How so? Two of the most prominent members on his approved list of teams -- the Flyers and the Rangers -- now have less incentive to offer up major assets, because Parise signed out of conference, instead of with a division or even conference rival. I just don't see the Red Wings being a big player for Nash. Their blueline, as it stands right now, sucks, and they need to focus their assets on helping the blueline.

Although maybe Pittsburgh gets into the bidding for Nash now.

But I'm curious, why do you think the price for Nash has spiked?
- Pete V

Detroit was in on Suter and Pitt on Nash, With each going elsewhere, cap room available to be spent coupled with desire to improve and willingness to spend, in terms of prospects, means that each might be on Nash and/or Ryan. I expect the number of suitors for each to start creeping up there; same with Doan, and maybe more with him, since he will only cost money not players.

Or maybe he signs with Dallas. They need to sign another 40 year old.
- Pete V

maybe, but I love Teemu, my fantasy team when I had him was called Team Teemu and would give me a chance to wear my Finnish Selanne Olympic jersey if he came to NY

Do the Pens have the horses to get a Nash deal done? They are a great team, but they're top heavy. What NHL players would the Penguins trade for him? And I think the Rangers can certaintly match them from a prospect perspective.
- Pete V

Agreed, you would think after the playoffs they would have made d their #1 priority, talk about overrated pos's, Martin

Detroit was in on Suter and Pitt on Nash, With each going elsewhere, cap room available to be spent coupled with desire to improve and willingness to spend, in terms of prospects, means that each might be on Nash and/or Ryan. I expect the number of suitors for each to start creeping up there; same with Doan, and maybe more with him, since he will only cost money not players.
- airjan23

I don't know, Jan, Kenny Holland and Ray Shero are two very good NHL General Managers. They aren't going to make a stupid trade for Nash, because they are competing against other teams. A ridicolous asking price is a ridicolous asking price irrespective of the competion.

Plus, I don't think the Wings have the horses to get that type of deal done, while not leaving themselves naked on the blueline. The Wings would be better served checking in on Yandle. And Pittsburgh would probably be better off trying to improve their blueline as well.

The Flyers are the team that scare me most in that competition, insofar as Howson and Holmgren seems to like trading with each other, and Holmgren is always very aggressive.

Gord Miller ‏@GMillerTSN
The NHL has vowed to close that loophole, and warned teams that the transition rules would be harsh, but 14 teams have at least one of them.

---

Hmm?

I don't know, Jan, Kenny Holland and Ray Shero are two very good NHL General Managers. They aren't going to make a stupid trade for Nash, because they are competing against other teams. A ridicolous asking price is a ridicolous asking price irrespective of the competion.

Plus, I don't think the Wings have the horses to get that type of deal done, while not leaving themselves naked on the blueline. The Wings would be better served checking in on Yandle. And Pittsburgh would probably be better off trying to improve their blueline as well.

The Flyers are the team that scare me most in that competition, insofar as Howson and Holmgren seems to like trading with each other, and Holmgren is always very aggressive.
- Pete V

Pete, you may be right and agree Detroit should be in on Yandle. I think Howson will try and use the scarcity to his advantage with Suter and Parise now signed and hope someone bites at his asking price. Or at worse, he forces another team to up their offer.

Gord Miller ‏@GMillerTSN
The NHL has vowed to close that loophole, and warned teams that the transition rules would be harsh, but 14 teams have at least one of them.

---

Hmm?
- evitageN

Myself and a friend had a convo about this yesterday how these contracts will ultimately destroy the NHL.

First off, I think they need to cap the amount of years allowed in a contract that is inversely proportional to the money paid. So if youre paying someone over 7 million a year, the max years you can offer is 5 years. The less you pay, the more years you can tack on.

Also, they need to do a % on the salary depreciation from year to year. Such that if the salary drops more than 25% between any 3 years, that it would be considered cap circumvention.

Myself and a friend had a convo about this yesterday how these contracts will ultimately destroy the NHL.

