The timing of it all was clearer. GMGM said he had a deal in place with a three year term a week before free agency. But nothing was signed by that Monday. They were baffled. So they called the NA agent who was also surprised and annoyed, and he said he would find out what’s going on. Turns out, as you noted, that Varly’s dad had accepted money from the club to persuade Varly to return to the KHL. There must have been some kind of back and forth late that week because at the convention GMGM said that he was not told definitively that Varly was signing with the KHL until the morning of July first. He fleshed out in greater detail why he was worried about losing Varly to a waiver claim as well as an offer sheet plus waivers if he tried to come back early.

Also the phone calls between the Caps and Vokoun’s agent was clarified. Vokoun’s agent made the first call to the Caps but was told they only had about a million, not enough. But later when GMGM made his round of phone calls to find out who was signed, that’s when realized that Vokoun was still left standing—his musical chairs reference. And that’s when they called Vokoun’s agent back to negotiate. The Wings were also negotiating, and GMGM seemed like a cat who ate a canary that Vokoun chose to come here. The money was roughly the same.

You’re right, this was only a small portion of the talk. When asked about the talk with Ovi about leadership he made a point of saying that they talked to every player about their strengths and weaknesses and hoped for improvements. So Ovi wasn’t being singled out but of course the captaincy, how he could go from a good to a great captain, was a part of his exit interview. And that being a great captain was important to Ovi.

In general I think part of GMGM’s openness is a result of nervous happiness. He got exactly who he wanted in the FA market, he has made strategic visits with the core players to discuss expectations, and he’s iced—on paper as he likes to caution—a really strong team. I think this is GMGM being really excited. I loved how he wanted more questions when Walton tried to wrap it up. GMGM was having fun.

Varly is an adult and responsible for his own actions.

With what amounted to a fax broadcast.

FOR SALE: One goaltender, Russian. Slightly oversized, some groin damage, but has potential to be #1 puckstopper. If interested, call George at 703-xxx-xxxx.

I agree – somehow GM GM and his staff have completely rewritten the book on general management. Reminds me of that Air Supply song… “Making trades… out of nothing at all.”

How come I didn’t read about it anywhere? Seems like that should have been covered.

Speaking of which, how was Caps Con this year, Nicki? I abstained to play in a 3 hour hockey marathon, which was delicious.

I was reading old translated interviews on Alex Ovetjkin blog this summer and came across one from his first season in the US, Varly was quoted talking about Roy being his favorite goaltender as a kid. He didn’t make that part up.

This is interesting info, thanks for sharing it. My question is about timing though. When were they so close to signing a contract and then Varly stopped responding? After he was back in Russia and was subject to his father’s and Russian agent’s influence? Varly at exit day told Slava that he wanted to re-sign with the Caps, plus the part not being happy about sitting on the bench. There was another interview on 6/20 where he said he wanted to play in the NHL with no mention of the Caps though. This update you shared gives credence to what Slava said on his twitter before the trade went down that if Varly had a competent agent he would have already signed with the Caps.

Why wouldn’t you give credit to GMGM for getting the Avs deal done? He said at the convention that there were other teams interested but that after negotiations the Avs gave the best deal. I’m sure he has had for some time a short list of team’s that have expressed interest in the Caps goalies over the past several years. I’m sure he knew exactly which GM’s to zero in on when he made the decision to trade Varly. Until that morning all three of the goalies were on his untouchable list.

Being a successful GM is knowing when to jump and when to wait. To recognize the opportunity and the timing for making a play. The Vokoun opportunity would not have happened had Varly not been traded. But once the Avs chose Varly and dropped out of the Vokoun “race” (they were one of the teams that expressed interest in him), then GMGM must have had Vokoun on his radar.

if it was up to him, he would have re-signed Varly, and not gotten the draft picks at this point. Varly forced him into the move

That’s exactly why GMGM deserves a ton of credit. He had no leverage since Varlamov publicly forced his hand, and yet he still got an awesome return. I’m positive that he had to talk COL up to the final return. They didn’t just call up GMGM offering a 1st and 2nd.

Да, komrade.