NHL Off-Season News

[Sal]

Heck, someone has to do it!


Since the playoffs ended a couple of weeks ago, the NHL heads into what is expected to be a busy summer especially since the free agency period begins tomorrow. A lot of big names should find new teams while those who get left behind struggle with the leftovers, much like the NHL's attempt to find a big US network to carry their games. Anyway, here's what's happened off the ice so far.


June 6 --- Anaheim Ducks win Stanley Cup. Anaheim captain Scott Niedermayer is named playoff MVP and wins the Conn Smythe Trophy.

June 14 --- NHL Awards Night. The NHL names its annual award winners. The big winners include: Sidney Crosby (Hart Trophy, regular season MVP); Martin Brodeur (Vezina Trophy, best goalie); Nicklas Lidstrom (Norris Trophy; best defenseman); and Evgeni Malkin (Calder Trophy, rookie of the year).

June 18 --- The first major off-season trade. The Nashville Predators trade Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for draft picks. This is the first step in what is expected to be a large, and potentially ugly, dismantling of the Predators. Rumors of the team's impending sale and potential re-location have dominated the headlines in Canada. Not surprisingly, once again Commisioner Gary Bettman has been painted as the villain when he quickly steps in and immediately bashes any hopes of the team moving to Hamilton, Ontario, one of the largest hockey fan bases in Canada. Instead, more likely future locations include Las Vegas and Kansas City.

June 23 --- Patrick Kane becomes the first player selected in the annual NHL Draft by the Chicago BlackHawks. The draft itself lacks in excitement due to a weak overall crop in talent, and any player movement is limited to draft picks switching places. The big news comes before the draft when a couple of significant trades are made involving big-name goaltenders. The Nashville Predators continue their fire sale by moving their #1 goalie Tomas Vokoun to the Florida Panthers. The San Jose Sharks then trade goalie Vesa Toskala and forward Mark Bell to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

June 28 --- The Hockey Hall Of Fame announces its newest Honoured Members. The Class Of 2007 is one of the strongest ever. Joining the Hall this year are Mark Messier, Ron Francis, Scott Stevens, and Al MacInnis.

June 29 --- The NHL announces that the salary cap for 2007-08 will be $50.3 million, a big increase from the previous level of $44 million.

July 1 --- Free agency season begins today at 12 noon. Unrestricted free agent are free to sign new contracts with any team of their choice. Big names expected to move include Scott Gomez, Ryan Smyth, Daniel Briere, and Chris Drury. TSN in Canada will cover what they're calling Free Agent Frenzy at 11:00 am and will monitor any movement of players during what is expected to be a busy afternoon.

So will I. Check back here for further deatils.

[Mikado]

Originally Posted by Sal

This is the first step in what is expected to be a large, and potentially ugly, dismantling of the Predators. Rumors of the team's impending sale and potential re-location have dominated the headlines in Canada. Not surprisingly, once again Commisioner Gary Bettman has been painted as the villain when he quickly steps in and immediately bashes any hopes of the team moving to Hamilton, Ontario, one of the largest hockey fan bases in Canada. Instead, more likely future locations include Las Vegas and Kansas City.

Gary Bettman DESERVES to be called a villain, he works ONLY for American interests in the NHL, from his moving the league offices from Montreal where the NHL was founded ( in 1917 ) ,to NY ,to his constant promotion of NHL teams going to Southern US cities where no one gives a rats tail about the sport! He's constantly spitting in the face of all Canadian hockey fans and kissing US teams butts ( Look at the proposal to re-establish the salary cap at pre-lockout salary levels....meaning American teams will be able to outspend Canadian teams by leaps and bounds again ), in other words, to placate American owners, Bettman spits in the face of at least 75% of the most rabid fans of his own league!!! I remember how much I hated John Zeigler, but, at least he wasnt Betman!!!

[Mikado]

Btw , just so theres no missunderstanding here, if youre an American hockey FAN, i think thats cool! ; my beef is with Gary Bettman and the American owners who look at Canada and its fans as an afterthought ( if that ) !!

