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There was a write up yesterday that caught my attention on potential hurdles for current RFA negotiations. I wrongly stated in yesterday’s comments that I thought 35 players had signing bonuses. According to the article:

There are 38 players in the league with signing bonuses totaling $3MM or more for the 2026-27 season and another 22 players with $1MM or more. Rudimentary math works it out to around 8% of players carrying signing bonuses in their deals assuming that all 32 teams keep a 23-man roster for the 2026-27 season.

I will admit I was surprised Larkin didn’t receive any bonus $ but at the same time other teams have pulled back on those reigns. 60 players in the league have a paycheck coming even if there is a lockout (which could easily change after next summer). One other trend has me slightly concerned that there is some apprehension about the upcoming negotiations (2025-26). That is, teams selling.

Utah was an ownership issue, to be sure. Once the books were opened there was around 2billion in debt. Ottawa had about 500m in debt. However, Tampa Bay should be in good shape but are being sold. Pittsburgh is a team that would seem to be a good buy but were sold. There are “rumors” of at least a couple of teams but aren’t verifiable. In other leagues we saw Mark Cuban sell the Mavericks for 1.5b less than he could have gotten a year earlier, and it was rumored that the Celtics were up for sale. Cuban stated that changes in the sports landscape were “concerning”.

The NHL had a good year financially and were able to refund escrow and was poised to do a possible “top off”. The landscape is still changing, and viewership numbers are being calculated in ways that aren’t always verifiable (i.e. - out of home viewing metric that was added). Diamond Sports dissolved Bally’s and will be directly broadcasting but still have teams leaving. The MLB finished their broadcasting hub and are working to get fans away from RSNs. Things are rapidly changing and even in Motown we’re seeing a shift with no prospect’s tournament this year. At least one attendee had spoken to an out of town team rep at a past tournament who said the cost just didn’t make sense for the club to fly in, get hotel rooms, provide meals etc and then fly back for their own camp.

So, what say you? Is “cash on the barrel” a possible holdup in Detroit’s negotiations? Is there any concern of a standoff in the next round of negotiations? We know some of the issues, but the owners will likely release some numbers not generally known to the public. At minimum, it would be nice just to see Detroit’s RFAs signed and ready to roll for camp.

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