That makes sense on Z’s part; agreeing to hold to Lidstrom’s number may make sense for a year or two, but 10 years?

Posted by Forechecker from Nolensville, TN on 01/15/09 at 12:14 PM ET

I dunno. We all love Z and want him around forever, but do you think the braintrust is really considering a 10 year deal? That sounds foolish and out of character, even for a player as talented as Zetterberg.

Posted by Nate A from Detroit-ish on 01/15/09 at 12:17 PM ET

Islanders might bight on a 10 year deal like that, but we create franchises in Detroit, not superstars.

It’s early…everything will be rejected until the last minute.

Tick-tock….tick-tock….chugga chugga chugga.

Posted by The Hurricane on 01/15/09 at 12:24 PM ET

Good for Z and I hope it is true.  Like I’ve said on here before, he probably just finally woke up and realized that he is currently one of the most underpaid players in the league and the Wings owe him dearly. 

Heck, your stupid blog doesn’t include him anyway, it only goes to Y.

Posted by rwhater on 01/15/09 at 12:25 PM ET

I agree with both of these comments.  I find it incredibly unlikely that Z would turn down that deal because of the money, but more likely that he would turn down the deal for term or no-trade, or something like that. 

The Wings have a bargaining chip up their sleeve in that they know they can only sign two of the three big producing forwards they have up.  If Z walk away from $7.5 a season, and he really wants more than that, I would get Hossa on the phone ASAP. 

We’ll see what happens, but I don’t believe Z turned that deal down strictly because of the money.  He knows he’s having an off year and I think he knows that the Wings aren’t going to blow through their salary structure just for him.

Posted by John from Pittsburgh, PA (Wings fan for life!) on 01/15/09 at 12:26 PM ET

Agreed with the above.
I will say my V is puckered up a little tho’.

Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 01/15/09 at 12:32 PM ET

I, too, would be suspicious of any deals for that many years.  Holland is smarter than to tie himself to such a long contract, especially if it’s true that the cap will be going down soon.  Yes, Z is a franchise player.  Yes, he’s owed his payday.  Yes, he should be our next captain.  However, nothing in that short explanation of the contract terms makes sense for anyone involved.  It’s a little early in the game to be jumping to conclusions about such an important contract negotiation.  I know that we’re wont to do that around these parts, but now that I’ve sobered up a little, it’s easier to see things a little more clearly.  Tick Tock hasn’t let us down yet.  I’m going to maintain my confidence in him that he knows what he’s doing.

Posted by clemshady from Greenwood, SC on 01/15/09 at 12:35 PM ET

Its actually kind of interesting the way that article poses the problem of “junk contracts.”  They are essentially equating them to mortgage backed securities.  A lot of teams in the league made huge investments in star players, Lecavlier being one of them, and now that the financial crisis has hit they can’t take on the risk of holding the contract over the long term for fear of the salary cap going down.  Its essentially what is going on in wall street with the trouble assets.  No one can get rid of a big contract because no one else is willing to take the risk, just like no one is willing to buy up mortgage backed securities from the failing financial institutions.

Could it be that Gary (...ass) will have to put together his own TARP program to bail out poorly managed franchises like the Pens and the Lightning?

Posted by John from Pittsburgh, PA (Wings fan for life!) on 01/15/09 at 12:36 PM ET

I might have to take personal responsibility for this.  Husband (who doesn’t care about hockey at all) got me a Zetterberg sweater for the holidays because after doing his research he figured that Hossa wasn’t going to stick around and all signs pointed to Z staying.  Now all of this… Move over and make space for one more on the stress train.

Posted by Aimee in Austin on 01/15/09 at 12:40 PM ET

I have to agree with most of the sentiments around here.  A ten year deal for Hank seems pretty ludicrous.  He will probably be playing great when he’s forty, but 7 and a half mil great? Specially with all the issues he has had with his back/wrist.  I have to say that I don’t believe it.  Yup, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it…

Posted by ITDeuce from The Land of Ice and Snow on 01/15/09 at 12:42 PM ET

If Z really rejected 10 yrs, $75 mil, he can enjoy his career in Denver and his jersey retirement ceremony, too.  We’ll have to console ourselves with a few more Cups.  Not for nothing, but Pavel’s not getting close to that on his deal.  I know we’ve all been looking at Norris’s contract as the benchmark for a Z deal, but I think Pavel’s deal is much more useful for determining Z’s market value at this point- as opposed to, say, what Charles Wang would pay Zetterberg for his services in getting blown out in the first round every other year.  They’re both forwards, they both play center and wing, kill penalties, play the PP, etc.  I’d have a hard time thinking Z was worth more than this alleged offer even if he wasn’t having a bit of an “off” year.

