MegaPandas

At the end of TLG, Shane has every right to be angry. His legacy was attacked by fans and journalists. People had the nerve to question his dedication to the sport and his commitment to winning. People had the nerve to imply he would EVER throw a game.

Shane is canonically angry at the end of the book because of the shit people are talking and the way Montreal as an organization are treating him.

And I cannot wait for the first games Shane plays against Montreal with Ilya. I hope they are points bloodbaths and Ottawa penalty light. I hope Montreal goes stupid and gets a ton of penalities, and the PP Line of Hollander, Rozanov, Haas, Bood and Barrett just DECIMATES them.

Montreal definitely treated Shane like shit and Shane is enraged and has every right to be. I hope no one thinks i don't think that, because i do. Which is one of the many reasons I'm glad Shane tells them "Bye Bitches."

Shane made that fucking team. They hadn't made the playoffs in three years before drafting him, they won three cups because of him, and I hope the Centaurs SocMed Admin remind Montreal of that constantly every time Shane plays there until Ottawa gets the four cups they absolutely deserve. Shane took a lot of hits because the NHL and Montreal are racist and homophobic, and I have not forgotten a single one.

But Shane doesn't take a pay cut to go to Ottawa. At all.

I have done the math, I have explained the reasoning. I can't keep repeating that. So I won't

He probably left a shit ton of money on the table, though.

Time for Puck Talk With an Unhinged Loon!

Today we're gonna talk about...

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENCY.

What it is, how it's used in the books, and what chaos would have arisen when Shane decided to become an Unrestricted Free Agent.

Because who doesn't like an internet-based appendix to a romance novel?

Free Agents in the NHL are players who have reached the end of their contracts. Restricted Free Agents may take offers from other teams, but must allow the team who held their last contract the opportunity to match those offers.

In the NHL, you're a restricted free agent if you're under 27 or have played in the NHL for less than 7 years.

Basically, the team that chose you first and put a lot of work into developing you as a player has the right to try and keep you.

Unrestricted Free Agents are players over 27 with more than 7 years in the NHL whose contracts have ended.

Despite the role UFA plays in the GCU, it's actually fairly rare for a good, unproblematic player to enter Unrestricted Free Agency. If your team doesn't want to re sign you because you aren't very good or haven't lived up to your potential, they'll either trade you or put you on waivers, which essentially ends your contract and frees up their cap. And if you're more trouble than you're worth, they'll do the same.

Cattle, remember. The NHL is terrible.

UFA is pretty terrifying, because if your contract isn't picked up, boom. You're unemployed. Say bye to the show, maybe a minor league will sign you, TTFN.

HOWEVER.

If you're a franchise player - the face of the team - it's pretty much unheard of that you'll go UFA.

Your team is going to work it's ass off to try and keep you signed if they want you, or they're gonna try and get some bang for their buck and trade you if you say you won't re sign.

Even franchise players are cattle.

THE NHL IS GARBAGE.

The only way to avoid being traded in this circumstance is to have an No Trade Clause or Non Movement Clause. Which Ilya and Shane, as franchise players, absolutely would have had.

Only a player can waive an NMC/NTC.

LORE BREAK.

My guess is, Boston didn't ask Ilya to waive his NTC because they hoped against hope he would take a deal with them. When Ottawa and it's giant cap space offered Ilya 3mil more, Boston accepted he was leaving. Gracelessly, and the fans never forgave him. But Ilya knew he wanted to leave, so I'm sure the locker room and admin were fine until the end. Ilya didn't leave because things were bad in Boston.

Shane, however...

In TLG, one of the biggest signs shit has gone very wrong in Montreal is Shane hasn't signed a new contract by the time playoffs roll around.

BACK TO LORE.

SIDNEY CROSBY ENTERS THE CHAT.

Cuz hockey lore isn't fun without Stern!Hockey!Daddy

Pictured: THIS BITCH (affectionate)

Sidney Crosby is one of a couple players whose career is analogous with Shane's. Canada's Golden Boy, the Greatest Hockey Player Of All Time, bilingual, skating since toddlerhood, born to be on the ice.

One of the ways in which their careers are very different is that Crosby's early career especially was plagued by serious injuries, and Crosby missed close to three full seasons due to a concussion, a neck injury, and a broken jaw.

I bring this up because, despite the fact that it was super unclear if Crosby was going to have to retire early, the Penguins never once let him lapse into free agency, and signed him to a 12 year contract not long after he recovered from the neck injury.

Even while missing most of a season, Crosby was (and is) one of the best players in the league.

LORE BREAK

Shane is the greatest player of all time in the GCU. Everyone agrees, even Ilya. He's not just a franchise player, he's a hockey legend.

There is no way Montreal lets Shane lapse into free agency unless Shane is refusing to sign, or Montreal admin doesn't want him back. And if it was Montreal admin, they would have been pressuring him daily to waive his NTC/NMC.

We can assume that it's not because Shane is thinking of moving to Ottawa, because that doesn't even get mentioned til Trip!Gate, so it's not like Shane has thought that he and Ilya should try to be on the same team.

