Schneider almost threatened Canucks with KHL in contract negotiations
Former Vancouver Canucks goalie Cory Schneider revealed that he almost pulled an interesting tactic during contract negations with the organization.
Schneider appeared on TSN’s Toronto 1050 station this morning for an interview, where he shed some valuable insights into his time with the Canucks, including a moment when he almost threatened to leave for the KHL during contract talks.
This incident happened in the summer of 2012 when the goalie was coming off a season where he appeared in 33 games, finishing with a stellar 1.96 goals-against-average and a 0.937 save percentage.
“I was an RFA so they were looking to sign me but they had Lu, they had Roberto, there on a 10-year, or 12-year contract, whatever it was, so they were obviously trying to get me at shorter money just because they didn’t want to tie up too much with the goaltending,” Schneider explained as he set the scene for the story. “I had a really good first few years there, comparable to any young guy in the league, so we were trying to stick to our numbers.”
In an attempt to get his desired number, Schneider’s agent suggested using the threat of the KHL to force the Canucks’ hand. However, the now-37-year-old quickly cooled on the idea when he realized his agent was serious about the prospect of playing overseas.
“[The Canucks] didn’t get contentious and I don’t think they were really going to take me to arbitration but I remember my agent kinda talking to me saying, ‘So I’m going to throw it out there that you can go to the KHL, go to Russia, if they don’t give what you want,’ and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, bluff a little bit to see what they do,’ and he goes ‘Oh, I don’t bluff,’ and I said, ‘Oh, well I don’t want to go to Russia so let’s not do that.’ It never got to that point but it was down to the wire.”
SchneiderĀ retired this past SeptemberĀ after an NHL career that spanned 410 games with the Canucks, New York Islanders, and New Jersey Devils. He has now transitioned into the world of media as he recently joined the NHL NetworkĀ as an analyst.