|
|
Bloggers 
My HockeyBuzz
 Hockeybuzz on Versus
Cap Central
Fantasy
Forums
Store
Chat
RSS
|
Season Ticket Login Free Registration! |
Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 |
 |
|
Nashville Predators Blogger • Predators Radio Network •
Welcome to the bad old days… Remember? Back when teams would throw silly money at players that may or may not deserve it? The lockout and the new CBA was supposed to fix this…
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury I submit to you, exhibits A through G…
Mattias Ohlund – 7 years / $26.5 million – Tampa Bay
Marian Hossa – 12 years / $62.8 million – Chicago
Nikolai Khabibulin – 4 years / $15 million – Edmonton
Mike Cammalleri – 5 years / $30 million – Montreal
Marian Gaborik – 5 years / $37.5 million – New York Rangers
Brian Gionta – 5 years / $25 million – Montreal
Martin Havlat – 6 years / $30 million – Minnesota
I have heard several NHL GM’s quoted as saying that they were hoping their peers wouldn’t go crazy during this free agent season… so much for that hope. With the knowledge that revenues (and the salary cap) is at serious risk over the next few years, I sincerely wonder what the heck these guys are thinking.
Let’s look at a couple of the teams specifically as they stand right now…
Montreal – The Habs have almost 39 million wrapped up in 8 players in each of the next two seasons… add another 3 million in goaltending for this year plus another 6 million committed to for another 6 players… Cap trouble may be coming unless they hide some high salaries in the AHL… and let’s face it, the rich teams can do this… Most NHL GM’s are scratching their heads (and some are quite upset) over Bob Gainey talking on Scott Gomez’s stupid NYR contract…
Chicago - The Blackhawks appear to be going all-in this season. The signing of Marian Hossa being the big story in the Windy City… but the real issue will be beyond this 2009-2010. As Chicago stands right now, they only have 8 players signed past the upcoming season with 6 RFA’s. That 2010 RFA list includes Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Jack Skille, Adam Burish and Duncan Keith. This is another team with monster money being taken up by only a few players. The 8 players signed for 2010 account for almost $32 million and that does not include Kane and Toews… If the cap drops like the NHL says it will, this could be a team in serious cap trouble… and there may be some special players available.
New York Rangers - The Ranger unload a stupid contract, only to bring on Marian Gaborik. A player that can be special, but has shown a fragility that should worry Blueshirt fans. $7 million a year is a lot for this kind of player. Another team with a lot of money wrapped up in a few questionable contracts… Namely Gaborik, Drury, Rozsival and Redden… not to mention almost $7 million in Lunqvist, spending $32 million on five players for the next three seasons… and I won’t even mention the $2 million for Sean Avery.
Philadelphia - The Flyers only have about $2 million left against the cap for 2009-2010. They actually appear to be in good shape for this season, but serious worry is warranted for 2010. $36 million is already committed to 7 players, Chris Pronger will be a UFA, as will Ray Emery. Braydon Coburn, Ryan Parent and Daniel Carcillo will be RFA’s. Unless Bob Gainey is willing to help out the Flyers next season, there could be cap problems for GM Paul Holmgren.
These are only a few of the cap troubled teams in the league. All of these teams will have the capability to hide a troubled contract in the AHL if needed, and if they don’t mind seeing that money go out the window. A loophole that I’m surprised that more of the less moneywise teams don’t take advantage of more often.
The silly season continues… and the gulf between the big contracts and the small gets wider…
---------------------------------
TSN is reporting that the Chicago Blackhawks may have messed up big time on their RFA qualifying offers to six RFA’s…
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283634
I seriously wonder what the fallout may be from this.
---------------------------------
You are invited to follow me on Twitter. Search for PredPAPaul… Not only will I be updating when I get news or updates… I’ll also be updating during Pred home games in season with information and explanations from the PA box.