[mriggles]

my devils are off to a good start in free agency. They have in the first day lost Scott Gomez & brian Rafalski.... WAY TO GO LOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by mriggles

my devils are off to a good start in free agency. They have in the first day lost Scott Gomez & brian Rafalski.... WAY TO GO LOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MrIggles I may have a little trouble discussing football with you this upcoming season since you appear to have interest in all the NFL news I posted for NFL fans but you are EXCITED to hear about NHL News???? I mean come on-lol

[Brian Damage]

Originally Posted by mriggles

my devils are off to a good start in free agency. They have in the first day lost Scott Gomez & brian Rafalski.... WAY TO GO LOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LET's GO RANGERS!!!

[Lex Luthor]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/artic...02_100957_1192

What hath Bettman wrought?
July 02, 2007


Daniel Briere goes to the Philadelphia Flyers for $52 million over eight years. He'll receive a whopping $10 million in the first year alone.

Chris Drury and Scott Gomez go to the New York Rangers for six years and $35 million and seven years and $51.5 million respectively.

Ryan Smyth is off to the Colorado Avalanche for $31.25 million over five years and Jason Blake -Jason Blake for crying out loud- goes to the Toronto Maple Leafs for $20 million over five years.

On the surface it looks good for the likes of the Flyers and the Rangers and maybe even the Avalanche and the Maple Leafs in the short term, but what does this say about where the NHL is heading with yet another round of salary escalation with advantages for the richer teams and something considerably less for the lesser markets (which just happens to be the majority of NHL cities).

Now it's a given that no one talks about "a drag on salaries," the often laughed at proclamation the commissioner used to make every time former union chief Bob Goodenow whipped his backside at the bargaining table.

But wasn't this CBA, the one that did Goodenow in, broke the players association as a viable force in the sport and the one that promised cost certainty to legions of fans who sided with ownership against "greedy" players?

Wasn't this the deal that would put all teams on a competitive footing regarding payroll costs and therefore strike a competitive balance throughout two lands?

I'm sorry, did we miss something or did all that go out the same way of the promise of reduced ticket prices?

Do you think fans in Nashville are singing the praises of "a fair an equitable system for all" now that Paul Kariya is in St. Louis, Kimo Timonen and Scott Hartnell are in Philadelphia, Tomas Vokoun is in Florida and an owner that has lost money in every season is gutting his team to get to the minimum spending level while he awaits a sale that may never come?

Think anyone has broken into a chorus of "Happy Days are Here Again" in Buffalo now that co-captains, top scorers and team leaders Drury and Briere are gone despite the fact Sabres fan sold out the HSBC arena for every game and led the league in merchandise sold (or so they claimed for most of the season)?

Hey, I understand it's pro sports and it's a follow the money game, but isn't that the problem all over again? And, by the way, where is all this money coming from?

If the league was in such dire straits that if felt both the need (and the obligation as some said back then) to shut down for an entire season in order to regain fiscal sanity, well, where is it?

The year before the lockout, the Buffalo Sabres had a nice little team that appeared to be on the rise with a tidy and manageable payroll of about $30 million. Now a part of the reason for that was they had owners that were about to become convicted felons and they were struggling to get through a bankruptcy, but their salvation was thought to be new ownership in the form of billionaire Tom Gollisano who bought the team on the premise that Bettman was building a new economic order that would allow even small and mid-market teams to be competitive, hold on to their talent and, if they minded their dollars and signings, even make a profit.

In the season after the lockout, Gollisano's payroll rose to some $42 million and the year after that it rose to $44 million and that was after they had to accept a $5 million arbitration award for Briere and let No.1 defensive defenceman Jay McKee and power forward Mike Greir walk in free agency AND lose J.P. Dumont because the ran out of cap space and couldn't sign him.

It was worse in Nashville this time and last time I looked, things weren't going particularly well in Atlanta, Washington, Phoenix, Florida, Columbus or even in big-markets-Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston-with bad teams who can't seem to get better but keep raising ticket prices just to stay "competitive" in the free-agent marketplace.

