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2121 words. Interviews conducted via private messages.

ADMIRALS BUYOUT REED LAING - INTERVIEW WITH LAING AND WAHLTERS
by Rusty Klesla / ********.com Staff Writer

Yesterday afternoon, the Portland Admirals announced the buyout of a promising rookie forward. Reed Laing was now a free agent. At least from my point of view, despite Laing’s disapproval of the Admirals, it wasn’t the most obvious outcome and I thought, and perhaps I'm alone on this, that they could figure things out. I thought that someone would have traded for her but perhaps her contract was hard to swallow for a lot of GM’s and for that reason, here we are with Reed Laing out on the open player market as a free agent.

“I was just glad to get out of that hole,” Laing said in an interview. “It was nice to make a quick buck but I’m happy that I can go to a team that actually has a chance to win now.” From the sound of this, it appears that at least Reed Laing was unhappy with his time in Portland as the Admirals started the season out strong but finishing the season as the third worst team in the league just 2 points ahead of the Minnesota Chiefs due to the fact that they lost two more games in overtime, giving them the extra points. When I asked Reed Laing whether there had been talks about this buyout beforehand, it soon became apparent just how little I know of the true ins and outs of the other SHL teams besides the Edmonton Blizzard, who I mostly write for. “Yeah, they told me during the season that they were gonna buy me out,” Laing said and he sounded a little annoyed. “It was all over social media, dude. Pay attention,” he finished rather crossly but considering the situation, I’d say that anyone would be feeling cross regardless of the feelings leading up to a buyout being mutual or not.

I also asked Reed Laing for his opinion on the Admirals management team and he simply replied “They’re noobs.” While this statement is again rather cross, it is perhaps not entirely untrue. The Admirals started out strong this season and they have plenty of good players and some promising rookies, including Reed Laing. While teams like the Hamilton Steelhawks, Toronto North Stars and Buffalo Stampede have had more time to dig themselves out of the bottom of the standings, it is clear that the Admirals certainly didn’t do such things this season. “We started out well, but then reverted back to being bad,” Reed Laing said. “Coaching was pretty awful, but what can ya do.” Sure finishing the season third last is better than finishing dead last, like the Admirals did in season 32, but its far from ideal. Heck, the Toronto North Stars finished second to last in season 32 and this season they managed to qualify for the playoffs, finishing 8th overall in the standings. So while it is certainly a very difficult task to climb out of the bottom of the standings, Toronto proved that even one offseason is enough to achieve it. Only time will tell if Portland will be able to pull off a similar move this upcoming season.

Since Reed Laing is a promising rookie player, I wanted to know where he was headed to next. Dare I say that a rookie like Reed Laing won’t have any trouble picking up several offer sheets as many teams could use a player like Reed Laing in the future as he continues to grow exponentially. “I’m gonna sign for minimum since I got money from Portland,” Laing said. “There are a couple of teams that I like but we’ll see what happens.” It certainly seems that Laing is set for money and that he is as determined as ever as he doesn’t see this buyout as a negative or a positive. “I don’t care, I got my money,” Laing said. “Now I get to sign somewhere else as a free agent. Win-win.”

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TRACKS
I also approached Portland Admirals GM Kyle Wahlters for comments on the buyout situation and as Reed Laing said that he was happy to “get out of that hole”, Wahlters said something similar as he, among other things, expressed relief over the buyout. Of course its a tough situation so he could have just been relieved the hardest part of letting go was already over. “Portland, in general, is feeling relieved for what season 34 will be for us,” Wahlters said via email. “We accomplished so many goals last year but we’re really excited for the upcoming season.” While Reed Laing was perhaps, though as many would be in this situation as mentioned earlier, a bit cross with regards to whether there had been any talks before the buyout was executed, Wahlters’ response was more calm and calculated. “Of course, as [M.W. Hazard] and I are always planning,” Wahlters said. “We were simply made aware of [Reed Laing’s] desire to seek free agency after the season.”

Reed Laing expressed some annoyance with the Portland Admirals management team and when I asked Wahlters for an opinion on Laing, he simply replied “Great player on the ice.” And when it comes to what the Admirals are looking to accomplish next, it should come as no surprise to anyone that they want to get Pedro Sarantez locked down to a multi-year deal after he finished the season with a career high 69 points on the season. “[He’s an] amazing player and [has an] amazing attitude,” Wahlters wrote and even through text I could detect his excitement. “Great fit so far with the team.”
Reed Laing definitely viewed the whole buyout situation as a win-win for him as she gets the money out the buyout plus whatever someone else chooses to pay her when she inevitably signs with a new team at some point during the offseason. But as far as positive outlooks go, Wahlters was right there with Laing. “No set back at all. Back at the signing, we knew this could happen,” Wahlthers said. “We are lucky to have been made aware of Laing’s free agency aspirations so that we can [both] move forward in our own ways. We have many [prospects/players] looking to step up.”
Its clear that Reed Laing is a tremendous player despite some problems off the ice. But Wahlters remains adamant about Laing’s prospects. “Like I said, an amazing player”, Wahlters wrote. “She will have a great future.”