---------------------------------
HockeyBuzz Radio is on hiatus until October… we’ll be weighing on conditioning camp and may even put up a podcast or two during the summer. Keep checking in at www.hockeybuzzradio.com for the latest on the upcoming season and regular columns from hockey writer Mark McGee.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury I submit to you, exhibits A through G…
Mattias Ohlund – 7 years / $26.5 million – Tampa Bay
Marian Hossa – 12 years / $62.8 million – Chicago
Nikolai Khabibulin – 4 years / $15 million – Edmonton
Mike Cammalleri – 5 years / $30 million – Montreal
Marian Gaborik – 5 years / $37.5 million – New York Rangers
Brian Gionta – 5 years / $25 million – Montreal
Martin Havlat – 6 years / $30 million – Minnesota
I have heard several NHL GM’s quoted as saying that they were hoping their peers wouldn’t go crazy during this free agent season… so much for that hope. With the knowledge that revenues (and the salary cap) is at serious risk over the next few years, I sincerely wonder what the heck these guys are thinking.
Let’s look at a couple of the teams specifically as they stand right now…
Montreal – The Habs have almost 39 million wrapped up in 8 players in each of the next two seasons… add another 3 million in goaltending for this year plus another 6 million committed to for another 6 players… Cap trouble may be coming unless they hide some high salaries in the AHL… and let’s face it, the rich teams can do this… Most NHL GM’s are scratching their heads (and some are quite upset) over Bob Gainey talking on Scott Gomez’s stupid NYR contract…
Chicago - The Blackhawks appear to be going all-in this season. The signing of Marian Hossa being the big story in the Windy City… but the real issue will be beyond this 2009-2010. As Chicago stands right now, they only have 8 players signed past the upcoming season with 6 RFA’s. That 2010 RFA list includes Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Jack Skille, Adam Burish and Duncan Keith. This is another team with monster money being taken up by only a few players. The 8 players signed for 2010 account for almost $32 million and that does not include Kane and Toews… If the cap drops like the NHL says it will, this could be a team in serious cap trouble… and there may be some special players available.
New York Rangers - The Ranger unload a stupid contract, only to bring on Marian Gaborik. A player that can be special, but has shown a fragility that should worry Blueshirt fans. $7 million a year is a lot for this kind of player. Another team with a lot of money wrapped up in a few questionable contracts… Namely Gaborik, Drury, Rozsival and Redden… not to mention almost $7 million in Lunqvist, spending $32 million on five players for the next three seasons… and I won’t even mention the $2 million for Sean Avery.
Philadelphia - The Flyers only have about $2 million left against the cap for 2009-2010. They actually appear to be in good shape for this season, but serious worry is warranted for 2010. $36 million is already committed to 7 players, Chris Pronger will be a UFA, as will Ray Emery. Braydon Coburn, Ryan Parent and Daniel Carcillo will be RFA’s. Unless Bob Gainey is willing to help out the Flyers next season, there could be cap problems for GM Paul Holmgren.
These are only a few of the cap troubled teams in the league. All of these teams will have the capability to hide a troubled contract in the AHL if needed, and if they don’t mind seeing that money go out the window. A loophole that I’m surprised that more of the less moneywise teams don’t take advantage of more often.
The silly season continues… and the gulf between the big contracts and the small gets wider…
---------------------------------
TSN is reporting that the Chicago Blackhawks may have messed up big time on their RFA qualifying offers to six RFA’s…
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283634
I seriously wonder what the fallout may be from this.
---------------------------------
You are invited to follow me on Twitter. Search for PredPAPaul… Not only will I be updating when I get news or updates… I’ll also be updating during Pred home games in season with information and explanations from the PA box.
---------------------------------
HockeyBuzz Radio is on hiatus until October… we’ll be weighing on conditioning camp and may even put up a podcast or two during the summer. Keep checking in at www.hockeybuzzradio.com for the latest on the upcoming season and regular columns from hockey writer Mark McGee.
Join the Discussion:  |
 |