| | RALEIGH, N.C. -- Carolina Hurricanes general manager Jim
Rutherford made a last-ditch effort to sign All-Star Keith Primeau
on Wednesday. He hopes his latest offer will lure the team captain
to return for this weekend's opener, but that's unlikely, says Todd Reynolds, one of Primeau's agents.
| |  | | | Primeau |
"It's not like there is a real carrot in here," Reynolds said
of the team's offer. "It is not what we had hoped for."
The latest offer by Rutherford is a shorter-term, two-year deal for the 6-foot-5, 220-pound center. Before Wednesday's offer, the Hurricanes had a five-year, $20 million deal on the table.
Primeau, 27, who led the team with 30 goals last season, and
agents Don and Todd Reynolds are seeking $5 million a season.
Rutherford said the new offer still puts Primeau in the $4 million-a-year category and includes incentives close to $500,000. Primeau would also have an opportunity to come back to the
bargaining table in two years.
"This gives him an opportunity to have a couple of big years
and put up some bigger numbers to where he could come back to us or
go to an arbitrator to say I'm worth the kind of money he has been
asking for," Rutherford said. "It doesn't tie his hands for as
long as our five-year proposal."
However, Reynolds said late Wednesday night that the offer
averages $3.5 million a year -- or $1 million less over two years -- and they're not interested.
"The term interests us -- yeah we can go back to the table in
two years -- but not at these numbers," Reynolds said. "We're in the wrong stratosphere here."
Rutherford said the nine-year NHL veteran and his agents have
until Friday to accept the proposal. The Hurricanes, the defending
Southeast Division champions, start their season Saturday night in Boston.
"If it is not accepted by then, we just have to realize that
he's not going to be with us to start the season and probably for a
long, long time -- maybe even the whole year," Rutherford said.
"We feel very strong about our position and we have to go
forward."
Primeau, a restricted free agent, balked at the five-year deal
because it would have taken him one year past when he could have
filed for unrestricted free agency.
Teams can match offers given to unrestricted free agents or
receive draft picks as compensation, while unrestricted free agents
can shop on the open market.
The latest offer by the Hurricanes also drops any fines for
missing training camp.
"We could have taken that position, but we didn't," Rutherford
said.
If Primeau accepts the offer, he'll be in the lineup against the
Bruins, Rutherford said.
"Physically and mentally he's saying he's ready to go and I'm
sure he has worked very hard, but I don't think anybody who has
missed a training camp in any professional sports is ready to go,"
Rutherford said. "But if he agrees to a contract, he'll be in the
lineup and be the captain of our team Saturday night." | |
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