Varlamov wants to stay with Capitals [ends up with Avs]
From Life.ru, July 1st, 2011:
You are wanted by the NHL clubs and the KHL League. What are you leaning to by yourself?Source: http://www.lifesports.ru/news/62700
I think ... To be honest, I want to remain in the NHL, because this is the best league in the world. And they have better players. I want to be one of them. But, frankly, I don't want to play just for nothing, I want to be appreciated. May be I would agree to play for less money than I have been offered in the KHL. As long as I won't leave. I dreamed of playing in the NHL since childhood. And I haven't won anything. So, perhaps, going back to Russia is a bit too early.
But now there is information that you've agreed to pursue your career in the KHL. In particular, with St.Petersburg SKA...
Anything can happen. Especially since there are very good offers from several other KHL clubs. In Russia my rights belong to the "Locomotive". But I can't say that at present there is some interest on their part. As for the NHL, I have no right to negotiate with other clubs before July 1.
Is there a desire to remain in "Washington", where you've played for three seasons, or do you want to change the club?
I would like to stay with the Capitals. And I am glad that the club is interested in me. I have accustomed to the team, to the fans and to the city. I like everything and I feel comfortable. I don't want to change anything. And we have a great team that is quite capable of winning the Stanley Cup. I very much want to win this prestigious trophy. I won't discover America if I say that this is a dream for any hockey player who ever played in the best league in the world, the NHL.
Is it real interview or a fake one? One have to remember that Life.ru published that Ovechkin's grandpa died while he was still alive. Also Sovetsky Sport reported that they contacted Varlamov in Hershey, but he refused to comment on the situation.
Let's pretend that this is real interview... Is this a situation then where Varlamov just simply doesn't feel appreciated? Could be... Especially when George McPhee abruptly said, "If he wants to go to the KHL, let him go."
It is quite possible...
Update from Dump'n'Chase:
Washington’s logjam of talented young goaltenders was eased a bit on Friday when the Caps announced that they’ve traded netminder Semyon Varlamov to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a first-round choice in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft and a second-round selection in 2013.
At least Caps got two picks, better than a bag of used pucks.. :-)
@GMillerTSN (Gord Miller)
Hearing that Varlamov has signed with Colorado, a deal very similar to Carey Price's with Mtl (2 yrs, $5.5m).
@Matt9Duchene (Matt Duchene)
Excited about having a young, talented goalie in Denver in Varlamov. Will fit in great
Update from Ted's take blog:
We traded Varlamov to Colorado for two picks - a first round and a second round pick. He intimated to us that he was going to play in the KHL unless we guaranteed him a starter’s job and a big contract which we couldn’t do at this time. While disappointed in his manner during the negotiations and the way the Russian media manipulated the blogosphere over here, we received value back and we wish him well.
Link to the latest post
Posts
14 comments:
Am I the only one who is starting to hate the staff of this team?!
Wherever Varlamov goes I hope he successes and when he starts to stop the capitals pucks I hope those assholes that let him go cry tears of blood!!! Fuckers!!!
I’m crying… X( How could they do that to my third secret Russian lover…. (Sniff)
I want him to stay!!!!!!!! Ah!!!!!!!!!!!
I need a new picture of Ovi or I will die of sadness...
wish all good to Varly. Stay healty and show what you can do, and what they have lost in Washington.
I couldn't agree more with Devi and Anonymous' comments. it will be very hard for me to root for the Caps this season, especially when we never got an explanation of why Varly was never put in for Neuvy when Neuvy was floundering against Tampa Bay. Without that explanation, I can only think that Varly was totally disrespected and left to languish on the bench watching his team get swept.
Tis may be the best thing that could've happened to Varly; I wish him all the best and hope he becomes the superstar that I think he will be.
I thought it was crazy that he wasn't given a chance in the Tampa series. He may have been out with injuries this season, but when he did play, his stats were very good. Neuvy wasn't the reason they lost in the playoffs, but clearly nothing was working in the second round, so I don't understand why they didn't try to change things up and give Varly a shot. I don't blame him at all for being discouraged about that.
Varly burned his bridges with the Caps. He let contract negotiations and his Russian agent get out of control.