First off, I think they need to cap the amount of years allowed in a contract that is inversely proportional to the money paid. So if youre paying someone over 7 million a year, the max years you can offer is 5 years. The less you pay, the more years you can tack on.

Also, they need to do a % on the salary depreciation from year to year. Such that if the salary drops more than 25% between any 3 years, that it would be considered cap circumvention.
- NYRPowerPlay

Yeah, I like that -- I mean it's just I think Chicago or Detroit figured it out first and now everyone else has hopped on. It's so obvious. The only team that did it bad was Philly who didn't realize Pronger fell in the 35+ category.

Yeah, I like that -- I mean it's just I think Chicago or Detroit figured it out first and now everyone else has hopped on. It's so obvious. The only team that did it bad was Philly who didn't realize Pronger fell in the 35+ category.
- evitageN

There should also be a rule on the signing bonuses. Teams cant circumvent the cap by paying 2m in playing salary, with the players getting guaranteed 10m signing bonus. I would say... signing bonuses are subject to a 50% cap hit against the team.

If pit trades for Nash then Crosby, malkin, Neal and Nash make just over 30 million that's nuts.

I don't know, Jan, Kenny Holland and Ray Shero are two very good NHL General Managers. They aren't going to make a stupid trade for Nash, because they are competing against other teams. A ridicolous asking price is a ridicolous asking price irrespective of the competion.

Plus, I don't think the Wings have the horses to get that type of deal done, while not leaving themselves naked on the blueline. The Wings would be better served checking in on Yandle. And Pittsburgh would probably be better off trying to improve their blueline as well.

The Flyers are the team that scare me most in that competition, insofar as Howson and Holmgren seems to like trading with each other, and Holmgren is always very aggressive.
- Pete V

Agree and they have a piece, a second-line center, that might interest Phoenix in Valtteri Filppula. Detroit would be left with Zetterberg and Datsyuk at the center position. That being said Filppula only has a year left on his deal so I have a hard time seeing Phoenix making that trade and then losing Filppula in a year.

There should also be a rule on the signing bonuses. Teams cant circumvent the cap by paying 2m in playing salary, with the players getting guaranteed 10m signing bonus. I would say... signing bonuses are subject to a 50% cap hit against the team.
- NYRPowerPlay

Do what the nfl does signing bonus gets prorated over the length of the deal if you get a 5 year deal with a 5 million bonus that adds and extra million on the cap each year if player gets traded or sent to minors during the deal what ever is left on the bonus gets moved to that year.

There should also be a rule on the signing bonuses. Teams cant circumvent the cap by paying 2m in playing salary, with the players getting guaranteed 10m signing bonus. I would say... signing bonuses are subject to a 50% cap hit against the team.
- NYRPowerPlay

The signing bonus already counts against the cap. Teams started doing that last year and it was likely the players asking for them. They are simply a way for the player to get a big chunk of change up front and they want that in advance of the possibility of a lockout.

The way the league will try to get that out is by limiting term. If the max length on a contract is six years in the new CBA then that $10 million signing bonus is spread out over fewer years. Isn't it funny the owners need the CBA to protect themselves from themselves. They insist on implementing a salary cap to keep the competitive financial balance then order their GM's to find ways to circumvent that cap when it is convenient. Here's an idea; you're running a business, be fiscally responsible.

Do what the nfl does signing bonus gets prorated over the length of the deal if you get a 5 year deal with a 5 million bonus that adds and extra million on the cap each year if player gets traded or sent to minors during the deal what ever is left on the bonus gets moved to that year.
- fquicks

Signing bonuses already count against the cap in this way. All forms of compensation count against the cap. The bonus is designed to get a lot of up front money to the player in a long term deal but is structured as a bonus rather than as a salary so the player isn't in jeopardy of having the payout delayed in the event of a lockout.

