Habs’ Subban embracing his role
Means he’ll break the bank, but he’s not worried about it, just enjoying his enviable life as a hockey superstar
The Canadiens and superstar defenceman P.K. Subban should soon come to an agreement on a new contract — for a fantastic sum over many years or, perhaps, for fewer dollars over two seasons that will bridge the defenceman to break-the-bank unrestricted free agency on July 1, 2016.
But for now, Subban is sitting back and letting all the contract talk wash over him like gentle summer surf. He’s having too much fun living his grand life, sitting in too nice a position to lose sleep over the details that will be hammered out between his agent, Donnie Meehan, and Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin.
The two men met Thursday in Philadelphia, on the eve of the NHL draft, to bring an agreement along to its next unspecified stage.
“Obviously, everybody wants a long-term deal, in a place where they like to play,” Subban said Wednesday during a call from the Las Vegas airport, about to return home to Toronto from the annual NHL awards.
He called again the following morning to continue our discussion that a call to board his flight cut short.
“But there’s a lot of different things to consider in a contract negotiation,” he said. “There’s stability for the family. There’s what’s in the best interests of the player and in the best interests of the team, for the organization moving forward.
“And, obviously, proper compensation. A lot of different things.”
Presumably, some of those things are being discussed between agent and GM, a mating dance that’s either still in its early stages, is just a discussion and a handshake from agreement, or somewhere in between.
The Canadiens signed Subban to a two-year, $5.75-million contract in January 2013, coming out of the NHL lockout. In the eyes of the club, which at the time wasn’t prepared to open the vault longterm, it was up to Subban to show his stuff.
Which the 25-year-old went out and did, playing with equal parts substance and sizzle while every shift, every benching, every reaction to every character-testing situation on and off the ice was studied with a microscope.
In the past two years, Subban has grown into and embraced his role as a huge star in this city and a favourite of jersey-buying fans worldwide, maturing without sacrificing his youthful, wideeyed enthusiasm.
Oh, right. He also won the 2013 Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenceman along the way.
So now the proverbial ball is in the Canadiens’ court — sort of. Do they lock up Subban for years? Does Meehan entertain the notion of going short again, with an eye to greater riches down the road?
Do the Canadiens court an offer sheet from another club after July 1? Or, almost incredibly, do the two sides go to the often bitter exercise of salary arbitration?
“The next few days, probably the next week or so, are pretty important,” Subban said. “Whether we want the public to know or not, they’re going to find out a lot over the next couple of weeks.
“Time will tell. I’ve been patient and you’re better off when you are.”
Subban is aware of all sides of this complex equation, a top-secret, high-stakes game being played between Meehan and Bergevin. But he won’t give much away, having entrusted his agent with the negotiations.
“I’m happy I can let Donnie handle that stuff,” he said. “I’m a hockey player, that’s what I do. Do I think I’m smart enough to understand contracts and how they work? I might be, but I don’t think I need to be doing that at this point in time. I need to be just focusing on playing hockey. That’s all I need to do.
“It’s funny. In terms of a contract negotiation, you would think that a player like me would want to be much involved in it. But Donnie Meehan, in my opinion, is one of the most influential people in the game because he operates on a basis of (doing) not only what’s good for his client, but what’s good for the team. That’s fair. That’s why I trust in him to do the deal and make sure everything is done the way it needs to be done. It’s that simple.
“Do I get involved? I listen. I do a lot more listening than talking and then go f rom there. That’s the way it has to be and should be. I pay Donnie to negotiate my contract, I’ve got to let him do his stuff. You can’t get involved.
“You can have your opinion. If there’s something you don’t like, then maybe you’ve got to let that be known. But for the most part, you’ve got to let him do his job. I tell (Meehan) to stay in touch with me as he needs to be. I’m not one of those guys who’s high maintenance.”
Subban’s next game will be his 329th in the NHL, counting his 43 in the playoffs. I tell him it sometimes seems like yesterday that he was squeezed onto a folding chair in the middle of a Washington dressing room in April 2010, an emergency postseason call-up deep in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals with just two NHL games then to his name.
And it’s now that you get a feel for who Subban is today, the confidence and self-assurance seeping from every pore.
“I’m definitely in a totally different position than I was in 2010 in Washington,” he said. “I’ve put my time in and I deserve to be in the situation I’m in. I’ve worked extremely hard. I’ve tried to take care of myself, that’s all you can do. That’ll give you the best opportunity to have a successful career.
