NHL free agents
- Thread starter joho
- Start date
I was a little pissed at the Wild signing Suter, not so much Parise - especially since everyone pretty much GUARANTEED he was coming to Hockeytown....
When Suter didn't take the $90M Wings deal earlier in the week I was wondering who else was in the play for his services.
I am sure the people in Minne are pretty excited over these deals since they are both fairly local to the area. Whether it pans out for the Wild is entirely a different story.
I am sure the people in Minne are pretty excited over these deals since they are both fairly local to the area. Whether it pans out for the Wild is entirely a different story.
Without getting into all the ins and outs of the financial condition of the NHL, deals like this are exactly why when the owners come to the barganing table claiming poverty no one believes them. They are both decent players but not nearly as good as all the hype surrounding them. I will say their agents and PR people did a great job this past year portraying them both as the saviours of "your" franchise. Both of these guys cashed in big on the fact that this years UFA market was very thin so it was like 2 average looking gals in a bar full of horney guys with lots of offers.
All these long term deals do is handcuff a team when 2 - 3 years later and the guy is not playing well, you can't trade him or I should say unload the ridiculous contract (Roberto Luongo anyone?) and you don't have the cap space money to go after new talent or retain your young up and coming RFA's. That's why Calgary has sucked so bad the past few years. They signed a bunch of marginal players to long term contracts (5+ years) and some with no trade clauses. Now they can't give those guys away. If they do agree to a trade, the Flames had to agree to take back some of the cap hit. Only now are they getting out of that mess that Sutter left them and what does Feaster do, signs Wideman, an average NHL defenceman, for 5 years at $5.25 Million. :doh:
All these long term deals do is handcuff a team when 2 - 3 years later and the guy is not playing well, you can't trade him or I should say unload the ridiculous contract (Roberto Luongo anyone?) and you don't have the cap space money to go after new talent or retain your young up and coming RFA's. That's why Calgary has sucked so bad the past few years. They signed a bunch of marginal players to long term contracts (5+ years) and some with no trade clauses. Now they can't give those guys away. If they do agree to a trade, the Flames had to agree to take back some of the cap hit. Only now are they getting out of that mess that Sutter left them and what does Feaster do, signs Wideman, an average NHL defenceman, for 5 years at $5.25 Million. :doh:
This problem is evident in baseball and basketball as well. The problem is there is always someone willing to over pay marginal talent and role players. Team owners shouldn't be crying poverty during cba negotiations as much as they should be admitting "we need to be saved and protected from ourselves".
Football does pretty well with it's hard cap and large roster size (although there are still teams which give kickers 3mil a year wtf)
The Minnesota Wild paid way too much for them. They are good players but far from great ones. I can see them making the playoffs. But not doing much damage in them. Just insane money though.
I've never "ragged" on Luongo. In fact I think he's a top goalie who has gotten a raw deal in Vancouver. Look at this years playoffs. It certainly wasn't his fault at all they got beat by LA and Schneider didn't fair much better when he went in. I wish the Jets were in a position both money wise and their "team building plan" wise to get him.
I merely pointed out his contract as an example of how difficult it can be to get rid of/trade a guy when your are hamstrung by a lengthy contract with a no trade clause as Gillis is finding out. Have other teams been as dumb? Of course. Still doesn't make it a smart business move.
I think looking at thier stats maybe on AVG. 95 points for both of them at $14 000 000 they got lucky not Wild. Suter looks good as a D Man but 7mil!
If you want to blame someone for these long contracts blame Charles Wang who gave that ridiculous 15 year contract to Rick Dipietro and the 10 year contract to Alexei Yashin before that. That's pretty much what started it all.
In other news, Matt Carle has signed a six-year, $33 million deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning which looks like a steal when you compare it to the contract signed by Jason Garrison with the Canucks (six years, $27.6 million). They are the same age but Carle has much more NHL experience and better offensive numbers as opposed to have had just one good season for Garrison.
In other news, Matt Carle has signed a six-year, $33 million deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning which looks like a steal when you compare it to the contract signed by Jason Garrison with the Canucks (six years, $27.6 million). They are the same age but Carle has much more NHL experience and better offensive numbers as opposed to have had just one good season for Garrison.
As I've said GMs (and by proxy fans) need to be protected from the GMs themselves. Institute max length contracts a la NBA. These 10-15 year contracts may be what are required to keep/appease some players but they can be a large gamble with serious consequences if they go wrong. Putting a max years at say 5 years really limits the damage of a FA signing bust.
I don't think the Canucks will sleep walk to another division title this year, they'll have to earn it. Minnesota and Edmonton will provide much stiffer competition than last season.
I hope Minnesota will do something about that fugly uniform...
Yikes! I hope I'm not being compaired to Brian Burke (who BTW I think is a pompous wind bag)? :fear:
If so, I've just been seriously BITCHSLAPPED! LOL!
