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There are 4 left. The last of the Ken Holland era stand in Larkin, Rasmussen, Veleno and Berggren. 3 of the 4 from the first round, the 4th about as close as you can get. Ken will always be part of Red Wings lore as he was GM for 3 cups (the 97 cup I believe he was still assistant). In terms of living breathing assets only 4 have made it through Yzerman’s term that started in 2019. I’d assumed one of Veleno, Berggren or Zadina would be gone this year and one has so far. While Veleno waits for his new deal in apparent confidence, I’m wondering if we’ll be down to 3. That’s not a rumor, it’s a ramble.
As for math, this isn’t broadcast related it’s reality related. In this audience of readers at least one or two people probably felt the shut downs in a very painful way. Imagine putting groceries on credit cards for months, maybe a year or more. I went through it. A lot of people went through it.
Since the shut downs nearly every club took out loans (quietly) and one was finally released that Bettman set up. 1 billion dollars in 2021 (30 million available to each club). It’s not enough for the NHL to break even or even make money this year. It’s not just the players that “have debt…. We found out Ottawa had half a billion in debt once the books were opened. Bell Media and subsidiary TSN laid off workers (up to 1700) and cancelled Leafs Lunch the day after Vegas won the cup. If the Toronto market is making cutbacks in the hockey world, that’s a decent sign that everyone is.
I’m sick of the numbers and I’m sick of the “glossing over… by leadership. Someone asked me about the salary cap going up like Bettman said. Last year (2022) in January he said it could go up 5-7 million. It went up 1. This year he said the same thing. Any takers on what will likely happen?
I ask is that you look at how many times since its inception have players have payed 0%, no escrow. Any years that happened, it means that HRR was at a level that covered salaries at 50%. To my knowledge it hasn’t happened yet. There was a partial refund one year and that was the high water mark with estimates at 3% or so in actual escrow paid. Now they’re paying 20% and adjustments were made to start hitting signing bonuses with fixed escrow (used to be a nice work around).
We all want success for this league. The NHL is the top league for hockey in the world (opinion, maybe, but it’s the one I hold). They help get money to jr programs and development/inner city programs. If the first thing any player sees on their paystub is 20% escrow then taxes and agent fees things look different. Or, as Jack Johnson found out, there is no check because someone you trusted took loans on your future earnings and got power of attorney over your estate. That was a nasty affair.
Very soon Twitter (or X) and Instagram posts will show pieces of the team doing player only drills before camp. We’ll get to see the start of what an iteration where 6 or 7 players are swapped out. Maybe Veleno will sign his deal tomorrow and we’re good to go. Maybe there’s another move on the horizon. Steve will tell us after it’s done.