Half a billion in signings...

[PlumberKhan]

http://www.habsinsideout.com/2007/07...tire_nhl_seas/

The NHL lockout was supposed to restore a degree of fiscal sanity to the NHL, right? And in so doing perhaps restore a little good faith between the league and its players – remember "Thank You Fans" stencilled outside the blue lines? – and the money-gouged if unfailingly loyal spectators.

So since Sunday noon, NHL clubs have spent a half-billion – billion – dollars on salaries, locking up players for as long as eight years with strategies that have defied explanation, common sense and logic on many fronts.

So long as we lost a season of hockey for a good reason.

What the hell is going on?!

OK...I may be a bit bitter after seeing my team lose both co-captians, but isn't this the same greed-fest that the lock-out was supposed to change? Kudos to the Rangers for Drury and Gomez...hope it works out for you(not)...

Once again, we have the big market teams signing the majority of the talent with big front loaded contracts.

[Jordy]

Originally Posted by PlumberKhan

http://www.habsinsideout.com/2007/07...tire_nhl_seas/



What the hell is going on?!

OK...I may be a bit bitter after seeing my team lose both co-captians, but isn't this the same greed-fest that the lock-out was supposed to change? Kudos to the Rangers for Drury and Gomez...hope it works out for you(not)...

Once again, we have the big market teams signing the majority of the talent with big front loaded contracts.

What's everybody whining about? The lockout was about a SALARY CAP. The league and the owners wanted it and the players didn't. Finally, the players relented. Now we have a salary cap. The Rangers have been rebuilding the last 2 years using less expensive players/salaries with prudent trades and signings. They were WELL under the cap. They saw an opportunity to add arguably the two best centers available. A position they were weak at and had very little depth in the organization. So they went for it and rightly so. They wanted Nylander but at 35 years old, they didn't want to give him 4 years. They signed Drury and Gomez to contracts that will basically end when they are both 35. Nothing wrong with that. Jagr is on the tail end of his career and they want to win it this year or next. I will say this. the Gomez deal is higher than I expected and I think it's a bit out of whack considering he's more of a playmaker than a scorer. But the bottom line is, there IS a salary cap and every team has to play within it. The Rangers are doing that . This is nothing compared to the insanity of the $9M they gave Holik several years ago.

[Jordy]

You think Drury, Gomez, Briere signed insane contracts? Well, here are some signings where I think players were overpaid with out of whack contracts:

Brian Rafalski (33)--5yrs/$30M
Mathieu Schneider (38)--2yrs/$11.25M
Michal Handzus (30)--4yrs/$16M
Roman Hamrlik (33)--4yrs/$22M
Robert Lang (36)--2yrs/$8M

I'm shocked to read that the Flyers traded Joni Pitkanen and Geoff Sanderson for Jason Smith and Lupul. The Flyers will greatly regret that move. Did Booby Clarke sneak back into the front office?

[Bay Ridge Jet]

front loaded contracts are a hell of a drug

[Jordy]

Thanks to Edmonton, the Sabres had to pony up over $7M per year to keep Thomas Vanek. Wow.

[UncleRico82]

Originally Posted by Jordy

Thanks to Edmonton, the Sabres had to pony up over $7M per year to keep Thomas Vanek. Wow.

But, they also get a very young, very good player for 7 years...Lord knows they probably couldnt have negotiated a 7 year contract on their own...They had to do it, but I am not upset about it....We had the space, and it was clear we were not going to make any big name FA splashes anyway...we were 10 mil under the minimum cap, so there goes 7 of it there...count up the 3 or 4 that Roy will probably get, and we'll still be in good shape.

Kind of interested to see what happens with Lundqvist for the Rangers with arbitration...at least I thought that I read that he was heading there...I am thinking they will award him somewhere in the 3.5-4.0 mil range, since that is what your Cam Ward / Marty Biron / Ryan Miller goalies have been going for, and his stats are in the same ballpark...Will be interesting since, if he goes to arbitration, the Rangers can't let him go to arbitration again next year per the CBA, so he will be making that much this year, and if he has a superb year in NY, he will be in for a BIG increase next year...Unless someone comes in and wants to give up all those picks and stuff to lure him away.