He’s a great player, sure, but anything bigger than that contract essentially blows up the team’s salary structure for the long term.  No player is worth doing that.  If he wants to be a prima donna, let him.  Hanging onto Hossa, Mule, and Happy would be a pretty good consolation prize. 

Frankly, I think this story- or the part about Z’s negotiations, at least- is bullshit.  I know we all wish he was signed by now, but these things take time.  In the interim, bullshit rumors like this are liable to pop up. 

We’ll see in July.

Posted by mudshark from Divetown, Colorado on 01/15/09 at 01:04 PM ET

there’s a lot more to a playing contract than just these two things - dollars and time.  it’s just as likely that there are other details that Z didn’t like and is negotiating.

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 01/15/09 at 01:04 PM ET

anything bigger than that contract essentially blows up the team’s salary structure for the long term

if the salary cap keeps rising for the next 10 years, $7.5 million per year will be a lot more common by then.

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 01/15/09 at 01:05 PM ET

Btw, Chief, I expected some sort of commentary on the untimely passing of Khan! the other day by now.  Might explain the slow news on Z.

Just sayin’.

Posted by mudshark from Divetown, Colorado on 01/15/09 at 01:09 PM ET

Seriously?  I think the front-loading is what turned him off.  I think he wants flexibility in his salary so he doesn’t feel like he’s the cause of the Wings’ probable inability to sign good players for support.

I’d wait a little longer for more details.

Posted by SYF from a "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" on 01/15/09 at 01:20 PM ET

Don’t believe what you hear—agents have more riding on getting their clients a shit-ton of money than the clients do. If Z gets 6.5/year he’s filthy rich—I think that agents, more than anything, are what drive contracts so high—they want the bigger number more than their clients do, because there’s more at stake for them. Don’t jump down Z’s throat or board the stress train just yet.

And remember, anything we hear will be in terms of total value of the contract, not how it is actually paid out. I still think the odds heavily favor a deal front-loaded with a ton of cash to manage the cap hit. Z will still get big bucks overall.

Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 01/15/09 at 01:25 PM ET

Seriously?  I think the front-loading is what turned him off.  I think he wants flexibility in his salary so he doesn’t feel like he’s the cause of the Wings’ probable inability to sign good players for support.

Front-loading, at least in the current cap system, is what will allow his cap number to stay low enough to keep talent around him.

And another note I forgot in my last post—we haven’t heard anything from Z’s mouth about this, other than vagaries. What we HAVE heard from his mouth is a comment about how he’s a bit disappointed in his play, and that he doesn’t think he’s played to an all-star level this season. Does that sound like a guy that wants to milk the club? Nah, it sounds like a guy that might want to make 8 mil/year, but knows that he has to play like an 8 mil/year player to get it, and his expectations for himself are higher than ours, perhaps.

Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 01/15/09 at 01:29 PM ET

IMO, Z is distracted by all this contract talk. i’m sure his agent is pushing the details back and forth. once this is settled (the sooner the better) he’ll be able to concentrate on taking his game back to the playoff level. all this talk about letting him walk is a bit premature. he’s getting used to be being a center again, focusing on the top offensive players on the other team, etc. give it some time.

regardless, unless Z is looking for $10M he’s re-signing.

remember when the speculation on this page about Pavel signing that 6 year, $6.7M/year deal. no one was sure whether it was a good move because of Pav’s production in the playoffs up to that point. look how that turned out.

patience, grasshoppers.

Posted by Alex from San Francisco on 01/15/09 at 01:47 PM ET

Heck, your stupid blog doesn’t include him anyway, it only goes to Y.

Chief, I believe he’s asking you to show him your Z.

Posted by markw from Scotland on 01/15/09 at 02:18 PM ET

if the salary cap keeps rising for the next 10 years, $7.5 million per year will be a lot more common by then.