Signing bonuses already count against the cap in this way. All forms of compensation count against the cap. The bonus is designed to get a lot of up front money to the player in a long term deal but is structured as a bonus rather than as a salary so the player isn't in jeopardy of having the payout delayed in the event of a lockout.
- gkmkiller

I know bonus count against the cap now but spreading it out over the contract helps elimate teams front loading deals and paying nothing at the end of them

I know bonus count against the cap now but spreading it out over the contract helps elimate teams front loading deals and paying nothing at the end of them
- fquicks

They'll accomplish that if they limit term lengths to six years as has been rumored. What pisses me off is they are going to try to force-feed these changes to the players, changes that don't benefit the players in any way, after the owners have spent the last six years figuring out ways to circumvent their cap. They need to legislate their own stupidity out of the game. It amazes me that people who have been successful enough in their professional lives to be in position to afford to own an NHL team can't run their team well enough to at least break even.

Myself and a friend had a convo about this yesterday how these contracts will ultimately destroy the NHL.

First off, I think they need to cap the amount of years allowed in a contract that is inversely proportional to the money paid. So if youre paying someone over 7 million a year, the max years you can offer is 5 years. The less you pay, the more years you can tack on.

Also, they need to do a % on the salary depreciation from year to year. Such that if the salary drops more than 25% between any 3 years, that it would be considered cap circumvention.
- NYRPowerPlay

I think making it so that the cap hit must be within like 140% to 60% of the salary, or some kind of percentage.

So, if a guy has a cap hit of 6 million, he can't make more than 8.4 million or less than 3.8 million in any given year of that contract. This will stop teams from having years where the players are paid 12 million while others where they are paid like 1 million. Because they can't heavily front load or back load the deals, what's the point of making a long contract? It still allows teams to fluctuate the cap hit, but not entirely.

If you guys were Kenny Holland, would you consider maybe taking a different direction, sacrifice a year or two of serious contention, and move a couple of older key guys on that team to replenish the system there?

If you guys were Kenny Holland, would you consider maybe taking a different direction, sacrifice a year or two of serious contention, and move a couple of older key guys on that team to replenish the system there?
- Pete V

They are practically screwed. It'll take a good rebuild to fix it IMO. They were banking on Suter coming to Detroit, and really had no back-up plan. That being said, they have an influx of forwards on their roster or ready to make their roster, they could easily deal for a guy like Yandle to bridge the gap. I think they trade for Yandle and then sign another 3/4 guy.

Rangers 94 cup documentary on NHLN if anyone is interested.

If you guys were Kenny Holland, would you consider maybe taking a different direction, sacrifice a year or two of serious contention, and move a couple of older key guys on that team to replenish the system there?
- Pete V

I think I try to retool for a run this year and maybe next. In two years Datsyuk is a UFA and they can then go into rebuild mode, maybe move Franzen and Zetterberg although they'll each still have a bunch of years left on their deals.

Looking at their roster I think they need to go get Carle from Philly and add a scoring winger. They are strong up the middle with Filppula, Zetterberg and Datsyuk but don't have much on the wings.

on D they'll give Brendan Smith and Jakub Kindl a chance but still need another top-4 guy IMO.

Something else to consider is Howard is a free agent after this season too so they'll need to either extend him or move on. For this season I go for it again if I am Holland.

Minnesota overpaid for both players, 68 points just got 35 million over the 1st 3 years of a 13 year deal, if this doesn't spell lock out I don't know what does, non the less I can now root for Team USA's Zach Parise.

I think making it so that the cap hit must be within like 140% to 60% of the salary, or some kind of percentage.

So, if a guy has a cap hit of 6 million, he can't make more than 8.4 million or less than 3.8 million in any given year of that contract. This will stop teams from having years where the players are paid 12 million while others where they are paid like 1 million. Because they can't heavily front load or back load the deals, what's the point of making a long contract? It still allows teams to fluctuate the cap hit, but not entirely.
- _Zippy_

What's funny is that they'll fight about this but owners are ponying up the money even though they hate the lengths, you can't win a fight when you're helping the opponent.

Kovalcuk is going to waive his NTC, and the devils will be dealing him to Montreal. Heard it here first.

What's funny is that they'll fight about this but owners are ponying up the money even though they hate the lengths, you can't win a fight when you're helping the opponent.
- cranford93

Lockout in 2004-05 was to protect owners from themselves, see how much they learned from it?