The former NHL super pest has been a player agent with 4sports Hockey for the past ten years and, according to PuckPedia, he just landed a big one in Senators star Tim Stutzle.
As a 22-year-old in year two of an eight-year contract worth $8.35 million dollars a year, and the highest-paid player on his team, you'd think Ottawa Senators star Tim Stutzle would be pretty happy with his current representation.
Apparently not.
According to PuckPedia, Stutzle has changed agents, shifting from Ben Hankinson at Octagon and going now with Claude Lemieux at 4sports Hockey.
Lemieux, who wasn't the most well-liked player in NHL history, has been with 4sports as an agent for the past decade. The company is co-owned by his former Colorado Avalanche teammate, Peter Forsberg.
Lemieux's client list includes Belleville Senators' goalie Mads Sogaard, but one name on the list truly stands out: Detroit Red Wings star defenceman Moritz Seider. Seider and Stutzle have been close friends for over a decade, teammates at the 2020 World Junior Hockey Championships, and work out together every summer back home in Germany.
It's almost September and Seider, with Lemieux at his side, is still a restricted free agent.
As he did as a player in those wild Colorado-Detroit matchups of the the late 90's, one can just imagine Lemieux grinding away and being a thorn in the side again of Steve Yzerman, now the Red Wings GM.
To dabble in pure speculation, given how close Stutzle and Seider are, it seems likely that they've, at some point, compared notes about their respective representations. Stutzle must have come away impressed by Lemieux and how he's handled his friend's negotiation and general business.
That said, it's hard to imagine Stutzle being particularly displeased with his situation. He's got an eight year deal worth $8.35 million. And he got himself a Porsche this summer, although it's not known if that was a purchase or an endorsement deal.
With seven years left on his current deal, Stutzle hopes to bounce back this season after a noticeable drop in production from the season before. In the final year of his entry level contract, Stutzle had 90 points. In the first year of his big new deal, he posted just 70, but did struggle with the nuisance of nagging injuries.
Perhaps Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup winner, will have some winning advice for Stutzle that goes beyond business. Sens fans hope it will be the good stuff, not how to spear guys and get away with it.
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