Carter's agent: Holmgren lied
Daily News Flyers blog
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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GIRL DONT GO AWAY MAD! GIRL JUST GO AWWWWWWWWAAAAAYYYY! YEAH!— NYPHILLYPHAN- One more big disappointment for a Flyers fan here.
They treated "Bob" horribly this past season. And now I have no reason to believe Homer didn't look into a cornerstone player's face and flat out lied.— VicM - Bob was treated poorly? Maybe if he played better he wouldn't have been benched every other night. Play well, get treated well. Play poorly, get treated poorly. It's called sports. — BuckeyeFlyersFan
- It was a foolish move by Homer. It's going to make signing Giroux, JVR, and the 2 big prospects they got out of this trade to long-term deals much more difficult. This was in addition to the fact that as much as the Negadelphians are ragging on them, Carter and Richards were the Flyers' two best forwards. Mark my words: the same people who are whining and complaining today will be singing their praises and wishing they had never left when this team struggles next year. They don't have a veteran defensive forward, which will cause them fits when playing teams like Pittsburgh and Washington. Beating the Pens and Caps is much easier when you have Richards out there, dogging Ovie and Crosby all game. They don't have nearly as much scoring power as they did last year. And as much as Bryzgalov is an upgrade over Boosh/Bob, he's not going to stop enough pucks to make up for that loss of production amongst the forwards. The Flyers might be better in 2-3 years, when these forwards start coming into their own, but by that time, Briere, Prongs, and Kimmo will be toast and Bryzgalov will be exiting his prime. They had all of the pieces in place to make a run at the Cup this year. Instead, they'll be one-and-done, and the same people complaining about Carter and Richards now will be professing how much they miss them come May 2012.— Mike P
- As my grandfather once told me, "you can be an athlete or a playboy, but not both." Guess their advisory council didn't give Richie or Carter the same advice.— oakie
- i like carter and richards too but i have 58 million reasons not to feel bad for either them.— stanley
- Carter needs to SHUT UP! Was there some rule that said his no trade clause couldn't kick in before July 1, 2012? If not, why didn't he and his agent insist on such a clause being in effect from the day Carter signed any new contract? Both were either idiots or both knew that there was a possibility that Carter could have been traded without his consent before July 1, 2012. End of story! So shut up Jeff, and the same for you, Mike!!! Your situation was the same!!! And as for lying recently, maybe Holmgren didn't think any trade was going to happen but then things changed. Get it Jeff? Circumstances change!!! And maybe if you and your buddy played in the playoffs like you do in the regular season, you wouldn't even be in this situation! Face it! You share in all of this! And it is been since Hextal's rookie year that we had a top goalie. It is about time! I don't know if all these moves will work out, but I know one thing: making over 20 years of moves without a top goalie never got us a cup so I applaud the Flyers finally waking up and going after one. The Flyers overachieved when they got to the Finals two seasons ago and should have been bounced by Boston. This team was not an good goaltender away... It was a very, very good goaltender away, and unfortunately, due to salary cap restrictions, major moves needed to be made. A goaltender is more important than a foward whose game goes down hill in the playoffs. So shut up Mike and Jeff.... Neither of you are superstars, and for all we know, a true superstar like Ovechkin might find himself dealt one day for the same reason as you guys did..... As good as you are, goalies, defensemen, and team defense win championships, not forwards all by themselves. Good luck. I get you are disappointed, but maybe both of you need to go look in the mirror to find the true person to blame for all of this!— phillyfan147258
- As usual the fans here don't "get it." The issue here is whether Homer looked Carts in the eye and lied. Nothing else matters. I've always thought Homer was a man of integrity. If (and it's a big if) he did lie then I've lost some respect for him.— Ernie D
- $58M oughta go a long way in Columbus. Somehow, he'll survive.— HorshamGuy
- This should be a lesson to those who always hope that a star player will "give the Philly team a hometown discount" because they like it here. Both RIchards and Carter accepted longterm deals where they will be significantly underpaid based on the market value from at least the 5 year point and on. They both got screwed. Yes, they certainly had part to do with it as the organization was assuredly disappointed with their lifestyles - BUT they took the hometown discount because they both wanted to stay in Philly for their entire careers. Plain and simple. Now Carter will spend the rest of his career in Columbus - joy, oh joy. I can see why he's upset. Richie, on the other hand, at least he's in LA.
But Columbus? Jeez.... that bites.— 1twofour1 - If true, the only danger for Homer and the club is that they could develop a reputation for saying one thing at the contract table and doing another when the time came. I would hope that Homer answered truthfully. Something along the lines of "We have no intention now of trading you, which is why we signed you, but this is a business Jeff and I can't say what could happen" would be an honest answer. "No, we will not trade you" is not. We all work with each other believing the other party is playing it above board. The Flyers clearly have a reputation for being a place players like to go. They wouldn't want to hurt that reputation.
Maybe Homer was honest and Carter/Curran just chose not to see it. I suppose we'll see if JVR and later Giroux learn the lesson. I'm guessing there's no way they re-up without a full NTC. I wouldn't. It's a business.— sklandog - Homer is allowed to change his mind as long as it's before July 1, 2011 and he did. For an agent and player to even ask the question shows they were paranoid and it really is classless. Actually, it's the equivalent of going to your boss and asking if you're a part of the upcoming layoffs. If you were not a part of the layoffs before, you are surely a part of them now. I don't know what's true about Carter and partying and Hartnell's wife, but I do know where there is smoke, there is fire. Carter didn't sound like a very good teammate and if you ask me he didn't commit himself to Philly either, he just said he was going to commit himself. So Carter lied as well, becuase I didn't see much of a commitment except to himself and his best interest. Plus, who buys a beach house in Sea Isle when you have Avalon/Stone Harbor money? Only some turd who wants to be in walking distance to the bars. Columbus is a college town, I'm sure he will be fine.— Voytas
- this was not a spite move. It was business. Management wants to win a cup. Carter was good for 35-40 goals but he will never be considered clutch. Open net vs. Fluery. Point blank vs. Niemi. Low production in the playoffs. Your highest paid sniper cannot disappear in the playoffs and has to bury the puck in critical moments. The team had many, many periods of disappearing. Many chunks of games were spent skating in circles. Richie was beginning to show his lack of leadership. A leader isn't one way or another. He must be all things to everyone. He and Richie were moved because management wasn't convinced that they could win a cup and the NTC were to start next July. Good moves Homer.— keith7470
- Who cares?! Good job, Homer! Good bye, Jeffery! Let's see how good the partying is in Columbus.— erniebanks14
