The Weekly Dis
It's signing season. A Q&A with Crew GM Issa Tall. Also, the offer-sheet bombshell that exploded on the NHL, and the potential for the Blue Jackets to be caught in the blast wave.
The Columbus Crew finally got the paperwork that green-lighted the official announcement, on Friday afternoon, that forward and leading scorer Diego Rossi had been transferred to Monterrey of Liga MX. The announcement came a day after the Crew acquired attacking midfielder Brais Mendez, who will take Rossi's slot as a Designated Player. Mendez, 29, is coming over from Real Sociedad of Spain's La Liga.
The veritable swap had the feel of 2023, when the Crew stunned their fans by selling Lucas Zelarayan to a team in Saudi Arabia – and, just a few days later, brought in Rossi. That Crew team went on to win the MLS Cup.
"It's months in the making," Crew general manager Issa Tall said. "It's months of work. And the fact that it happened the way it happened – it's almost perfect, in a way."
What will this Crew team manage when the second half of their season gets underway after the World Cup break? Much will depend on how well Mendez – and RW/MF Lautaro Giaccone, 25, who comes to Columbus on a transfer from Argentinos Juniors – assimilate.
Tall says he's not done with acquisitions during this summer transfer window, which officially opens July 13 and closes on Sept. 2. Friday morning, he conducted a conference call with members of the local media. The Q&A below has been edited for clarity and length.
(On the mechanics of the Rossi deal)
Issa Tall: "Rossi's departure, it's something that we had to anticipate ... like any of our players. End of last year, there was a desire from Diego to leave because – and I can understand, it was something ridiculous – there was a life-changing offer that he received. Which, at the time, we would've made much more money (but) we couldn't do it. We worked with him and his agent: If we couldn't find a way for him to stay, we would worth with him to find what's best for him."
Q: Can you speak about the offer he got at the end of last season?
IT: "I'm not going to get into details, but it was ... when I tell you about 'life-changing offer,' you can probably guess where in the world he got that. But it wasn't the right moment. He still had a year and a half left on his contract from this summer. So, we talked about, you know, what if we can extend our relationship? And, if not, if he finds something that he cannot refuse, then we will work with him to get there."
Q: How long has Mendez been on your radar? Is he someone you've been eyeing as a Designated Player? How did you look at making it work because, going into this season, you did have three Designated Player spots filled?
IT: "I hope this is an example of when I tell you guys we work around the clock, 365 days (a year), having succession planning for all positions, he is an example of that. ... (Mendez) has been on our radar for a long time. Starting in January, that's where we did the heavy lifting of scouting, and analytics and all this, and profile. Obviously, we had a long list of players. He was on the top of our list for what we were looking for. And, as things with Diego were progressing, we decided to progress more with him. At the end, it worked out. We are happy to have a player of his caliber joining our club. It says a lot about our club, as well, and how far we've come, to get a player of Brais' caliber, so we're happy with that."
Q: What other moves are you looking to make throuought the summer transfer window, whether it be player type – are you looking for veterans, age, contract types? What other moves should be expected, and how would you describe your goal for the summer transfer window?
IT: "The overall goal is to strengthen our roster, and to freshen it up, in a way. To bring some new blood. Guys like Andre Gomes, for example, when he joined it's something fresh and new that was put to the club. We hope we are able to do this with Brais Mendez, we hope we are able to do this with Lautaro Giaccone, as well. We're happy to bring back Andres Herrera, but we're not done. We're not done. We know the positions that we still are needing to fill up, and we're working on it hard. It has been months in the making for Brais and it is months in the making for other players, and we hope that we can get over the line with some of them."
Q: How important is it to keep making those moves, to keep making it fresh, even though there just was a championship team here in 2023?
IT: "You look at the history of teams around the world, of championship teams, of successful clubs, that's what they do. They're able to keep a core, but at the same time they're also able to anticipate moves from players and refill those positions. Obviously, that's what we're trying to do. Obviously, you wish that you can keep that 2023 team all the way and win a title every year, but that's not the reality. It's not that we're needing to move players out – that's absolutely not the case. But it's something we need to be ready for. And that's it.