Wahlters finishes off the interview with a mystic “Don’t judge a book by its cover statement”, which could either mean just what it always does or that he and Hazard are cooking up something big for next season. And if this kind of positive outlook from Wahlters is anything, its a sign that Wahlters is ready to bring the Admirals to the top of the stands. Only time will tell when it’ll happen.

SPECULATION
When I first heard of the buyout that the Admirals had executed on the contract of Reed Laing, I was very curious as to why. And due to that fact, I decided to reach out to both parties and see what they had to say. As shown by the above article, Reed Laing responded and did so rather quickly. Kyle Wahlters took a bit longer but responded eventually.
I must warn the reader right now that all of the following is pure speculation and while it is partially based on my interview with Reed Laing and Kyle Wahlters, it is still very much pure speculation and should not be taken seriously.

Reed Laing only played one season with the Portland Admirals so she may not have gotten the best image of the new and still inexperienced management team that the Admirals currently have but its clear that this kind of patience (at least in this case) is not something Reed Laing was willing to display. While its obviously frustrating to play for a team that’s at the bottom of the standings, that’s when players like Reed Laing could, instead of requesting for a trade or a buyout, could have come out and said that despite the Admirals not being one of the top teams in the league, they will stay with the team and become one of the building blocks for the team for the future. Reed Laing wasn’t thoroughly impressed by the management team’s handling of things as shown through her “They’re noobs” statement when asked for an opinion on the management team. Sure the Admirals management team isn’t the most experienced one but everyone has to start somewhere and I think that the Admirals deserve a fair chance and perhaps more than one or two seasons of time to work out all the bits and bobs before making full judgment on their competence. I do think that the Admirals will eventually work things out and that perhaps Reed Laing made a rash decision but then again, Reed Laing is a known friend of former SHL players such as Tyler Seguin and Hall Of Fame member Chris Partlow, so perhaps his friends advised him about what to do next with her career. And who wouldn’t take advice from former players, especially a hall of famer? You’d be a fool not to listen to those guys. Of course Laing grew up as a Renegades fan and she may want to go back to the team she already betrayed once. More on that later.

This buyout was the best solution for both sides and its obvious when you look at how both sides see nothing but positive things in the futures. The Admirals get more capspace due to this buyout and Reed Laing can go to either the Renegades, Chiefs, Jets, North Stars or Platoon (the five teams she has previously listed as her most desirable free agency destinations) to further her career. But what’s curious about that list is the fact that the Renegades and the Chiefs both finished lower in the standings than the Admirals, who finished third last. The most obvious choice for Laing are the Renegades if it wasn’t for the fact that she already crossed them once. It is unclear whether the Renegades would be willing to offer her a contract again as they left their separate ways on rather rocky roads. The Minnesota Chiefs finished the season second last but that doesn’t seem to bother Laing, suggesting that perhaps the, according to Laing, “incompetence” of the Admirals management team was the biggest reason she wanted to pursue free agency, with her love for the Renegades coming in second. But the Chiefs are also a developing team and they could easily burst into the playoff scene in a season or two so its not totally unexpected that Laing listed the Chiefs as a possible destination.

While the Winnipeg Jets are a much more successful team than the Renegades or the Chiefs (at least they were this past season), this is not the reason Laing listed them as a possible destination. It has been rumored for a while now that Laing is a friend of Jets forward Luke Flemming both on the streets and in the sheets. It would definitely be interesting to see if they would have any extra chemistry on the ice and on the same line, assuming such rumors are true.

The fact that Reed Laing has already in her short career gone through two SHL teams, the Renegades and the Admirals, shouldn’t count negatively towards her. Ryan Vas of course infamously made, in my opinion, much bigger mistakes in his career and he’s still around. Sure he didn’t stab anyone in the back or request to be bought out but at one point you were hard pressed to find even one person who would have had something positive to say about Vas. And even despite all of this, Vas has rebounded well and is in a good position to have a tremendous career in the SHL. Reed Laing has plenty of people who have positive things to say about her, at least about her play on the ice, so it shouldn’t take long at all for some reason to jump the shark and sign Laing to a contract. Only time will tell when that will happen but if I had to guess, players like Reed Laing don’t stay out on free agency for long. Nice guys (and girls) don’t often finish first and Reed Laing has certainly embraced this attitude. Look out for a team to sign Reed Laing for extra depth in order to try and ensure a deep run in the playoffs. Plenty of teams need a player like Reed Laing and she will have plenty of options to choose from when the offers start coming in.

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