 2 $875,000 1 $100,000 WPG Cole Schwindt 1 $800,000 Sep. 18, 2024 2 $900,000 1 $100,000 UTA Christian Fischer 1 $1,125,000 Jul. 1, 2024 2 $1,250,000 1 $125,000 ANA Graeme Clarke 1 $800,000 Jul. 23, 2024 2 $950,000 1 $150,000 OTT Milos Kelemen 1 $775,000 Jul. 3, 2024 2 $925,000 1 $150,000 NJD David Gustafsson 2 $835,000 Jul. 6, 2024 3 $1,000,000 1 $165,000 CGY Egor Sokolov 1 $775,000 Jul. 9, 2024 2 $950,000 1 $175,000 LAK Jonatan Berggren 1 $825,000 Sep. 16, 2024 2 $1,000,000 1 $175,000 UTA Kevin Mandolese 1 $775,000 Jul. 16, 2024 3 $975,000 2 $200,000 UTA Lassi Thomson 1 $775,000 Jun. 16, 2025 2 $975,000 1 $200,000 FLA Anthony Richard 2 $775,000 Jul. 2, 2024 3 $1,000,000 1 $225,000 NYI Mitchell Stephens 2 $775,000 Jul. 1, 2024 4 $1,000,000 2 $225,000 BOS Kieffer Bellows 1 $775,000 Jul. 3, 2024 3 $1,100,000 2 $325,000 NYR Travis Dermott 1 $775,000 Oct. 8, 2024 2 $1,150,000 1 $375,000 ANA Connor McMichael 2 $2,100,000 Jul. 1, 2024 3 $2,500,000 1 $400,000 SEA Caleb Jones 1 $775,000 Jul. 5, 2024 3 $1,200,000 2 $425,000 WSH Alexey Toropchenko 1 $1,700,000 Oct. 29, 2024 2 $2,150,000 1 $450,000 CAR Victor Soderstrom 1 $775,000 Jun. 14, 2025 3 $1,250,000 2 $475,000 LAK Nicholas Robertson 1 $875,000 Sep. 10, 2024 2 $1,500,000 1 $625,000 WSH Blake Lizotte 2 $1,850,000 Jul. 1, 2024 4 $2,750,000 2 $900,000 BUF Nils Lundkvist 1 $1,250,000 Jun. 20, 2025 3 $2,300,000 2 $1,050,000 BUF Arthur Kaliyev 1 $825,000 Sep. 17, 2024 3 $2,000,000 2 $1,175,000 CHI Jonathan Drouin 1 $2,500,000 Jul. 1, 2024 2 $4,000,000 1 $1,500,000 BUF Kaapo Kahkonen 1 $1,000,000 Jul. 1, 2024 3 $4,300,000 2 $3,300,000 THE BOTTOM LINE The RHL Agents are doing a great job at NHL agenting, they're not too warsh, nor too gentle. We could perhaps even argue the contracts they hand out iron out the weird anomalies of hometown discounts, tax heavens and 37 year old players signing for 6 years. Wanna crunch some numbers and find out more, like which teams are getting consistently screwed by the agents ? Here’s the leaked database for your analysis : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1W5Rh3Gfbf1wFInrEo0lw_Nly3-s5mxA7RFWwH5LE6bs/edit?usp=sharing
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