Veteran forward changes representation amid extended stay on free-agent market

Now in the midst of a second-consecutive offseason where he’s remained a free agent deep into the summer, veteran forward Tyler Motte has made the decision to change representation. The versatile 28-year-old bottom-sixer had to wait until September last year to get a contract for 2022-23, and currently remains unsigned for the 2023-24 season.

Motte posted on social media announcing the change, and PuckPedia confirmed that Motte is now being represented by Pat Brisson, one of the NHL’s most prominent agents. Motte had previously been represented by Richard Evans of Wasserman Hockey.

Last season saw Motte take his first trip to the unrestricted free-agent market of his career, and he did so on relatively strong footing.

He had been able to showcase his talents on a big stage that spring, skating in regular minutes on the fourth line of a New York Rangers team that made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final.

There aren’t many better ways for defense-first fourth-liners to raise their profile leaguewide than to play difficult playoff minutes in one of the league’s biggest markets, and there was some belief that Motte’s performance for the Rangers would set him up nicely to cash in on a multi-year deal that summer.

We shared in that belief, projecting Motte to receive a four-year, $1.75M AAV contract in our Top 50 free agents piece from 2022. We saw Motte valued by teams as a “very effective role player,” but we also noted that NHL clubs “generally don’t want to pay high price tags for fourth-liners.”

NHL teams were indeed reluctant to commit a multiyear contract to Motte, as he ended up lingering on the open market until the fall and ended up receiving just a one-year deal. In that flat cap world, it seemed teams weren’t willing to commit a multiyear deal to a fourth-line player without much offensive production, even despite Motte’s many positive qualities.

As outside observers, we don’t have a concrete understanding of why Motte has ended up on the market so long. We can speculate that the true level of interest in his services was potentially miscalculated by his representation (just as we made the same miscalculation in our free agency preview), but ultimately it will remain a mystery as to why Motte has found himself in this position for two consecutive years.

With that said, though, the fact that he’s made the choice to move on from an agent he has a longstanding relationship with echoes similar moves made by players such as John Klingberg and Vladimir Tarasenko.

In 2022, Klingberg was reportedly looking at a seven-year, $6M or so AAV contract in free agency before he was ultimately forced to settle on a one-year $7M guarantee. Many have credited Klingberg’s change in representation to frustration with how his free agency played out, and it’s possible Motte has made his own change due to a similar frustration.

As for what may lie in store for Motte and his new representatives, in our profile of his free agency completed earlier this month we said “it wouldn’t be surprising to see Motte sign for $775K or close to it.” Most of the additions we’ve seen at this stage of the summer are of the PTO variety, meaning it could be difficult for Motte to get any sort of meaningful financial commitment from a team beyond the league minimum.

Regardless of the issues Motte has had in free agency these past two years, he remains a legitimately effective fourth-line energy winger. Although his time with the Rangers this past spring didn’t result in the same kind of long playoff run he enjoyed in 2022, Motte did manage a healthy 10 points in 24 regular-season games, leading to a career-high final point total of 19.

He’s still right in the heart of his prime years, so it’ll be up to Brisson and CAA to find Motte the right place to play next season, a place where he can (assuming he signs a one-year deal) best showcase his talents for another potential trip to the open market next summer.