By J.D. Lagrange, Senior Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine

Well there we have it. P.K. Subban is signed long term… even after being “disrespected by the organization forcing him to a bridge contract”… even after being “disrespected by being taken to arbitration”. Marc Bergevin, according to many, has mishandled his defenseman since day one and Subban, according to them, was ticked-off and would leave at the very first opportunity. Say it ain’t so?

PENTICTON, BC. — Even after being faced with the reality that there were no hard feelings between the two sides, even after reading and hearing that the discussions were always respectful and professional, even after Subban himself saying that he never had any doubt that he would stay in Montreal long term, fans and media alike couldn’t help themselves from jumping to their own conclusions, creating their own conspiracy theories on how management was evil and Subban was the saviour.

Even after learning that the Canadiens have agreed to an eight year, $72 million deal, we can read and hear hockey fans, not just Habs’ fans, everywhere claiming that Marc Bergevin and the Canadiens are “paying for forcing Subban to accept a bridge deal.” Now that the speculations are over, now that we know how much the star defenseman will be making for the next eight years, what better time to reflect back on this much talked about bridge deal, and see for ourselves if the Canadiens did the right thing or not?

It was reported that two years ago, P.K. Subban was looking for a five year deal worth $5.5 million per season. Seeing that the Habs now have to pay Subban $9 million for years three to five, that’s a huge raise (short term) and that’s what people, wanting to take the short-cuts, use to prove their point. But in order to see the forest from the tree, one must take a step back and look at the longer picture. It’s not like Subban will stop playing hockey after year five after all.

It’s not too far fetched to think that considering that Subban is worth $9 million in 2014 as a RFA, he would conservatively be worth at least $11 million (*) per season if he was to sign as a UFA in 2017, at the end of his contract (without the bridging contract) when the Canadiens would have absolutely no leverage.

With that out of the way, let’s now compare the situations with and without bridging contracts, shall we? Some of you might be a bit surprised…

At the end of the first five years, the Canadiens end up paying Subban $27.5 million without the bridge deal while with it, they will have paid him $32.75 million. That’s $5.25M more ($1.05M per year) by forcing him to accept a bridge contract. Considering that Bergevin and the Habs’ brass were wanting to see more of him, it seems like a relatively small price to pay, especially considering that during that time, Subban won a Norris Trophy and was named to the Canadian Olympic team in Sochi (although only playing 10 minutes in the tournament.)

Without the bridge contract, the Habs would then have to negotiate a new contract with Subban as a UFA, when he would have all of the leverage being able to listen to other teams’ offers. In total, assuming he got $11 million (could be more, likely not less), they would have to pay him an additional $55 million over the next five years, or $82.5M ($27.5M + $55M) over the ten year period and that’s assuming that they could retain him as a UFA at the end of the 2016-2017 season. To be clear, Subban could have potentially walked after that five year deal if he wasn’t satisfied with the Canadiens’ offer.

With the bridge contract, the Habs pay him a total of $77.75 million (32.72M + $45M) and he doesn’t become a UFA until the end of the 2021-2022 season, which is ten (10) years from the original contract, twice as much as the other situation. In addition, they only paid him $2.875M per season for the first two seasons, including when the league lowered the cap after the CBA, when teams’ salary caps are at its lowest.

Further, even is Subban was to sign for $10 million per season (instead of $11M, which is very unlikely) after his contract without the bridge deal, they would break even after the 10 year period! That means that the Canadiens would have had nothing to lose and everything to gain at the end of those ten years.

“Oh but… oh but… oh but Subban is ticked off by the Habs and management…,” claimed those opposed to the bridge deal. Both parties have stated in numerous occasions that it’s far from being the case. Just before the arbitration hearing, Subban was praising the professionalism of Marc Bergevin and his team, grateful he was that the discussions were respectful and civil.

Since signing, Subban had a clear message for those who were all over the Habs’ GM before and during the arbitration process:

“A lot of people that know Marc Bergevin know the type of guy he is. He cares about his players, he cares a lot about his players, and I know he cares a lot about me,” Subban said. “He would never put a player in a position that would hurt him or hurt this team and this organization. He’s been great for this team moving forward, he’s made some great decisions in the best interests of this team, and a lot of people have got to lay off of him now. I really don’t want to hear those negative comments towards these guys because they’ve done a great job and they’ve worked so hard to try and get this deal done.”

So the Canadiens are happy with Subban and with the deal. Subban himself is happy with the Canadiens and with the deal. Most fans are happy with the Canadiens and with the deal. Shouldn’t we all take that same attitude and learn from this experience, understanding that reading too much into things when we don’t know the key details, making up our own storylines and endings, panicking without any factual reasons, are not the way to conduct ourselves as fans?

Hockey fans, particularly Habs fans, are a passionate bunch, but we need to learn to draw the line between passion, paranoia and propaganda.

Go Habs Go!