It's not the elephant in the room--it's more a giant hole in the side of the Boeing 747 that is the Canucks and it's sucking out of the team to plummet them to the ground. There are a lot of bad contracts on this team--probably more than any other in the league--but it's this one that's done the most damage as it's been around the longest, and he simply isn't an NHL caliber player any more.
It's a six-year contract that is touted as "buyout proof". It's certainly been trade proof for the past few years, even though Louis was willing to waive his no-trade clause. There's one year left after this one, which means there's light at the end of the tunnel, but they'll need a lot of cap space for the big raises they have to give Hughes and Pettersson, and that cap space would be very useful this off-season.
I offer a solution, but I don't think it will happen for a couple of reasons. Here's my plan:
A large corporate entity--probably a brewery or distillery--who would benefit from the undying gratitude of Canucks fans around BC needs to come with a cheque book. They need to offer Louis a unique endorsement partnership that everyone will understand, because it's going to operate on a couple of levels.
Currently the Canucks I hear on air shilling for car dealerships aren't the elite top-six guys. Adam Gaudette and Antoine Roussel pitch for one dealership, while Jake Virtanen is spokesperson for another that boasts of being located in "beautiful downtown Abbottsford". My daughter, who lives in Abbottsford, and knows where downtown actually is, laughed when she heard this one.
So why would a deep-pocketed sponsor take on the black hole that is Louis as their brand ambassador? Because everyone would be in on the real deal that would be in play--including the targeted audience for the commercials. The theme of the campaign would be "taking one for the team". It would require Louis to retire, leaving the remaining salary uncollected--and it's less than the cap hit--because he would have that money, and maybe even a little more, paid for this brand partnership.
Commercial one--Louis is waving at the team bus as it pulls away to head off to a game. Then an announcer says "At XXX we know the importance of drinking responsibly. That's why we have created the 'taking one for the team' designated driver campaign" And then the commercial explains some sort of contest or some sort of free t-shirt that those who tweet photos of themselves as designated drivers qualify for--then it cuts to Louis, turning back from waving at the bus saying "Sometimes you just have to take one for the team."
The implication is that Louis is giving up the last year of his contract to help the team, but we all know that the brand sponsor is the true hero, and their customer loyalty should begin to go up. "Taking one for the team" t-shirts or hats would help keep it in mind or show that customers get it.
They could branch out from the anti drinking and driving element of the campaign and offer public service announcements, sponsored by the brewery, distillery, or whatever company it is. For instance, Louis, in another commercial, rolls up his sleeve to donate blood, then looks at the camera, and once again utters the key phrase.
The reasons why it could work are several. First, alcohol products haven't been hurt much by the Covid lockdowns, and some have actually seen sales increase. Second, they could probably negotiate a deal with Louis that's one hundred thousand over what is owed on the contract, which is significantly less than the total cap hit remaining.
Why it won't work is that the Aquilinis aren't Molsons, or Rogers/Bell, or some other corporate entity that other companies see as helpful to them in terms of the sort of long term gratitude such a favour should earn the folks who take on Louis's remaining money. Having Francesco owe you one is less helpful than having many other teams' ownership be in your debt since he can't offer much--maybe if you have run-down, sketchy cube vans he could hire them to cart undocumented farm workers out to pick blueberries, but that isn't the same as the sort of positive future working relationship you could benefit from if Bell/Rogers owed you.
Still, I wonder if there are any companies who would see the value of associating their brand with giving Canucks fans a collective sigh of relief as they see Louis finally pack his bags and get out of town?
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