"When it comes to Diego leaving, at the end of the day, it's no different from the other guys that have left. I think we have a proud track record of helping and supporting players coming through our clubs to get on with their career and to maximize their talent, and to reach their ambitions. It's something we're proud of. But at the same time, we have to think of the club here, and who can help us to continue to contend for championships."
Q: What about Wessam getting hurt? How much did that speed up you going through your lists? And on top of that: You know he's coming back and you know he'll be healthy – how much does that fit into the equation of 'We need to win now, but we also need to plan ahead for when he returns?'
IT: "That's where I'm saying it's so, so tricky to ... We had a plan going into the summer with some specific players, and then Wes gets injured and it does change things where now you're looking at different profiles, whether it's guys up top or elsewhere. You have to find different players who can complement each other. So, his injury did change things. Now the hope is he does come back for the beginning of next season. So, it's a puzzle you have to juggle with, you know, where you can replace a season-ending injury, a DP, and now, obviously, Diego is leaving. It's a puzzle, but of course we have to keep Wessam in mind, when he returns. We still have the ambition to win now, so it doesn't change a thing in terms of trying to bring players in that will help us win now, and keeping in mind that Wessam will be back. We will be looking forward to it, and hopefully we will be even better."
Q: You've mentioned the other moves. Herrera is one you've been working on for a while. Just take us through how that went, and your other addition of Lautaro, and what you see from his joining the group, because I don't think that's a guy too many people are overly familiar with.
IT: "For Andres, obviously we all know him quite well now. He has been with us for a while. He's someone that obviously is a good player, versatile, and play different positions. You can see him as a right center back, you can see him as a right wingback. He has provided us with assistance on goals, and he brings competition. Something that people maybe don't know enough about him as a person, where he brings joy every day at training. (He is) really, really consistent in the way he trains and performs on a daily basis. But – we had him on loan. And in order to keep him, we needed to find an agreement on transfer. It was a pretty big number. That number, in our salary-cap world, was doable, but it would have handcuffed us from doing other things. Therefore, we negotiated back with his club (River Plate), which were length conversations given that other clubs were interested in Andres. So, that has taken time, but ultimately, we're happy he's back here. He wanted to stay for him and his family, so we're excited to have him back.
"And, for Lautaro, it a longer story where we were following him for potential U-22 (signing), so that was almost three years ago, I want to say. We kept tabs on his career. He can play multiple systems in multiple positions, as a right winger and lately he has been a left back. In our system, he can play on both sides as a wingback, or he can play as one of the two 10s. Very good left foot, dynamic, interesting player. He's on loan. Obviously, the goal with him as a loan player is to stay with us on the long-term. But let's see how he does with us first."
Q: You touched on the other areas (of the field) that need to be addressed. When I talk to fans about (positional needs, the fans say), 'center back.' Where does that fall on your pecking order? And how difficult is it to find a guy who fits what you want him to do as a center back?
IT: "Yes, center back is a position we're looking for. I love our fans because they obviously know the game. But I would also like for them to speak with Laurent, too, where Laurent is very happy with the group of center backs that we have. That being said, can we bring in someone different, someone who can help us in other areas where we're not that strong? Someone that can be here should something happen to one of our center backs? But Laurent does love our group. I do love our group, but we're aware that we (may need to) bring in someone that's different. Look, we're working on it. There's no order of left wing, center back first, and then a striker second, then ... No. We're working on all those positions at the same time and this work has (been going on) since January for this window. Now, we're coming to the end of it."
Q; You have this other open DP spot. Can you use it outside of an attacker? ... Is this open to possibily any position, or are you looking to possibly strengthen across the attack with a spot like that.
IT: "One caveat on what you said is that DP spot is only open for six months, really. It's while while Wessam is inured. So, talking about the gymnastics of finding someone for short-term, knowing that Wessam will come back later, how hard is this? But anyway, we're working on this. And to answer your question, we'd like to bring in an attacking-minded player, especially for DP roles. Based on all the analyses we've made, that's where we should utilize them. Now, for this argument, if there is an elite center back that makes sense for us, then we would. But I doubt it."
Q: Could you elaborate a little on the coaching staff. Going into the break, we were led to believe that Darlington Nagbe probably would not continue full-time as an assistant. ... Where is Coach Courtois and the club is with filling out the bench side for now.