[Jordy]

Originally Posted by Ken O'Brien #7

But, they also get a very young, very good player for 7 years...Lord knows they probably couldnt have negotiated a 7 year contract on their own...They had to do it, but I am not upset about it....We had the space, and it was clear we were not going to make any big name FA splashes anyway...we were 10 mil under the minimum cap, so there goes 7 of it there...count up the 3 or 4 that Roy will probably get, and we'll still be in good shape.

Kind of interested to see what happens with Lundqvist for the Rangers with arbitration...at least I thought that I read that he was heading there...I am thinking they will award him somewhere in the 3.5-4.0 mil range, since that is what your Cam Ward / Marty Biron / Ryan Miller goalies have been going for, and his stats are in the same ballpark...Will be interesting since, if he goes to arbitration, the Rangers can't let him go to arbitration again next year per the CBA, so he will be making that much this year, and if he has a superb year in NY, he will be in for a BIG increase next year...Unless someone comes in and wants to give up all those picks and stuff to lure him away.

Interesting indeed. The Rangers opted for arbitration before the deadline Friday so no other team can come in now and offer Lundqvist a contract. I believe the Rangers have offered him in the neighborhood of $5M per but not sure how many years are involved. Don Meehan is his agent and I remember the Rangers have had difficulty with him in the past. I read that Lundqvist was happy with the Gomez/Drury signings. I'm hoping they hammer out a deal before they go to arbitration. Arbitration hearings can lead to hurt feelings and no one needs that.

[UncleRico82]

Originally Posted by Jordy

Interesting indeed. The Rangers opted for arbitration before the deadline Friday so no other team can come in now and offer Lundqvist a contract. I believe the Rangers have offered him in the neighborhood of $5M per but not sure how many years are involved. Don Meehan is his agent and I remember the Rangers have had difficulty with him in the past. I read that Lundqvist was happy with the Gomez/Drury signings. I'm hoping they hammer out a deal before they go to arbitration. Arbitration hearings can lead to hurt feelings and no one needs that.

I agree...just be glad you didnt have 12 guys all going to arbitration like the Swords did last year...That was rediculous.

The following was from the hockeybuzz.com blog...Sounds like it could get a little tight for NY. But, it is hockeybuzz, so take it for what it's worth.

Look for Buffalo to be paying close atention the Lundqvist negs in NYC.

The Blueshirts have filed for team--option Arb on Lundqvist, and they will have to pay him in the $6 million range. No free lunches for Slats!

Signing Lundqvist and Shanny will put the Rangers at or near their cap.

This will leave Matt Cullen as the Rangers' odd man out at centre.

Buffalo would be very wise to snatch up Cullen, if at all possible.

The guy has won a Cup, he tough, plays an honest two way game, and can give you 25+ goals.

Bufffalo will have avaiable cap for Cullen, even after they've signed Roy, Paetsch and Paille to new deals.

[Bay Ridge Jet]

Losing Cullen would be interesting, I wonder if they would give Immomen a shot? What do you think Jordy?

[Jordy]

Originally Posted by Bay Ridge Jet

Losing Cullen would be interesting, I wonder if they would give Immomen a shot? What do you think Jordy?

Well, first of all, I can't see Lundqvist getting $6M per. That's more than what Brodeur makes ($5.2M). The $5M level seems realistic. Secondly, I see them doing an incentive-laden deal for Shanny that is cap friendly. Shanny wants to be here and I think he'll take a salary hit if it means helping the team get everyone signed. And the Rangers will reward him with playing incentive compensation that he's likely to hit. I understand that the Rangers have around $10M-11M in cap space, not the $9M being reported. So:

Lundqvist: $5.00M
Shanny: $2.75-3M
Avery: $1.75M
Hossa: $1.00M

$10.50-10.75M

We'll see.

[Bay Ridge Jet]

Originally Posted by Jordy

Well, first of all, I can't see Lundqvist getting $6M per. That's more than what Brodeur makes ($5.2M). The $5M level seems realistic. Secondly, I see them doing an incentive-laden deal for Shanny that is cap friendly. Shanny wants to be here and I think he'll take a salary hit if it means helping the team get everyone signed. And the Rangers will reward him with playing incentive compensation that he's likely to hit. I understand that the Rangers have around $10M-11M in cap space, not the $9M being reported. So:

Lundqvist: $5.00M
Shanny: $2.75-3M
Avery: $1.75M
Hossa: $1.00M

$10.50-10.75M

We'll see.

