After two days of hemming and hawing, a reluctant Alexander Mogilny took the money and ran to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Russian right winger was holding out for an offer to remain with the New Jersey Devils, an offer that never floated his way.
So the unrestricted free agent settled for the Maple Leafs, signing a four-year, $22-million (all figures U.S.) deal.
The Devils wanted a shorter term deal for Mogilny and refused to throw the kind of dollars the Maple Leafs were tossing his way.
"I was not going to sacrifice a significant amount of change. I wanted to stay in New Jersey. I won't lie to you. But it didn't work out," said Mogilny, who received a $300,000-a-year increase from $5.2-million last season.
"It wasn't an easy decision."
Mogilny, 32, loved living in the large Russian community in New York area. He also was hesitant to move his wife Natalia and their two young children, Alex Jr. and Anna, for the second time since being dealt to the Devils on March 14, 2000, by the Vancouver Canucks.
Mogilny, a 12-year veteran, is a streaky offensive player who learned a commitment to the defensive part of the game with the Devils. New Jersey fans soured with the sniper when, after enjoying a two-goal, five-point night in Game 2 of the Devils-Maple Leafs Eastern Conference semi-final series, he went another 14 playoff games before scoring again.
The speculation was Mogilny tired of the limelight in Vancouver and as a result would not choose Toronto because of the tall expectations here.
"It was a big part of the decision to come to Toronto," admitted Mogilny, who scored 43 goals last season. "If I'm a rookie, it would have played a bigger part.
"But now that I've been in the league a few years, it is not a big issue any more."
Which Mogilny will wear a Maple Leafs sweater? A 40-goal scorer or the guy who had only 14 goals three seasons ago with Vancouver?
"I hope I can score more, but I can't promise," he said. "I don't like to open up my mouth before I do anything.
"But I can score 50. I'm not making any predictions, but I know I'm capable of it."
Both Mogilny and Toronto coach and general manager Pat Quinn denied there was friction between the two when Mogilny played for Quinn in Vancouver.
The Maple Leafs claim that Mogilny was next on their free-agent list after the Colorado Avalanche re-signed centre Joe Sakic and defenceman Rob Blake. But they also struck out in their bids for defenceman Mathieu Schneider, who re-signed with the Los Angeles Kings, and centre Pierre Turgeon, who bolted the St. Louis Blues for the Dallas Stars.
The Maple Leafs also signed 21-year-old Swedish goalie Mikael Tellqvist, a 2000 third-round pick, to a three-year, $1.5-million contract. Quinn is banking on the Swede to become the team's backup goalie. Veteran Glenn Healy was placed on waivers for the purpose of buying out the final year of his deal that would pay him $450,000.
The Mogilny transaction was the first significant move by a Canadian club during the first three days of heavy spending in the free-agent season.
"A few years ago, we said Canadian teams can't compete for the top guys, but maybe we can with the second- or third-tier guys," Quinn said. "But now, even that's getting out of range."
The Maple Leafs would still like to add a defenceman, possibly Gary Suter, 37. The San Jose Sharks opted not to pick up a $4-million option on his contract to try to sign him at a cheaper price next season.
In other moves around the league yesterday, Dallas agreed to a contract with free-agent left wing Valeri Kamensky; enforcer Rob Ray re-signed with the Buffalo Sabres and Mike Sullivan re-signed a one-year deal worth $600,000 with the Phoenix Coyotes. The Columbus Blue Jackets are close to signing unrestricted free-agent centre Mike Sillinger.