If you pay enough attention to a lot of contract negotiations, you can see patterns emerge pretty quickly with how agents go about their business, particularly in negotiating through the media. To this point in the summer we’ve already been given a masterclass from Mitch Marner’s “camp” in this regard, with agent Darren Ferris going to some lengths to ensure his client’s contract ask is always in the forefront of Toronto news.
For a lot of fans (and I’m sure the team itself) this part of the playbook probably got tiring quickly, but it is part of what agents do. And given Ferris’s previous negotiations for clients Andreas Athanasiou and Sam Bennett, we were wondering when the whole “he’s going to go play overseas if he doesn’t get paid” card would be played.

Andreas Athanasiou in ongoing discussions with KHL teams. Unless something shifts in Detroit, indications are Athanasiou will jump to KHL.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) September 5, 2017

Still a sizable gap in contract talks between the Flames and Sam Bennett. Possibility Bennett heads overseas until a deal in Calgary is done
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) September 5, 2017

Well apparently that day is today, with “sources” …

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Author: Ryan Fancey / The Leafs Nation