Salary cap is connected to revenue. The cap can move up or down. Look for the cap to move down after this season because of the economic crisis. This season the Cap is $50.3 million. It could easily drop back to the 06-07 level of $44million or lower.

Now how do you keep Zetterberg, Franzen, Hudler and Hossa if the CBA takes $6 million off the table for next year???

Y’all are just catchin up. I started stressing about this months ago.

Posted by CaptainDennisPolonich from Warm and sunny SoCal on 01/15/09 at 02:24 PM ET

I don’t think contracts for Z, mule, happy or Hossa get done during the regular season. I know tick tock doesn’t like to negotiate during the playoffs, but I do not see how he can negotiate his way through this mess until he knows if the cap is remaining the same or going down. He will have a better idea of what the Cap will do in April than he does now.

No way in hell that the cap increases nest season.

Posted by CaptainDennisPolonich from Warm and sunny SoCal on 01/15/09 at 02:28 PM ET

Hello, Wings fans.

Kind of surprised that one line is receiving so much attention, because it wasn’t really intended as a focal point in the story. It was kind of a throwaway.

Being an avid Kukla’s Korner reader, however, I should have expected it would give Paul a coronary.

Here’s what I can tell you:

I heard about that offer very early in the season. Obviously, I can’t say where it came from. However, I will say the source is someone I trust. (Believe me, you hear a lot of stuff in this league, so you have to be careful.) I can also tell you that the organization was asked about it, although politely declined to comment.

The reason I wrote “apparently rejected” is that I’m not sure the Red Wings/Zetterberg conversations have reached a stage where formal papers have been drawn up. The two sides have talked back-and-forth about what it will take, and the key here is that $7.5 million per season sounds like it might not be enough.

In the Ken Campbell article quoted here, the number is $8.25. Ken is very good at what he does and I’ve heard from others that this is the kind of number in Zetterberg’s ballpark.

I’d heard that Detroit was willing to make the deal longer so the total salary was larger, but really doesn’t want to go over eight per season, for the reasons outlined in my blog.

What it comes down to is that Zetterberg has a choice. He could definitely get $8.25 million, maybe nine, on the open market. But is he really willing to do that, and leave a near-perfect situation?

Thanks for reading.

EF

Posted by Elliotte Friedman from Toronto on 01/15/09 at 02:42 PM ET

Thanks for reading.

EF

Cool.

Posted by IwoCPO from Sunny San Diego, bitches on 01/15/09 at 02:46 PM ET

I heard about that offer very early in the season.

Oh.

(slowly removing the noose and stepping down off the chair)

Posted by Gabriel from San Diego, CA on 01/15/09 at 02:57 PM ET

The “19” knew this was going to be an issue, along with the other UFA:  Hoss, Mule, William Tell, Kopecky—not too mention Oompa Loompa is RFA.

Capt. P aptly notes that the cap more than likely will move down!!

Put all that in your blender along with the alcohol of your choice and meet me in the Hasek.

Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Quest for 12 on 01/15/09 at 03:08 PM ET

This season the Cap is $50.3 million.

I think it’s more like 56 and change?

BTW, anybody with NHL Network, they’re currently showing Fedorov’s 5-goal game from Dec ‘96.

Posted by shep on 01/15/09 at 03:14 PM ET

Any day now, I expect one team to wake-up to the here and now, and start negotiating contracts as a percentage of the salary cap, rather than hard dollars.  Hanging onto old traditions in the New NHL just doesn’t make any sense….

It is time to innovate. 

Hard dollar contracts are just ridiculous speculation on the economy, popularity of the NHL, future marketing, inflation, loonie/dollar swings and Tax increases for both sides of the contract.

The players would have more incentive for promoting interest in the NHL, and the popularity of the teams they are playing for.

Posted by HockeyTownTodd on 01/15/09 at 03:17 PM ET

I think it’s more like 56 and change?
BTW, anybody with NHL Network, they’re currently showing Fedorov’s 5-goal game from Dec ‘96.

Your right. $50.3mil was the 07-08 cap; $56mil is 08-09 cap.

I still think it will drop $6mil to the previous season’s cap level, just $50mil rather than the $44mil I posted above.

Posted by CaptainDennisPolonich from Warm and sunny SoCal on 01/15/09 at 03:22 PM ET

Thanks for reading.