The Caps valued him highly, yet he seems to have been listening only to those who spread a bunch of BS.
The Caps couldn't guarantee the #1 spot, but they were perfectly winning to let him fight for it. Seems like Varly folded or thought he sould be entitled to the position.
Bye bye.
That should read "perfectly willing."
If Varly was really demanding that he have the number one starting job or else he would go to Russia (and the Caps wouldn't get anything in return), I don't see how the Caps couldn't let him go. I personally think Varly was the best of the Caps' three young goalies, but all have shown themselves to be more than capable (at times). Varly has suffered more injuries than the other two. To guarantee to him that he would be the number one goalie would be unwarranted. I can understand that he would want to play somewhere where he knew he would be number one, but I do not blame the Caps in the least for not telling him he would be--he hadn't earned it.
And to say that Varly was disrespected in the playoffs...I just don't agree. If anyone was disrespected in the playoffs, it was Jose Theodore in 2010, being pulled after stealing a lot of regular season games for the Caps as they went to win the President's Trophy, playing a pretty good game 1 that went into OT, and then letting up two somewhat soft goals in game 2. Varly was the lucky recipient of two quick goalie hooks two years in a row. Neuvirth earned his 2011 starting playoff job by being healthy and playing well down the stretch, and then he played very well against the Rangers. His play against TB wasn't his absolute best, but it also wasn't the reason the Caps lost. Yes, it would have been defensible to put Varly in after a few losses, but it was also defensible to continue to play Neuvy, as many teams ascribe to the theory that you stick with one starting goalie throughout the playoffs, and Neuvy hadn't played poorly.
@devi...yes right now you are. for GMGM to get not just one pick but two and one of those picks being a first rounder for a goalie who wanted to be guaranteed #1 when he hasn't done anything to earn it, who was threatening to leave DC with nothing if he didn't make more then Neuvy, i am shocked SHOCKED that GMGM got what he did and i applaud him tremendously. honestly people for Varly to even ask for more then Neuvy is absurd. sure he might end up being the better goalie someday, maybe even next season but this is a business and with the limited cap room this tea has you don't overpay a player without merit. could they have offered him the same deal as Neuvy, sure! and i would've been ok with that. we have holtby and neuvy and i am not at all dissapointed or sad to lose Varly, i would've been if he fled for russia and the Caps got nothing. i wish him all the luck in the world but it's Neuvy's time to shine and I will love to watch it!
i want to know what the heck kind of game and team you people have been watching for the past 3 years. what exactly did Varly do during his tenure that makes you think we lost the best thing this team had going for it. did he win us the stanley cup? did he get us to the did he get us to the stanley cup finals? conference finals? did he gets us past round 2? did he break a rookie record for wins? did he lead us to #1 in the east? did he win back-to-back calder championships? did he have 4 shutouts this year? did he play in 48 games this year?....
potential and speculation can only take you so far. when you have 3 young goalies with loads of potential and speculation you have to be realistic with them and say "hey you know what, we know what you are capable of and you could be great but we need you to show it to us, can you do that?" and if the player can't say yes then why waste our time. there is no logical reason and no way Varly should've expected to make more the Neuvy and I am so glad GMGM didn't go that route.
when you've been a Caps fan since 1993, long before Ovechkin and Semin and Green and Backstrom and Varlamov you learn that your team needs to succeed it doesnt need to be burned by players wanting more money, it doesn't need to be burned by players who aren't 100% committed to the team. im tired of losing, i want a cup, and it finally seems that the front office is buckling down and getting serious about achieving that goal.
@Marge,
I agree with most of what you said. However, the arguement can be made that Varly can command more money than Neuvy. Neuvy left money on the table and that doesn't mean Varly should be held to the same bargain contract. Varly also edges Neuvy in talent and potential. Talent usually gets more money. There is also indication that the Caps were offering Varly more than Neuvy and at least something similar to what he signed for with the Avs. So money didn't seem to be the issue.
It seems, as you pointed out, that Varly wanted a guarantee that he would be #1. Well, that isn't good business. Too many factors can come into play as Varly should have learned last season.