And what was once a self-imposed ceiling on mid-market and small-market teams now won't even equal the commissioner's new floor. Just last week, the new minimum spending limit was announced at $34.3 million. That's a number that could doom a Phoenix or Washington or Columbus and it's certainly a stumbling block for any group of civic-minded people who want to try and keep a team in Nashville or who are struggling to get a new building built in Edmonton or on Long Island.

Now I don't normally get on a soap box for millionaires and billionaires, especially when the billionaire owner in Buffalo and the somewhat wealthy outgoing owner in Nashville are accepting revenue sharing checks from teams who didn't make the playoffs, but there is a case to be made here.

For instance, the Globe and Mail recently published calculations indicating that the so-called "cap" has risen by $11 million per club in just two seasons. From $39 million to $50.3 million for the upcoming season.

Now given that the players can only get 54 percent of the total league revenues in one season, and given that the NHL's television revenues, the lifeblood of most any successful pro sports league, are abysmal, one has to wonder exactly where all this new money is coming from.

Surely some comes from the never-ending parade of ticket price hikes since the lockout ended, but 30 clubs, $11 million per club, well, you do the math.

OK, too many zeroes. Well, the Globe did it for you and if the teams average just $45 million in salaries for next season, some $5 million below the cap, then the projected league revenue is $1.35 billion for next season.

But here's the kicker: That's pretty much the same amount as the league was taking in before the lockout. The problem with that is the big markets are capped, but still taking in tons of money that goes right into the profit column, but the smaller teams have to spend to a floor that some of them can't afford and still have to deal with a system that allows the bigger market clubs the necessary leeway to pick off the better players with more lucrative deals spread out over longer terms to minimize the cap hit in any one season.

That may come back to haunt those clubs in the future, but with a gap of $16-plus million between the ceiling and the floor, don't count on it happening anytime soon.

Under this CBA the rich get richer AND get to pick off the better players. The less rich will have to raise ticket prices in some markets just to get to the floor and in other markets just to be able to pay for arbitration awards that will be rising because of the new contracts being handed out to players who are jumping to teams with more cash on hand.

Imagine hiking ticket prices after you've just seen your best player bolt for a bigger market and you've got nothing in return.

Of course even those teams losing a star player will have to raise ticket prices to "absorb" the costs of securing their remaining players while the larger market teams will have to raise them to pay for their new players and to keep the profit margins they are now growing accustomed to and in the end, the inflationary cycle, the one that was supposed to be broken by this new CBA, is back and in an even high gear.

Don't know how you see it but from here, it looks like the same old NHL and now they're talking expansion?

Thanks a lot Gary.

[Sal]

I'm still flabbergasted by the size of those numbers. Here they are again, in a little more detail:


Daniel Briere: 8 years/$52 mil. with Philadelphia, $10 mil. in 2007-08, including a no movement clause! (Avg: 6.5 m./year)

Scott Gomez: 7 years/$51.5 mil. with the Rangers (Avg: 7.4 m./yr)

Chris Drury: 5 years/$35.25 mil. with the Rangers (Avg: 7.05 m/yr)

Paul Kariya (3 yrs./18 m. for Blues) and Ryan Smyth (Colorado: 5 yrs./31.25 m.) also signed for more than 6 million per year.


Off hand, I'd say Briere's totals are the most staggering. Even more remarkable is the no movement clause in his contract. This means that he can't be traded, demoted to the minors, have his contract bought out, sold to another team, or be removed from the Flyers payroll in any way. In other words, he's stuck in Philadelphia for the next 8 years, whether he or the Flyers like it or not! This is just as dumb as when the New York Islanders offered long-long-term contracts to Alexei Yashin (10 years/10 mil. per year) and Rick DiPietro (15 years!) and are just now, 6 years later, beginning to realize the gross error of their ways. I think Briere is a great player and deserves a big raise, but the Flyers overdid this big-time and this will hurt them in a few years, just like the Rangers greatly overspent for Drury and Gomez.