IT: "It's still a work progress, to be honest with you. It's something that is as difficult (as acquiring) players, just because we're in the middle of the season here in the U.S. Unlike players, you tend to look within the (MLS) market for assistant coaches and some of those coaches at clubs are in current roles right now. That being said, we are also opening our doors to foreign coaches. It's something Laurent is working on. We'd love to have Darlington, but, as I told you guys from the get-go, that's not for him for now. That's something we're working on and we hope to have some news soon."
Q: Where do things stand with the ownership and Tim Bezbatchenko and his coming back to the group? When will he be on the ground, and all that stuff?
IT: He'll join sometime this summer. Right now, Tim is working remotely (from England), but he's focused, really, on the NWSL front, which is a beast of its own. It's different than MLS. He's learning it. But at the same time, he's well-involved in what we do and, moreso, wanting to be aware and in the know. Obviously, he has been in the know for everything we were doing with Brais, and for other targets as well. Yeah. He'll join us in the summer.
From the front yard of Chez Beck, overlooking the back yard of Capital University, last night. Happy 4th of July.
An offer sheet explodes in Anaheim
Since 1995, when the collective bargaining agreement between NHL owners and the NHL Players' Association narrowed the criteria for tendering offer sheets to restricted free agents, the mechanism has been used sparingly. There are reasons why – the old boys' club among GMs, the potential for bad blood, the fear of retaliation, and so forth – but with the salary cap rising precipitously, teams have been bracing themselves against the threat of being poached.
First, in case you're fuzzy on the subject: Teams have the right to sign eligible restricted free agents from other teams to an offer sheet. The team getting offer-sheeted has two options: Match the offer, and inherit the contract as written, or don't match the offer. In the latter case, the player moves on to the team that signed him to the offer sheet and his former team is compensated in return. Compensation is determined by the average annual value of the contract in question; for instance, if the contract is worth more than $11 million per, the compensation is four first-round draft picks.
The subject came up during a press conference with Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell on Thursday. He talked about being careful in the early days of the UFA signing season, which began July 1. He went on to explain:
"If you put yourself against the cap (in the first days of July), that could really put you in a position where somebody might look to offer-sheet you," Waddell said. "So, we have plenty of room (under the salary cap ceiling). And we'll continue to get these guys signed. They'll be signed before we start playing, I guarantee you that."
"These guys" are the Jackets' three talented RFAs – top-line center Adam Fantilli, No. 1 goaltender Jet Greaves and middle-six forward Cole Sillinger. According to PuckPedia, the Jackets have more than $21 million of cap space underneath the $104-million ceiling. Waddell has said, in so many words, that he has enough cap room to match any offer sheet that might come his way.
After the offer-sheet bombshell that exploded Friday, Waddell has to hope that he is right, that he has enough space to match any offer made any team that might be thinking of going after Fantilli. No. 1 centers are the rarest of commodities in the NHL and Fantilli has star power.
The Friday bombshell: The Philadelphia Flyers signed the Anaheim Ducks' top-line center Leo Carlsson, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 draft, to an offer sheet worth $18 million a year over five years. It would make Carlsson the highest-paid player in the league by annual average value. Is Carlsson worth $18M per at this stage of his career, under the current economic paradigm? No, he is not – but that's not exactly the point.
The Flyers have a bevvy of highly skilled wingers and a solid defense, but they have a huge hole in the middle of their top line. Carlsson, 21, is a legit No. 1 center right now, and he has enormous upside. The Flyers would gladly give up four first-round draft picks (likely, mid- to late-first-round picks) to lock up Carlsson as he rises into his prime. It would put them in another tier of contention, which is why they structured their offer (with a front-loaded salary with huge bonuses) to make it as difficult as possible for Anaheim to match.
Anaheim GM Pat Verbeek has said he will match any offer sheets. He has seven days to decide whether he'll match this one.
Meanwhile, two other 21-year-old, top-line centers coming off their entry-level contracts – Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, and Fantilli, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 draft – must be following the Carlsson situation closely. Their agents would be negligent if they weren't calling around, seeing what might be out there, offer-sheet-wise.
Waddell says he's ready to match. Jackets fans must hope that is the case. Better, the hope would be that Fantill has an offer from Waddell in his hands right now, and it's fat enough for him to sign.
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Michael Arace