No, the locker room and team culture have gotten toxic. Maybe they always were. Maybe it started when Shane came out. We don't know because we don't get a lot of Shane dealing with Montreal in TLG. Most of Shane's POV reflects on his relationship with Ilya, not on hockey, which is also telling, because quite a lot of HR was Shane reflecting on hockey.

I do hope we get to see more of this in Unrivaled, Shane reflecting on his time in Montreal and why he left. For now, we can only wonder.

For those who think I agree with everything RR has done, she really should have explained this better in the books. I think seeing more of Shane's issues in Montreal might have gone a long fucking way to explaining why he decided to leave Montreal.

Because let me be so fucking clear.

There is no way Montreal would have let Shane lapse into Free Agency. He's too valuable.

Even if Montreal hates him, and thinks he's ruined the locker room, they would have pressured him hard to waive the NTC.

HARD.

PLEASE NEVER FORGET. THE NHL DOES NOT GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THE PLAYERS.

Shane is the greatest player of all time. Even if Montreal wanted him gone, they would have wanted to trade him and get players and draft picks and like, so much shit because Shane is 100% worth it.

So no. Montreal didn't tell Shane to fuck off. Shane told Montreal he was out. Shane told Montreal to get fucked.

Shane chose to leave and it's so important people realize that Shane made that choice of his own free will.

So. Why do I think Shane left a ton of money on the table?

BACK TO LORE.

ALEX OVECHKIN ENTERS THE CHAT.

Ovechkin is one of the players whose career is analagous with Ilya's, but in this particular conversation, it's also analagous with Shane's.

Because unlike Crosby, Ovechkin has lapsed into free agency exactly once.

This year.

And that wasn't cuz the Capitals wanted that to happen.

Pictured: THIS OTHER BITCH (affectionate)

Ovechkin is turning 41 in September, and unlike Crosby, his career has not been plagued with serious injuries, until the most recent season, when he lost a large chunk of the early season to a broken tibia.

From all accounts, this kinda fucked him up. Having never been hurt seriously, and having reached a fairly old age for an NHL player, he was seriously considering retirement, because he has stated repeatedly that he wants to leave the league when he's still healthy.

I don't know how much HR folks pay attention to hockey news, but Ovechkin's possible retirement was the source of endless speculation, especially when the Caps said they'd gladly sign Ovechkin again, because the Caps know Ovi is their whole personality.

Ovechkin said he would decide when free agency started. And hockey fans would not shut the fuck up about the possibility that Ovi would retire or maybe *gasp* move teams.

It's me. I'm hockey fans.

LORE BREAK.

Alex Ovechkin - a truly great player, but a player nearing the end of his career - choosing free agency was big news.

I need you to magnify that by about 1000%. Like, Beatlemania. The Fall of The Berlin Wall. The Sack of Troy.

That is the way every fucking person involved with the NHL would have been reacting to Shane remaining unsigned and untraded by Montreal prior to April 12, 2021, which was that year's trade deadline.

Shane. Fucking. Hollander approaching free agency with no contract in sight?

SHANE. FUCKING. HOLLANDER. AT 30. IN THE PRIME OF HIS CAREER.

SHANE HOLLANDER, WHO WON THE CUP LAST YEAR?

SHANE HOLLANDER, THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME?!

The blogs. The instas. The hockey toks and hockey twits. Every sports mag, sports pundit and NHL fan would be LOSING THEIR FUCKING MIND.

(SHORT LORE: Hockey contracts and their expiry dates are public knowledge. EVERYONE KNOWS EVERYTHING. LORE OVER).

In April- ish, when Shane tells Farah to find him a deal, and she starts shopping him to teams?

Literally every team is immediately making cap space to give Shane ANYTHING HE WANTS.

"Shane Hollander can have anything he wants" except it is League-wide and definitely includes ginger ale AND the hot bartender. ALL THE HOT BARTENDERS.

Does Shane want more gay representation? EVERYONE IS GAY NOW. GET GAY FUCKERS BECAUSE SHANE HOLLANDER IS AVAILABLE AND WE WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES.

Does Shane want to never relocate? NTC, NCM, HERE IS THE DEED TO MY HOUSE AND ALSO MY PASSPORT.

Egregious amounts of money? WE WILL FIND THE MONEY.

Captaincy? SURE. WE DIDN'T LIKE THAT OTHER GUY ANYWAY.

Signing Bonus? HERE IS THE OWNER'S FIRSTBORN. OR A HORSE. A CAR. A HOUSE. THE CITY. WHATEVER IT TAKES.

Ottawa has the cap space to pay Shane what they pay Ilya, but not much more.

Other teams might have had more money, but Ottawa has the only thing Shane really wants.

Ilya.

So Shane absolutely left the chance to be the highest paid player of all time, but in Vancouver or Seattle or like, Edmonton, on the table, and chose Ottawa to be with Ilya.

Shane chose Ilya. Over hockey. Over Montreal. And over absolute scads of cash.