By comparison, Jason Blake signing with Toronto for only (?) 20 mil. total comes across as a huge bargain. For someone who scored 40 goals last season---more than all of the gentlemen I mentioned on top of this page---he's getting little more than half the money than the big names that signed elsewhere. The Leafs, like the Flyers and Rangers, have been accused in the recent past for overpaying on certain players, but, in this case, I'd say they did well.

[Mikado]

Originally Posted by TheAnalyzer

MrIggles I may have a little trouble discussing football with you this upcoming season since you appear to have interest in all the NFL news I posted for NFL fans but you are EXCITED to hear about NHL News???? I mean come on-lol

Hey Solomon, remember the rules about not coming into a thread to trash a show? Well, im sure that goes for a sport too....If you havent anything good to say about hockey, then why are you here?
This should be a place for hockey FANS!

[Mikado]

Originally Posted by Lex Luthor

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/artic...02_100957_1192

What hath Bettman wrought?
July 02, 2007

Yeah, that pretty much hits it on the head ( Its more or lesswhat i had to say a few days ago, but, with the stats and numbers to back it all up......Sadly, my Canadiens got shut out in the big time FA market (Despite offering Briere more than Phily did, for his services......I can tell you that a French Canadian who refused to play in Montreal wont be popular in the Bell Centre next year ) Looks like another long year in Habland.......thank gosh for the Bulldogs ( Montreals AHL farm team who won the 2007 Calder cup!!! clap: )

[Sal]

Originally Posted by Mikado

Yeah, that pretty much hits it on the head ( Its more or lesswhat i had to say a few days ago, but, with the stats and numbers to back it all up......Sadly, my Canadiens got shut out in the big time FA market (Despite offering Briere more than Phily did, for his services......I can tell you that a French Canadian who refused to play in Montreal wont be popular in the Bell Centre next year ) Looks like another long year in Habland.......thank gosh for the Bulldogs ( Montreals AHL farm team who won the 2007 Calder cup!!! clap: )

Today, the Habs were busy on the market, signing both defenseman Roman Hamrlik (4 yrs./22 mill.) and forward Bryan Smolinski. Yes, it will be a long year in Montreal. Boo hoo!


Other signings of note today:

Los Angeles signs Tom Preissing from Ottawa (4 yrs./11 mill.)

Washington signs Mikael Nylander from Rangers (4 yrs./19.5 mill.)

Anaheim Ducks sign Todd Bertuzzi to a 2 year contract worth 4 million. That's it! The dynasty is over!

The madness continues....

[Mikado]

Originally Posted by Sal

Today, the Habs were busy on the market, signing both defenseman Roman Hamrlik (4 yrs./22 mill.) and forward Bryan Smolinski. Yes, it will be a long year in Montreal. Boo hoo!


Other signings of note today:

Los Angeles signs Tom Preissing from Ottawa (4 yrs./11 mill.)

Washington signs Mikael Nylander from Rangers (4 yrs./19.5 mill.)

Anaheim Ducks sign Todd Bertuzzi to a 2 year contract worth 4 million. That's it! The dynasty is over!

The madness continues....

I knew about Hamrlik...Smolinski is news to me though Personally, what id REALLY like to see is Montreal dump that useless waste of a first round draft pick, Saku Koivu!

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by Mikado

Hey Solomon, remember the rules about not coming into a thread to trash a show? Well, im sure that goes for a sport too....If you havent anything good to say about hockey, then why are you here?
This should be a place for hockey FANS!

I'm just trying to see if MrIggles loves the NHL more than the NFL

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by Mikado

Hey Solomon, remember the rules about not coming into a thread to trash a show? Well, im sure that goes for a sport too....If you havent anything good to say about hockey, then why are you here?
This should be a place for hockey FANS!

I'm just trying to see if MrIggles loves the NHL more than the NFL

[Mikado]

According to his reply in favorite sport, he prefers the NFL