Carter's agent: Holmgren lied
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- If you have been looking for a reason, aside from sheer disappointment, that Jeff Carter has yet to publicly address his stunning trade to Columbus on Thursday, listen to his agent.
Carter's agent: Holmgren lied
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- If you have been looking for a reason, aside from sheer disappointment, that Jeff Carter has yet to publicly address his stunning trade to Columbus on Thursday, listen to his agent.
Carter’s agent, Philadelphia based Rick Curran, told the Columbus Dispatch on Friday that Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren lied to Carter earlier in the week in a face-to-face meeting.
“He is disappointed,” Curran said on Friday morning in the Minneapolis Hilton lobby. “But that’s no reflection of Columbus. It’s more that he made a commitment to Philadelphia.”
Curran said that commitment started three years ago when his client was presented with an offer sheet when he was a restricted free agent. Carter declined.
“He had the opportunity to go somewhere on an offer sheet,” Curran said. “The Flyers told him that he would be one of their cornerstone players.”
Then, last November, in the final year of his 3-year, $15 million deal, the Flyers approached Carter to sign a long-term deal.
“They said that they would need some help on the AAV [average annual value] of the deal [a longer deal to produce a lower cap number],” Curran said. “He said that he liked it here [in Philadelphia] and liked his teammates. He said that if they wanted him, he would make the commitment.”
Carter, 26, inked an 11-year, $58 million deal on Nov. 13, 2010. He surely could have earned more on the open market. Instead, Carter did what he could to stay in Philly.
Last summer, he purchased a new beach house in Sea Isle City, N.J., fully expecting to be in the area for the duration of his career. That all changed on Thursday, when his life was turned upside down on Friday.
His no-trade clause was set to kick in on July 1, 2012.
The shocking part is that Carter and Holmgren met face-to-face earlier in the week, to discuss the apparent rumors, and Holmgren re-assured Carter he was not being moved.
Carter had long been discussed as an option for the Flyers to move once they acquired Ilya Bryzgalov’s rights on June 7. It was apparent that they would need to move a significant chunk of salary in order to sign the free agent goaltender. Carter’s cap number was the only fit.
“Jeff called me and asked about the rumors two weeks ago,” Curran said. “He figured teams were asking about him anyways. I called Paul and I asked him if this is something we should be concerned about.
“Paul assured me that there was nothing to worry about, that they weren’t interested in trading Jeff. He told me that Jeff could come in and meet with him to tell him the same things. And he did. He assured him that they weren’t trading him.”
Rumored or not, you can imagine Carter’s shock when he heard about the trade on Thursday.
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Carter and his agent have made mega-bucks in Philly. Am I to feel sorry for him now?? Think not.— dogman5- Like him or not Jeff was committed to Philly. You don't sign an 11 year contract and not be. I don't blame him for being upset. I know, I know you guys will all claim you're glad he's gone because he sucked but I sure hope the guys they bring in to replace him suck just as bad.— SFPhillyphan
- He didn't suck, but he was predictable and was soft. Great regular season player, but needs to learn to be GREAT in the playoffs. Now, he may never get the chance. — BigBin
- Well, if the Flyers tell Carter he is on the block, the agent tries to block the deal and weaken the bargaining position. So why would Paul tilt his hand? I've worked for companies that tell you they won't lay people off and then do ...while it hurts him, he does have LIFETIME security.
Maybe if he and Richards were more mature and professional, we never get to this point.
The sad point to this is that both players will probably become BETTER players for this happening - and that would not have happened here.— BigBin - He had a no-trade clause. The 11 year deal didn't kick in until July.— SFPhillyphan
- Blind Flyers idiots..............mark it down, Ed will tell whoever the GM is at the time (16 / 17) to blow the team up in 2 years and you'll keep drinking the bs.........after 38 years...........the song remains the same............— Northcountry
- All i got from that is blah bla blah i have to live in ohio blah blah the flyers have a GM that is wlling to crack some eggs to make an omlette blah blah Good luck partying in Columbus.— templefan617
- LOL. There is far better partying in Columbus and at OSU than there is at that dump called Temple and North Philly. And I attended both. — BuckeyeFlyersFan
- It's not like Homer chopped the guy's legs off. He signed the guy to a huge long-term contract. The situation changed and since he was still able to move him, he found an offer he liked and did so. Jeff's going to make some big bucks playing in the NHL for a long time. He can still summer in Sea Isle, not like he's gonna stay in Columbus all summer. I wish him success but not as much success as the guys we got in return of course.— hillbillybirdsfan
- Ummm...no it's going to Columbus.— Philly Fan in Kuwait
- At times I'm cynical about players lack of loyalty to a team and city with all this free agency auction stuff. But clearly here a team showed no loyalty to Carter and Richards. It is a cut throat business. I'm not on the message board bandwagon that thought Carter and Richards were lollygagging on the ice and off. Thought they played good hockey, Richards especially dogged. The beat down by the bigger Bruins prompted change. So be it.— retzlaff
- Hey Rick Curran, say that to Holmgren's face and not thru the media.
I dare ya punk.— BobbyD - Wah, he bought a beach house. Should have waited til the no trade kicked in. With no beach in Columbus, he can still use the NJ house in summers.— P Even
- He'll be able to enjoy that beach house starting in April....— Echo
- se la vi— seeker58