EF

Well written article, and thanks for checking in.  You may assume that this little bit of news would cause a coronary.  Maybe for Paul.  For most of the A2Y 19, your clarification just saved countless kittens and puppies from senseless violence.

You should get a humantarian award for the innocent life you have just protected.

Posted by VooX from Behind the Bar in the Hasek Club Car on 01/15/09 at 03:26 PM ET

HTT, I’ve been wondering the same thing. Is it possible there’s some legal problem with this either in contract law or in the CBA?

It really would be the sensible way to handle things, and its a better comparison between players than a hard dollar amount for the sake of arbitration. Might make performance bonuses a bit tricky.

Posted by Nate A from Detroit-ish on 01/15/09 at 03:31 PM ET

BTW, anybody with NHL Network, they’re currently showing Fedorov’s 5-goal game from Dec ‘96.

Shep, thanks for the heads up.  Turned it on just in time to see his BEAUTIFUL 3rd goal from Shanny and Vladdy…and of course had that punch to the gut I get every time I see video of #16.

Posted by Gabriel from San Diego, CA on 01/15/09 at 03:32 PM ET

you’re right, doh!

Posted by CaptainDennisPolonich from Warm and sunny SoCal on 01/15/09 at 03:40 PM ET

I guess I would question dealing in percentage of cap when it comes to trades.  Because the players salary would hinge on the cap, what happens when he’s traded to a team that deals in hard dollars and he has to renegotiate to fit into their financial structure.  I could see if every team deal in percentages, but that would force a team to trade up on a percentage level or drop players/renegotiate with others just so that a traded player fits into the scheme.  I agree, I like the idea of it all, but until they sit down and figure all the ins and outs, it’s seems rather utopian for the owners.  Also, I can’t see the NHLPA agreeing to this in the least.  Not when it would mean that a players salary could likely drop any given year.  They’d be all for the increase, but never the drop.

Posted by clemshady from Greenwood, SC on 01/15/09 at 03:44 PM ET

Any day now, I expect one team to wake-up to the here and now, and start negotiating contracts as a percentage of the salary cap, rather than hard dollars.  Hanging onto old traditions in the New NHL just doesn’t make any sense….

Sorry HTT, such a contract would violate the CBA. The next CBA should include something like this. It makes the players and management truly partners. Here is a blurb I cribbed from a site on the NHL CBA:

Terms and salaries remain in place for the life of the contract. The salary does not decrease if the cap drops, nor can a contract trigger a salary increase if the cap goes up.

That’s why, as mentioned elsewhere on A2Y, contracts are no longer renegotiable. Even the terms under which a contract may be bought out are part of the CBA.

Posted by CaptainDennisPolonich from Warm and sunny SoCal on 01/15/09 at 03:45 PM ET

early in the season, late in the season…i don’t care when it was. i have a sickening feeling in my tummy now.  I love Hossa, Mule, and Happy, but I am going to be absolutely devastated if Z leaves town.

Are we already forgetting the whole “the feeling has to be mutual” quote that was posted a few days ago?  Something isn’t right.

Please stay Z…...PLEASE!!!!

Posted by Animal Drew from A Nightmare on Helm Street on 01/15/09 at 03:47 PM ET

I just realized that my avatar perfectly reflects the look on my face when reading this post…

Posted by Animal Drew from A Nightmare on Helm Street on 01/15/09 at 03:49 PM ET

Don’t know if anyone else posted this yet, but Digger Helene has Han’s denial:

http://www.freep.com/article/20090115/BLOG09/90115084/1053/SPORTS05/Henrik+Zetterberg+denies+turning+down+offer+from+Wings

Interesting sidenote: She may have “dug” herself into a hole with Z—and others—by proclaiming that Datsyuk is more talented than him.

Posted by YzermanZetterberg on 01/15/09 at 03:50 PM ET

Any day now, I expect one team to wake-up to the here and now, and start negotiating contracts as a percentage of the salary cap, rather than hard dollars.

I’m no lawyer, but this appears to be prohibited by the CBA. From Section 50.6(b):

No SPC may provide for a Player Salary and Bonuses in any year that is not fixed (i.e., every SPC must state the amount of dollars of Player Salary and Bonuses to be paid in each League Year during the term of the SPC, and cannot state that it will be indexed as a percentage of the Upper Limit).

