2017 Free agency thread.

easily. for $10.5, the Flyers could cut 6 players and trade Wayne Simmonds to match that. They undoubtedly couldn't pony up the $13-14 mil though it would take to sign him. this pursuit of JT is for a handful of teams. Cap strapped teams aren't invited to the party.

 

Pouliot signs one-year contract with Canucks
Defenseman gets $1.1 million to stay with Vancouver, could have been RFA

 

Capitals re-sign Smith-Pelly to one-year, $1 million contract...

 

Jack Johnson expected to sign with pens.

 

TSN came out with a tavares tax calculator. Over 7 years, he would pay $17M more in taxes playing for the leafs or isles instead of tampa or dallas.

With the bruins it's only $5M.

 

https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/tavares-calculator

 

I think that calculator is wrong and the taxation is figured by where the games are played. Playing for the Leafs he’d be taxed at the Toronto rate for the 41 home games but be taxed at the individual state/territory rate for the 41 individual away games.

Doesn’t change the fact that some areas have an advantage in this regard.

 

I would say more no than yes, even if that were the case, the net would still be much more playing for dallas or tampa.

 

If the ask is $14M, tampa and dallas could offer $12M. They would save $2M on their cap space to be able to pay other players of quality.

 

I think you make a valid point, skinny, but I think Matty is right when he suggests the tax advantages are overstated. They do not play a full schedule in Florida or Texas, nor Ontario or New York for that matter. Taxes are not based on where one's primary residence is, but can be based on where income was earned.

This "advantage" has been discussed at various times for years. I have seen little evidence that it has significantly influenced athletes to select no income tax states. There are other more important variables that are very subjective based on each athlete's individual preferences.

 

I just can't see the IRS/CRA not collecting income tax for those few games played in texas and florida, I need to see evidence.

Agents have publically stated that net income plays a factor along with other things. There has been evidence of Yzerman being able to sign players at a discount, of course, it's not a discount after taxes aren't paid at the state level.

Is it the only factor? No

 

Are we saying that players that play for an american team have to file a Canadian income tax form for the games they play in Canada?

I need to see evidence.

 

I've said "little" evidence. You cite "there has been evidence". We may be making an identical argument by looking at facts from a different angle. What I'm saying is that proportionality is the operative basis for understanding the impact of taxes. My contention is that state tax may be a considered, but it is far from a determining factor in player decisions. I think the argument for it is overstated.

Also, the IRS & CRA are not germane to this discussion. It is the respective State taxing authority and their policies. There are 50 distinct agencies in the USA and they are each different. But, a player for the NYR is not required to pay NYS or NYC taxes for games played outside their jurisdiction. This is a generalization - see above "distinct ...". I will leave discussion about provincial tax policy to others. And, yes, some states attempt to collect tax for games played in their jurisdiction.

 

There are few rare oppurtunities where a "star" player has many teams bidding for him, and a couple of those teams play in tax-free states. Stamkos was a good example last year, he ended up staying in tampa and for a lower salary than he would've been paid elsewhere.

There are currently three tax free states in the nhl, if american players get to save something when they play there, we're at the same point because the players playing home games in those states will always be way ahead.

 

I think you’re both right. There is advantage but it seems to be overstated on the whole. Also hasn’t seemed to really come in to play all that much in the NHL.

 

At the end of the day, when trying to get Tavares, I could bet that dallas and tampa have made the tax-free state issue a main talking point. It's only logical, you have to use everything to your advantage if you're trying to conivince a player to play for your team.

 

Still trying to figure out how TB is even a possibility cap-wise.

 

It's crazy, just the thought of stamkos, kucherov and tavares.

 

And then Vasilevsky, Sergachev, Point etc....

 

Just Kucherov alone, they’re gonna have to pony up if they want to keep him