Chapter Text
The catalyst was a dubious—but still technically legal—negotiation strategy cooked up by Farah.
Shane’s agent will claim that it was the MLH’s own rules and regulations that inspired her and that she just kept the trend going. Because Shane, just like every rookie drafted at eighteen, just like Ilya Rozanov, was subject to a standard three-year contract. When the rookie years were done and it came time for negotiating a “real” contract, it wasn’t abnormal for players in the same draft year to have their agencies send out feelers to see what their competition was getting. MLH teams were no strangers to getting hit with ‘well it seems Mr. So-And-So of the Los Angeles Queens was signed for two years longer, and yet averages less points than my client,’ or ‘Mr. Good Press has not had a fraction of the bad publicity of Mr. Sin Bin, but Mr. Sin Bin is still receiving five million more from the St. Louis Azures.’
What was abnormal, however, was using that information to match another player’s contract, rather than surpass it.
“Rozanov is an excellent measuring stick, and one I wouldn’t recommend deviating from anytime soon,” Farah told Shane and Yuna in the quiet board room they had claimed, “There are very few, perhaps no, other players that come close to your caliber, Mr. Hollander. As such, I would recommend keeping an eye on the details of Mr. Rozanov’s extension, specifically length and average yearly income. If either of you hear those exact details, I think I can better leverage them to ensure Montreal isn’t underpaying you.”
And this is where the negotiation strategy dips into the dubiously legal territory. Because Farah asking after other contracts for players of similar value? That was simply research. Shane asking Ilya for his contract details in between handjobs with the express purpose of using those details to secure his own payout? That could possibly be considered collusion, and Shane could very well be in major hot water if anyone ever found out.
But Shane was also a creature of order who loved and cherished his rules and measuring sticks and systems. So he resolved to be careful and ensure no one found out he was intentionally meeting Rozanov’s contracts tit for tat.
When Ilya Rozanov got signed to the Raiders for another four years at $7,500,000 USD per year, Shane asked for four years and $8,250,000 USD from the Metros. When the Metros wanted to re-sign Shane in 2016 after two back-to-back Stanley Cups, he hyped Ilya up and convinced him to ask for five years and $9,500,000 USD rather than the two-year extension he initially planned. If that just so happened to align with his own five years and $10,000,000 USD from the Metros, then that was between him, Farah, and his mom.
Shane’s contract plan almost completely backfired on him in 2017 after Ilya and he sat down to coordinate Shane’s plan with the ever-competent momager Yuna Hollander.
“I was going to go to Ottawa right away, but still have four years left in Boston,” Ilya explained, “And even if I waive no-trade clause and ask for trade, Boston would not trade me if they can help it. They know I am best player in the league and Ottawa has nothing worth me. I would tell Shane to go to Ottawa first, but his contract ends same time as mine. Funny how these things work.”
“Yes,” Yuna said, staring down Shane. He could see it in her eyes that she had ultimately put together exactly how he got his rival’s salary details weeks before any official announcement was made. “Funny.”
Shane squirmed but pushed through his embarrassment and continued to outline their modified plan. The Irina Foundation is workshopped and officially launched in early 2018. The first camps are hosted in Montreal, Boston, and Ottawa that following summer. J.J. and Hayden both tease Shane about ‘breaking bread with Rozanov,’ but they still sign on to be coaches along with Cliff Marleau, Ryan Carmichael, Victor St.-Simon, and Connor Connors of the Boston Raiders, and various other players that Shane and Ilya recruit from other teams.
Since he’s not playing with a Canadian team, Ilya has to spend every spare weekend, break, and summer day in Canada to meet his permanent residency requirements. It’s a close call, but he finally reaches the minimum resident days in December of 2020, and Ilya gets his green card in February of 2021.
It couldn’t have come at a better time because in March, Shane’s best friend accidentally outs them to the world.
*****
It’s a nightmare. A complete and utter clusterfuck.
Between the Metros’ hostility in the locker room and cold shoulders on the ice, Crowell trying to threaten him and Ilya back into the closet, and endless comments from fans, sportscasters, and sponsors alike, Shane almost completely disassociates for the rest of the season. His playing doesn’t suffer for it, thankfully. There are, however, quite a few games played in nothing but Hockey Robot Mode.
