Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
My office is large enough to accommodate a small conference room table. Around it sits my team, including our cap specialist, Sarah Wainright, who will monitor monies in and out as we start making our chess-like moves. Beside her is Mark Sinnett, our head scout, who will manage our draft pick potentials and lastly, assistant GM Lane Bakerton who’s ready to work trades with other teams. Brienne is in her office but only for moral support. She’s given me full autonomy to do my job and that’s both reassuring and terrifying.
Penn Navarro, currently with the Florida Spartans who just missed out on the Cup championship this year, is our prime target. This only became solidified last night when Coen Highsmith made the final decision to accept an offer from the Vipers so Tillie could have her shot in New York.
A dynamic playmaker, Penn Navarro will be the centerpiece we need to elevate our team’s offense, especially after losing Coen. However, signing him means we must shed some salary to stay cap-compliant and that’s why everything is so tense. We have a lot of maneuvers to make today.
I initiate the negotiations with Penn’s agent, a seasoned professional by the name of Mara Fenwick who represents a lot of sports talent at the top of their game. Because body language and expression are important in any negotiation, we connect via video call on my center screen. Lane, Sarah and Mark watch from their own tablets before them, and my call is also broadcast into the conference room as well as Brienne’s office. This won’t be done on every move we make today but this is the most important one.
After pleasantries are exchanged, Mara says, “Let’s cut to the chase… what’s your best offer, Callum? Because I’ve got others on the table now.”
This is the hard part. I have no clue what’s been offered already nor will I know what happens after I hang up. All we can do is offer our best and Brienne, Cannon and I decided to go for a championship this season. That means putting our money on Navarro.
“One hundred million for eight years,” I say.
Mara is as good as they come but the slight raise of her eyebrows tells me that our offer is the best by far. Sarah, who isn’t just a cap specialist tracking the Titans’ money, has analyzed the cap allocations of the other teams also vying for Navarro. She was instrumental in helping us guess what will beat out the competition.
Facial features smoothing, Mara’s tone is cool. “We’re interested but Penn wants to make sure you’re putting together a championship team. Florida’s offer isn’t on par with yours, but they’ll have essentially the same players. They almost had the Cup this year and it’s a priority for him. Going with the Titans would be a huge risk.”
“So would walking away from a guaranteed one-hundred million dollars for eight years of his life. But you can assure Penn that we would have never offered this type of money to get him if we weren’t going to take the shot this season rather than build upward from a younger pool.”
Mara nods in understanding. “Let me call Penn. I’ll get back to you.”
We disconnect the call and I stand from my desk. Nodding at Lane, I say, “Call Coen’s agent and work the trade to the Vipers.”
“Without getting Navarro’s commitment?” he asks.
“Make it contingent,” I instruct before turning to Mark. “Pull up the profiles on North Paquette, Rafferty Abrams and Atlas Kerolak. Let’s go over those one more time while we wait to hear back from Mara.”
“On it,” Mark replies, maneuvering data on his tablet, which will come up on the screens on my desk.
“Be right back,” I say, heading out of my office and to the conference room. I step just over the threshold, my eyes scanning my coaches and scouts. “Assuming we get Navarro, I want to start making our other moves. Last chance to voice any strong feelings about letting go of Darius Cermak, Mason Lavoie, Anders Blom or Kirill Zucker?”
This is a question I’ve asked probably half a dozen times in the last week and I don’t expect the answer to change. But if anyone is holding on to concerns, now is the time to voice them.
Everyone stares back at me with steady conviction. We’ve committed to a lot of money for Penn, but we’ve had just as much fortitude in cutting players to gain new ones that will better fit with our new model and at a slightly cheaper price.
“You’ve put together a hell of a road map to victory, Callum,” Cannon West says, and everyone in the room nods in agreement. “We’re all behind you on this. It’s the right move.”
Something releases in my chest and despite the fact Cannon didn’t say anything he hasn’t already told me, we’re on the verge of making this real. This last reassurance means more than all the others.