SPC stands for Standard Player Contract.

Posted by shep on 01/15/09 at 03:52 PM ET

Digger Helene has Han’s denial

Er…make that Hank’s denial.

Personally, I don’t give a flying @$#& who “Han” signs with!

Posted by YzermanZetterberg on 01/15/09 at 03:59 PM ET

Are we already forgetting the whole “the feeling has to be mutual” quote that was posted a few days ago?  Something isn’t right.

Yup, not right at all.

It is a tough call, Z has had back issues, Mule had the awful concussion. A bad back is a bad bet on an 8-10 year contract. Especially, given the point Elliot makes in his blog: under the salary cap, a team is only one bad contract away from the bottom of the standings.

Tick Tock has always been able to get players to play for less than market value to be part of a winning organization. If Z doesn’t want to play within the confines of the cool kids sandbox that tick tock has set up, then thanks for the years of hard work and best of luck in your future endeavors. Flame me if you want but if we can only keep 2 of the 3 UFAs, I vote for Hossa and Mule.

Posted by CaptainDennisPolonich from Warm and sunny SoCal on 01/15/09 at 03:59 PM ET

I don’t think contracts for Z, mule, happy or Hossa get done during the regular season. I know tick tock doesn’t like to negotiate during the playoffs, but I do not see how he can negotiate his way through this mess until he knows if the cap is remaining the same or going down. He will have a better idea of what the Cap will do in April than he does now.

No way in hell that the cap increases nest season.

how about, in the negotiations, he comes to an agreement with each player that if they want to get a deal done now they can…but if the cap is reduced then their salary under the new contract is automatically reduced by the same percentage?

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 01/15/09 at 04:29 PM ET

after further reading, it would seem that they can’t actually sign the deal and then have it reduced if the cap drops.  however, it seems they could - outside the actual contract - agree that the contract is not final until next year’s cap is announced, which will then set the salary for the players who renegotiated before it was announced.

if the league doesn’t allow something like this, how can they expect the GMs to do their job?

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 01/15/09 at 04:34 PM ET

I dunno folks, I just can’t get too worked up over off next summers developments.

Somehow , I believe that Kenny will talk one of the other of them into signing for a bag of pucks. Yes, I am in denial.

Of more immediate concern (to me, anyway), is that my favorite hockey team takes the ice tonight with either Conkgood, or Oslin in net. Flip a coin.

That’s all the stress I can handle right now….

Posted by dougie on 01/15/09 at 04:52 PM ET

i was at that game shep, was watching it earlier on NHL net. great game. i love watching those “classic” games and seeing all the penalties that get called now not called!

Posted by christpuncher from Detroit, MI on 01/15/09 at 04:53 PM ET

quality sucks, but here it is…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKJ5oj7vKlI

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 01/15/09 at 06:00 PM ET

wow.  I don’t remember that game.  aside from how amazing it is to score 5 goals in a game, to have them be your team’s ONLY goals and your 5th be the game winner in OT, I’d have to bet that has never happened before with a 5 goal performance.

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 01/15/09 at 06:01 PM ET

...and of course had that punch to the gut I get every time I see video of #16.

I, and I guess all of the 19, know that feeling well.  There was this dude at the Bruins game a couple of months ago that had an “Impaler” jersey on.  I bought that sumbitch beer.

Posted by WingsFanInBeanLand from Lidstrom's head telling him 1 more year on 01/15/09 at 06:07 PM ET

Gotta agree with Gramps and Joe.

Everybody knows that Kenny’s in a bad place when it comes to contracts and the salary cap.  Everybody knows that the only hope Wings fans have of keeping both Hossa and Z is if both agree to fairly significant discounts vis-a-vis their market value.  Everybody knows that any information coming out about Z’s contract negotiations would create a buzz, especially if the one offering the little nugget fails to fully disclose the information in its proper context (that it’s something he heard a few months ago.

That’s something a throwaway journalist would do, if you ask me.

Posted by O-Joe on 01/15/09 at 07:34 PM ET

I remember that game, I was watching it on a 15 or 17 inch TV at my grandparent’s house, sitting on the floor with my face about 6 inches from the screen (“don’t do that you’ll get cancer!”).

Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 01/16/09 at 09:34 AM ET