Even that isn’t enough to completely save him, though. An unlucky trip in Game 7 of the playoffs has the Metros’ season close on a loss to Boston. That alone was bad, but the fact that it had been Ilya who had benefitted and gotten the game-winning goal….
“Fuck them. Fuck all of them,” Hayden said as he helped Shane clean out his defaced locker. Slurs and insults had been carved and inked onto almost every available surface, and no piece of gear or other personal item was left unmarred. Even his stick tape didn’t escape; someone had taken the time to pull it from the roll, wadded it up into a ball, and stomped it down for good measure.
Shane just stares at the destruction and quietly asks, “Is it even worth playing hockey?”
Hayden whips his head around so fast, Shane’s surprised he didn’t break his neck. “No. No. Don’t you dare let these bastards ruin hockey for you. Whatever team you join is going to be so much better, I promise.”
“But you can’t!” Shane exclaimed, collapsing onto the bench, “You can’t promise that, Hayd! The Metros drafted me, they gave me the captaincy, I led them to three Stanley Cups, and they’re still treating me like this! I wanted to—I planned to retire on this team. I planned to see my jersey hanging from the rafters of the Bell Centre, and now….”
Hayden sat next to him, knocking their knees together. Shane accepted the silent question for what it was and opened his arms. His best friend pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.
“And now you’re going to find a team that’ll treat you so much better, make the playoffs from now until your legs give out on the ice, and win twice as many cups with guys who’ll actually have your back,” Hayden said easily, “And hopefully in two years you’ll put in a good word for me so I can follow.”
“That’s a given.”
“I’d hope so.” Hayden chuckled and pulled out of the hug. “I kind of have to ask, though, aren’t you just going to Boston? Wouldn’t your fiance’s team be the obvious pick? Or are the Raiders just as bad as the Metros?”
“No. No, Ilya says the Raiders have been great. It’s just… I don’t know. Montreal was mostly fine when they knew I was gay, but it was like the second I had a partner, they became the world’s biggest assholes. Like if I was single, they could pretend I was still straight, or something. I don’t want to go to Boston and have that same experience of the other players going full homophobe once they realize I’m gay in a way they can’t easily ignore. Plus, I haven’t really asked about their cap space. I don’t even know if they can afford both of us.”
“You’re a free agent. If you wanted to, you could make it work salary-wise.”
“Ilya’s a free agent, too. If he wanted to, he could just follow me to whatever team I pick.”
“Huh. Rozanov’s contract is up? What’re the odds? Lucky you.”
Shane had to try very hard to keep a straight face.
“Regardless,” Hayden continued, “It’s not like you’re in some type of rush. You have the rest of the season and all of the summer to research and interview and do whatever else you need to to find the perfect team for you and your man. All you really have to worry about right now is letting the world know you’re on the market. Now c’mon. Let’s get this cleaned up and watch your man put the first nail in the coffin of Toronto’s playoff dreams.”
Farah, Shane, and his mom have a statement drafted by the end of the first period of the Boston v. Toronto game. By the end of the second, Shane posts it to all of his social media platforms and turns off his phone to focus on cheering for Ilya. By the end of the third and final period, after Boston’s secured a 4-1 victory with his fiance receiving two goals and an assist, the internet has taken note and is in the middle of imploding over the implications. By the time the Raiders are done showering and are pulled for post-game press, everyone with even a passing interest in professional hockey knows that Shane Hollander is an Unrestricted Free Agent looking for a new team.
Everyone except for the two professional hockey teams that just got off the ice, didn’t have a chance to check their phones, and were thus unaware until a reporter asked Ilya Rozanov what he thought of his partner’s new free agency status.
Shane watched live as Ilya blinked stupidly, took a few seconds to process, and then quickly answered into the mic. This interview would gain millions of views over the coming months and would be cited as the source of the most chaotic social media rollercoaster the MLH ever had.
No one knew it then, but the Great MLH Seduction had officially begun.