“Am I satisfied? By all means, no. But I have to give myself some sort of credit for being where I’m at now.”
On Tuesday, newly resigned defenceman Andrei Markov hailed Subban as a “great player” and expressed hope that he’d be locked up for the long term. On many occasions, it’s been reported or rumoured that the relationship between the two was strained.
No matter any conflict there might have been in the past, theirs is a mutual admiration society now.
“Markie and I have a great relationship, on and off the ice,” Subban said. “I know he’s a professional and he’s been around a long time. He’s been great for me. And I think it’s being reciprocated now.
“Now that I’ve got some time under my belt, he’s also benefited from playing with me. We both understand what we can do for each other and how we can help each other. That’s why we enjoy playing with each other.
“It’s obviously great to hear positive comments about me coming from Andrei. We know he doesn’t say much, but when he does say something like that, you take it. But I’m not surprised. We have a tremendous amount of respect for each other.
“So yeah, I’d love to be back playing with him, on power play, even strength or on the (penalty-kill), and have another opportunity to try to win a Stanley Cup.
“Markie has got three years left with this team. I believe he can play as long as he wants, but these three years are going to be huge for him in terms of trying to win a Cup.”
Perhaps it took Subban some time to win over the businesslike Markov. That, too, has been a process, Subban candidly discussing the relationship in concert with the value he believes he is to his Russian teammate and their club as a whole.
“One of the things I’ve respected about Andrei is that he’s been doing this for a long time, not for just a few years, in one of the toughest cities to play,” Subban said. “He’s seen the way I’ve performed in big games and at crucial times for the team. I think more importantly, he saw me kind of being misunderstood when I first came into the league.
“The one thing that people should understand is that I come to win. Not to score goals or pad my stats. I come to win hockey games and to help my team win. Andrei is one of the guys I’ve played with who desperately wants to win.
“The more we’ve played together and with each other, he understands this guy wants to win. And you know what? He’s going to help me win. I’ve been here for a long time (entering his fifth NHL season) and I want to win a Cup and I think he understands that I can help him do that, too.
“All that matters to me is that nobody can ever downplay what I’ve accomplished,” Subban said. “People can say whatever they want about me — about my character, about me being selfish, so on and so forth. But what I’ve accomplished in the league speaks for itself.
“I don’t know how many players with four years experience under their belts have accomplished what I have. There’s not too many. I don’t need to sit in front of anybody and define who I am or what I stand for or what I’ve done in the league and prove something to anybody. It’s there. Whether people choose to see it and accept it and embrace it, that’s a whole different ball game.”
Strong stuff, yes. But from his first days in skates, Subban has never been afraid to speak his mind, never been reluctant to position himself where in his heart he believes he belongs.
Clearly, his contractual status is not a concern.
“I don’t ever really think about these things a lot,” he said. “You have to focus on what you can control and nothing else. For me, that’s all I want to do: focus on those things and get better every day.
“I’m not blind. I know what I’ve accomplished in the league and I know where I stand among my peers and among some of the greatest players in the game. And I think I’m right there with them. That speaks a lot about what I’ve accomplished in a short period of time in the NHL.”
There is no anxiety as he awaits a contract, Subban says. There will be no relief when one gets done. It will be business, and he’ll move forward.
“Where my confidence lies is how I’ve performed the past two seasons,” he said. “I don’t get anxious. I don’t get too high or too low. I’m not going to feel relieved, I’m just going to know that (the contract) is done.
“At the end of the day in negotiations, I’ve given Donnie the best cards I possibly could give him in terms of sorting out a contract that’s best for me and my family moving forward. What happens after that is not in my hands.
“The important thing in this negotiation is that it’s not like my agent is a rookie, not like he hasn’t been around the block. Donnie, if anybody, knows how these negotiations go. He knows my position, he’s made me aware of my position, both the last time we did the negotiation and this time.
“I trust in him because of how many times he’s done it … probably more times than anybody on (the Canadiens’) side has done it. He knows how to do things the right way.
“Whatever decision is made, I know it will be in the best interests of me and my family. That’s why I’m not concerned or nervous. I’m just enjoying my summer now and getting ready for the season come September.”
We’re about to see what all of this means in the mind of Bergevin and the chequebook of Canadiens owner Geoff Molson, the Habs and their incandescent defenceman on a fascinating path to celebration or collision. In Monday’s Gazette: P.K Subban’s summer of sun, fun, cutting-edge style and, already, gruelling work in the gym