History of offer sheets: Who won, who lost when teams have gone after each other's RFAs?

The most intriguing cases in free-agent season are often Group 2s – the restricted ones. The RFAs are younger and more valuable assets than players who reach the UFA stage; the RFAs are not truly “free” (any RFA worth signing costs multiple draft picks); and RFA action is extremely rare: there was none between 1999 and 2006, and there has been none since 2013.

Still, RFA offer-sheet chatter has heated up this season, and it’s not difficult to see why: there’s an exceptional crop of 21- and 22-year-olds coming off entry-level contracts. A handful of competitive cap teams have some of these players, making them vulnerable (Winnipeg, Toronto and Tampa Bay, to name a few). The draft-pick compensation looks like small potatoes compared to the players on the table, and the league’s economic landscape has drastically shifted in the past decade to one where the top young players get paid sooner.

For example, back in 2006. Eric Staal signed a three-year, $13.5-million extension with Carolina ($4.5 million AAV). That took up 10.2 percent of the cap at the time. He was 21, a second overall pick, 6-foot-4 and had just posted a 100-point season plus 28 more in the playoffs en route to the Stanley Cup. At that moment in time, Staal was a better bet than Mitch Marner or Brayden Point are now,and both of them are said to be seeking as much as $11 million in AAV, or 13.9 percent of the cap. Furthermore, the cap increased by an average of nine percent per year until 2012, since then it has increased by just three percent annually. It’s thus no longer a given that a contract will eat a significantly smaller percentage of cap room toward the end of the pact, which was the case for deals signed when Staal was young.

Many of the most interesting free-agent signings in NHL history have been RFA offer sheets. Here are some of the most memorable:

1990:St. Louis signs Scott Stevens to a four-year, $5.1-million offer sheet. Washington chooses to take the compensation. In what is still the largest RFA compensation package in NHL history, the Capitals were awarded five first-round picks for Stevens, who was an eight-year veteran at just 26, two years removed from a Norris Trophy runner-up season and the hardest hitter in the game.

Who won? The Blues, easily. What happened next with Stevens is worthy of its own mention, but he had another 1,000 games (plus 166 more in the playoffs) ahead of him in his Hall of Fame career. Five mid-to-late first-round picks cannot account for the value of an elite cornerstone like Stevens. Then-Caps GM David Poile called his failure to match the offer sheet his biggest mistake.

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1991: St. Louis signs Brendan Shanahan to a three-year, $3-million offer sheet. An arbitrator determines New Jersey’s compensation. Just one year after plucking an elite player from a competitor, Blues GM Ron Caron tried his luck again. This time, however, it was a mess, with the team having no first-round picks left to surrender. The Blues offered Curtis Joseph, 24, and Rod Brind’Amour, 20, but the Devils requested Stevens. The matter went to arbitration, where it was decided the ask of Stevens was fair.

Who won? The Devils. While Shanahan had an illustrious career, Stevens was critical to the system that GM Lou Lamoriello and the Devils built, leading to three Cups. It’s hard to imagine them being more successful in an alternate reality with Shanahan in his place (or Joseph and Brind’Amour). The Blues wanted Stevens back so badly they made another overture in 1994, which the Devils matched. In 1999, after an investigation, it was determined the Blues were guilty of tampering in 1994. The Devils were awarded $1.43 million, a first-round pick and an optional first-rounder swap – which they used in 2003, selecting Zach Parise.

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1991: St. Louis signs Dave Christian to a three-year, $1.76-million offer sheet. Mayhem ensues. Caron made himself somewhat of a pariah among his fellow GMs for supposedly driving up player prices – first with the Stevens offer sheet, then with rich extensions for Brett Hull and Adam Oates. Caron followed that with an offer sheet to Chicago’s Michel Goulet, which the angry Blackhawks matched.

A more interesting move was Caron’s offer sheet to Boston’s Christian. The Bruins claimed Christian was not actually a free agent and accused the Blues of tampering. You’d think it would be obvious whether a player was a free agent, but it wasn’t: Boston had acquired Christian with years beyond 1990-91 on his deal but gave him a new contract (through 1990-91) to supersede the old one and believed they still held his rights as per the old deal. In the meantime, Bruins GM Harry Sinden signed Blues RFAs Glen Featherstone and Dave Thomlinson out of spite. In the end, it was ruled Christian (and two low picks) would be compensation for the two Bruins’ signings.

Who won?Just people who like drama.

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1993: San Jose signs Craig Simpson to a three-year, $3-million offer sheet. The league calls shenanigans. Simpson, 26, declared himself a UFA thanks to Edmonton’s failure to tender him a 15-percent raise on his $690,000 deal, while the Sharks believed they didn’t have to provide compensation to the Oilers thanks to his base salary of $200,000 (most of the money was called a “reporting bonus”).

Oilers GM Glen Sather called it a “bogus offer.” What followed was a six-week battle with Simpson, the Sharks and the NHLPA on one side, and the NHL, the Oilers and the rest of the teams on the other. Rangers GM Neil Smith admonished the Sharks in an open letter, copied to the rest of the league. In response, the Sharks’ director of player personnel Chuck Grillo, said Smith “needs a good kick in the ass” while kindly offering to fulfill that need personally. In the end, it was ruled the Sharks couldn’t have it both ways – they couldn’t claim they were paying Simpson more than the Oilers were willing to yet less than the minimum to trigger compensation. Simpson was once again Oilers’ property and was soon traded to Buffalo.

Who won?Literally no one. A recurring back injury derailed Simpson’s career at 28.

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1998:Carolina signs Sergei Fedorov to a six-year, $38-million, incentive-laden offer sheet. Detroit matches. So why is this one special?Because of the savage way the Hurricanes structured the deal. Carolina, on its way to missing the playoffs by nine points, ended Fedorov’s standoff by including in the offer a $12-million bonus for reaching the conference final – something the Canes would almost certainly not do, but something the defending champion Wings were likely to do. Canes GM Jim Rutherford was certain Detroit would not match and Fedorov would want to move on. As it happened, the Wings did match and made nice with Fedorov. You know how this ended – Detroit won the Cup and, with the signing bonus included, Fedorov earned $28 million for just 43 games, playoffs included.

Who won? Detroit. Credit to Peter Karmanos for having the gumption to try this, but more credit goes to Mike Ilitch for gulping hard and matching.

OTHER NOTEWORTHY OFFER SHEETS