Pat Verbeek's thoughts on extending Frank Vatrano
Pat Verbeek's thoughts on extending Frank Vatrano
The Anaheim Ducks announced Sunday they had signed forward Frank Vatrano to a three-year contract extension.
Vatrano's contract is unique to the NHL in terms of its structure. On the surface, it's worth a total of $18 million, but because $9 million is deferred, his cap hit will be $4.57 million for the three years.
Frank Vatrano signs three-year extension with Ducks
He will earn $900k per year for ten years, starting in 2035.
Ducks' general manager Pat Verbeek addressed the media before Sunday's matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Some questions were reworded for clarity
How did this all come to be?
Well, we've kind of been talking a little bit this since the summertime. As the process went along, I think Frankie was looking for a number, and we were looking for a number.
I can't tell you when exactly, what date, but we looked at it and said, 'This could be a perfect scenario for us to present this to Frank and his agent, Peter Fish.'
I'm grateful they were open to this idea of how we set this sort of thing up. As the talks evolved, it became clearer this was going to be the scenario that could satisfy the club and what we were looking for and also satisfy Frankie and what he was looking for.
Even in the process, I think my experience as a former player, with players, they don't realize when you retire, those checks that you've been getting for the last ten years suddenly stop.
This allowed Frankie to be able to have a situation where he's going to provide for his family and take care of them for the next ten years. The more we talked about it, the more the other side understood, and it became a win-win for all of us.
Can you get into more details of the structure of it?
Basically, it ends up being that the salary is $3 million, and it's $3 million deferred. Those deferments don't start for ten years.
What value do you see Vatrano providing over the next three years?
We're excited to have Frankie in the sense that he wants to be here. We value his goalscoring ability, and that's going to be important as we start to become a lot more competitive in the next two years.
Having Frankie with our group and his intensity and his compete is very important to our group.
Where did you get the inspiration for the structure?
I think the inspiration came from (Shohei) Ohtani's deal. We've been looking at this for a little more than a year, and so it was trying to find the right person, the right situation where it could present itself.
With Frankie, it presented itself well.
How receptive was his camp when this was presented?
We were comfortable with it because we had done a lot of background research and a lot of making sure that everything was going to be when we went to the league and talked with the league. We wanted to make sure we had, and I hate to use this term, but all our ducks in a row.
So when it came to talking with Frankie, the big thing was getting his side comfortable with it because it's rare, and it doesn't happen. This is different, being the first one to do it in this scenario with this CBA.
In some sense, it's a little bit scary, and as we talked along, we talked about it for at least a month, getting comfortable with it. I think it's great that Peter Fish and Frankie were open to it, and it's exciting. I think it's not only good for us, but it's good for Frankie.
Frankie looked at wanting to be here and being able to provide something for the team, and this was his way of helping the team.
How much of the structure was due to the potential future contracts for younger players?
This situation might not be right for everybody. It might not be right for younger players. They have to earn some income before they start looking at this sort of situation.
We're going to look at these situations on an individual basis, and if it can help the team from a cap perspective, it's great.
Do you think other teams will follow the example set by this contract?
Sure. I don't see why not.
What was it like when approaching ownership about this?
Henry (Samueli) was very open to it. We presented this in the summertime to him, and he was all for it.
Do you think you can use this kind of deal to entice free agents to Anaheim in the future?
I think having somebody that's already gone through the whole process makes it easier. The first one's always the toughest one to get under your belt, and I know the player, I know Frankie's very happy. I know his agent's very happy.
I think Frankie will get a lot of questions if we present this to free agents and other players on our team.
Who's idea was this?
Jeff (Solomon) kind of brought it to me, and as the manager, I'm always looking for ways to because at some point we're going to be a cap team, we're always looking for ways to maximize cap space. I believe this does.
How much work did you do to ensure the league was alright with the structure?
It's pretty clear in the CBA that you can do it, so it's just a matter of the NHL becoming comfortable with it, too. We've been discussing it, they got comfortable with it, and we proceeded.