He still had the chance to be #1 in WAS, but that wasn't good enough for him. At the moment, the Avs has promised he will be #1, but if he's injured again or outplayed by Giguere he is in the same spot as he was except he'll be in competition with a proven NHL veteran.
If you want something, then you've got to work for it. He seems to have partially lost sight of that.
As for those who have said the Caps treated him badly, I feel the Caps have handled the goalie depth well. From the beginning they told the young netminders that they would be a tandem. What prevented Varly from sharing more starts were injuries. They also used Varly for Caps promotional spots, featured him in the pre-season team bonding video, chose him (along with Ovie) for the ESPN Sportscenter commercial, and selected him for the Winter Classic spotlight. Those are actions of a team invested in their young netminder. Those are the actions of a team who see Varly in their long-term plans.
Varly and his agents (especially the Russian one) created this situation. The Caps were threatened with a loss of one of their top draftees and an important player to the KHL with no compensation. A good deal came along from another NHL team that seems to benefit all parties, good for McPhee. Varly should have known the GM doesn't like agent shenanigans; isn't that right, Belanger?
If Varly was surprised by the outcome, then he should have been more aware of what his agents were doing.
IMO Varly's agent threw gasoline on an already volatile situation between Varly and the Caps. GMGM couldn't let Varly bolt to Russia for nothing, so he did what he had to do in the best interests of the team. It sounds like Varly's agent did not act in his client's best interests. If Varly wanted a different outcome, then my advice is to suck it up, move on--and get another agent ASAP.
I hope Varly stays healthy and has success in Colorado. The Caps, if the Avalanche are as bad next year as they were last year, could get a lottery type pick, maybe a top 5. Nice work by McPhee to get some value for an unhappy goalie.
BobbyG, watching Cool Hand Luke just to hear Strother Martin's Southern drawl as he says "What we've got here is...failure to communicate"
I definitely agree with Steph & Marge about a lot of things. A lot of people who are high on Varly seem to be stuck on his brief playoff performance or letting their fan girl feelings determine whether he stays on the team (business is lost on them so their opinion is voided). While I think Varly is a great athlete whenever he's healthy, he's not worth more than $1.5 mil at the most! He's acting like he poops gold medals and Stanley Cups. When someone says "world class goalie" Varlamov is not a name you think of because he hasn't proven himself. If all he cares about is money then he's going to end up like a lot of other players; without a NHL contract or not on the team he wants. He's demanding a starting job yet he's never even played a full season. No idea what his stats are aside from 20-40 games. All we know for sure is that his body is unreliable. It may be improper training or his body just isn't as strong as he thinks. I say it's not that big of a loss to the Caps. Once Neuvy matures a little more he'll be mentally sound. Once Holtby gets some more experience in NHL he'll be amazing. The defense may be a mess but one thing I'm not worried about at the moment is the goal tending situation.
Good luck Varly. Hope you live up to the hype.
Where was Ovechkin during all this? You'd think as THE Russian Super Star and CAPTAIN of the team, OV would had had some PRODUCTIVE role in all this... and, by PRODUCTIVE, I mean: RESULTS. But, Ov was nowhere to be found, off smoking a hookah pipe and planning to start training in AUGUST. Varly was a diva. He had multiple opportunities to get the #1 job and coughed all of them up. Bottom line, like Ovechkin, when push came to shove... he got shoved. He didn't get it done when it mattered. He expected it to be given to him.
@Jeremy,
Oh yea, you're back. You seem like one of those people who is only happy when he has something to complain about.
It isn't Ovie's responsibility. Pro-athletes, yes even captains and superstars, stay out of other players' contract negotiations.
It's business and it's professional courtesy.
Ovie wasn't unaware, and he expressed his thought that Varly would sign with the Caps, but he rightfully said it wouldn't be right to get involved beyond further in another player's negotiations.
Varly is more at fault in this outcome than Ovie ever will be. It's Varly's Russian agent who ran amok and soured communications.
@J.P.,
Both Varly and Neuvy are worth more than $1.5 million. Just because Neuvy took a chance and signed early for below market value doesn't mean Varly had to. And yes, Varly currently commands more on the market than Neuvy despite his injury history: more NHL years, more raw talent and potential. Neuvy's potential is considered average to good, Varly's is considered good to great.
Post a Comment