They can cheat the cheap with Shannahan. They will probably give him a base 2 million salary along with a 3 million dollar bonus that is allowed for a player his age/longevity(not sure which) and not a dime of the bonus counts as a cap hit. As for Avery, I think he would get about 2 mill at arbatration and Hossa looks about right. Finally, I really doubt Lundqvist doesnt leave this offseason without a long term deal in place.

[UncleRico82]

Originally Posted by Bay Ridge Jet

They can cheat the cheap with Shannahan. They will probably give him a base 2 million salary along with a 3 million dollar bonus that is allowed for a player his age/longevity(not sure which) and not a dime of the bonus counts as a cap hit. As for Avery, I think he would get about 2 mill at arbatration and Hossa looks about right. Finally, I really doubt Lundqvist doesnt leave this offseason without a long term deal in place.

Here is the tough thing that you face when you start pushing the cap to it's limits...If players start getting hurt, you may not be able to afford to bring guys up to replace them...like the situation that Buffalo was in last season. Had Tim Connolly not been out since the start of the season, they would have been 3 or 4 guys down at one point in the season because of the injury / lack of salary cap situation. There were points that they were playing with the same couple hundred thousand dollars by playing Stafford on days that they had games, and then sending him down to the minors on the off days to save money...it was rediculous...

The only thing they can hope is that, let's say Lundy gets 5 mil in arbitration. The best they can hope for is that he says "Ok, 5 mil is a fair price, and I want to stay on this team, so I will sign for exactly that amount." Or, you get what I refer to as the "Danny Briere" arbitration, where you get 5 mil and say "If I am getting 5 mil now, imagine what someone else will pay me..." The way the salaries are getting now, you are getting all of these teams that are going out and buying a franchise this year, but in a couple of years, they may be strapped enough that they can't afford to sign your 15-25 goal role players. And I think that it has shown that those are the core of any hockey team.

Here is the way I feel about this offseason. The Cap went up WAY too much, WAY too quick. What this did, because of their cap situations, gave the big market teams like your Rangers, Flyers etc. the ability to load up on talent and offer the same big amounts as everyone else with room. Take the Drury situation for instance. Drury loved Buffalo, he said so himself. When he got the offer from New York, he was offered the same thing to stay in Buffalo. Darcy gave him the opportunity to stay, and he told him flat out that he had the opportunity to play in NY and that is what he wanted to do. Any person would do the same thing...Stay in Buffalo, where it's very laid back and more rural, or go to New York City where there is so much to do, it's rediculous...Easy choice. Let's face it, Buffalo and NY had pretty much the same talent, you could see that from their series in the playoffs...it was a deathmatch. Their fans are also both on the same level...top notch fans...but, there is an aura about playing in the Garden, and living in NYC.

Now, there are reasonings behind this cap increase for me. I think that it was pretty obvious that if it went up this fast that the big markets would thrive, and we all know that is the best thing for the NHL. The NHL's best hope is for the Rangers, Red Wings, and a bunch of canadian teams to be the best teams in the league this year. Bigger markets mean more fans attending games, mean more money for the league, means that the Cap keeps going up, and it keeps going up without a real great revenue sharing plan. But here is where it could backfire...

What if the Rangers flop? Maybe Lundy doesn't have as good of a year, and the chemistry just isn't there...What if the Flyers are just as bad this year? What if some of these teams don't do as well as the NHL hopes? Without a REAL National TV contract, the NHL doesn't get as much play as it used to. Sure, we as the die-hards will watch...we'll find a way because we love it. But that isn't what the NHL needs...they need to build a casual fan base to keep attendance up.

So maybe this plan won't backfire this year, but let's say in 2-3 years none of these big markets have won cups...fans get angry because salaries will continue to increase due to the precedents that have been set, and the performance on the ice have not got the job done...Revenue goes down, and all of a sudden the NHL comes out on July 1 a few years from now and says, "Hey...Sorry guys, the Cap is going to go down . I think it is a VERY real possibility that this happens within 5 years, especially if the big markets are not winning Cups and bringing the fans in like they need to do. Now all of a sudden the teams that spent all this money are sweating it out and having to either dump the expensive players, or lose your core talent...

It is worrysome for me being a hockey fan, but it is also why I am not as upset with Buffalo not spending to the Cap...They have done a good job through the draft, and have an Excellent minor league system, and am sure they will continue to promote from within...

Thoughts?