Cale Makar is undoubtedly one of the five best players in the NHL and easily the best all around defenseman. So why then was Makar traded to the Norsemen last month? Some other GMs have openly suggested that Capeside is a organization with no direction, but even a madman has his reasons.
At only 25 years old Makar is a superstar in the NHL, but in the CCHL he is an above average defenseman. At the time of the trade Makar was not even the highest rated dman on the Loons, Noah Hanifin owned that distinction with a 79. That is hardly a reason to trade someone when Makar would easily surpass Hanifin within a year or two in the CCHL. Even though Makar does not get the respect he deserves by Simon, Capeside traded Makar for two reasons: his salary and his nationality.
The trend within hockey is skyrocketing salaries amongst defensemen. If you are even a slightly above average dman you are being offered north of $9m per, ie Darnell Nurse. Makar at $9m is a bargain, however the Loons would have been paying Makar $9m, Werenski $9.5m and McAvoy $9.5m starting next season. Financially speaking the Loons are improving but are still in the bottom third of the CCHL. Capeside is only staying afloat by having a number of rising stars on their rookie deals. The Loons made the tough decision that one of these three have to go. Werenski - there would be no market after coming off of two injury plagued NHL seasons. If a team wanted to take on Werenski for his potential, his salary would be used against him and the return would be laughable. McAvoy - definitely would be a market but is also incredibly undervalued by Simon and the lowball offers would not be worth moving a player that is loved by our organization. So that leaves Makar. We know our reputation amongst other owners and that we likely would not get what Makar is worth but at worst he would bring back valuable assets. Our top priority in a deal would be a young, affordable defenseman with a lot of upside.
It is no secret that the Loons prioritize American born players and have a long term goal of an all American organization. For the record we are not some radical, pro American nationalist. In a few years I hope to be living elsewhere but it is more appealing to me to have players that I have watched grow up and develop. So that narrows down our search to a young, American defenseman with a lot of upside. A few CCHL teams had that but only the Norsemen had other pieces we wanted to go along with Faber. We reached out to Halifax and negotiated over a couple of days, when negotiations stalled Denver made an amazing offer but was draft pick based and their picks were going to suffer because Makar would make them even better then they already are.
The final deal was Makar and Hagen Burrows for Brock Faber, Cole Eiserman, EJ Emery and a possible top 10 pick.
Faber likely will never be the player that Makar is but we think it will be close. Eiserman could be Wahlstrom 2.0 but maybe his game evolves and he becomes an offensive force. Emery and a potential top ten pick are great assets that could turn into a player like say Cam York or Jimmy Snuggerud?
You may not agree with our reasons but deals like this is why I love the CCHL and have fun being a part of it, so maybe I am a madman lol
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