Kukla's Korner Hockey
An ever-so-slightly illegal contract? Flyers may have slipped upon Maxime Talbot’s deal
by George Malik on 07/04/11 at 03:01 AM ET
Comments (12)
This story popped up on Twitter around the same time as the Heatley-Havlat trade, and it’s surprising, via TSN:
The status of Maxime Talbot’s contract with the Philadelphia Flyers may be in question. According to TSN’s Gord Miller elements of the deal violate the NHL’s salary cap. He added that a penalty for the violation is unlikely to be handed to the Flyers.
The final two years of Talbot’s deal are reportedly worth $1 million per year. This would violate cap rules as the final two years of the contract can not be worth less than half of either of the first two years of the deal.
The first two years of Talbot’s contract are worth $2.5 million and $2.25 million respectively.
In order to fit within the rules of the cap, the deal would have to be restructured. This could be achieved by making the fourth or fifth year worth at least $1.125 million.
The Delaware County Times’ Anthony J. Sanfilippo confirms the legalese…
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Comments
I think the Flyers SHOULD be punished.
What? Being saddled with a tired act like Jagr isn’t punishment enough?
Posted by WestWing from Portland, Oregon on 07/04/11 at 04:37 AM ET
Isn’t the last three years of B. Richards and C. Ehroff’s contracts both for 1 mil per year? That’s not even close to half the first two years.
Posted by tbassett on 07/04/11 at 06:04 AM ET
The blur above isn’t quite acurate. The rule is that the salary cannot decrease by more than half og the average of the first two years. ie if the numbers above are correct, there cannot be a decrease of mora than 1.1875M per year…
Posted by CH1973 from Canada on 07/04/11 at 07:09 AM ET
the salary cannot decrease by more than half og the average of the first two years
It’s not an average of the first two… it’s the lower of the first two
Isn’t the last three years of B. Richards and C. Ehroff’s contracts both for 1 mil per year? That’s not even close to half the first two years.
I’m not sure how Ehroff’s contract is set up… but in Richards case he gets 12m, 12m, 9m, 8.5m, 8.5m, 7m, 1m, 1m, 1m…. The rule basically states that in a given year you can’t drop by MORE than half of the LOWER of the FIRST TWO years…. In this case they dropped from 7m to 1m, totaling 6m… or half of his first year 12m
It Looks like PHI just didn’t do the math on the drop from yr 3 to 4…
Posted by Kevin from NJ on 07/04/11 at 09:03 AM ET
I’m not sure how Ehroff’s contract is set up… but in Richards case he gets 12m, 12m, 9m, 8.5m, 8.5m, 7m, 1m, 1m, 1m…. The rule basically states that in a given year you can’t drop by MORE than half of the LOWER of the FIRST TWO years…. In this case they dropped from 7m to 1m, totaling 6m… or half of his first year 12m
It Looks like PHI just didn’t do the math on the drop from yr 3 to 4…
OK thanks for the clarification. That makes sense. I hate Philly but I’d say let this slide. But still letting contracts like Richards/Ehroff while punishing the Devils for Kovulchuks deal is just baffling to me.
Posted by tbassett on 07/04/11 at 09:12 AM ET
I’m not sure how Ehroff’s contract is set up… but in Richards case he gets 12m, 12m, 9m, 8.5m, 8.5m, 7m, 1m, 1m, 1m…. The rule basically states that in a given year you can’t drop by MORE than half of the LOWER of the FIRST TWO years…. In this case they dropped from 7m to 1m, totaling 6m… or half of his first year 12m
Ehrhoff is 10m, 8, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 1, 1, 1
Posted by @DaveDavisHockey from Buffalo, NY on 07/04/11 at 09:34 AM ET
I think Erhoff’s contract includes signing bonuses in years 1 and 2, which don’t count as salary under the wording of the CBA. In my mind, it’s just another end run around the ‘spirit of the rule’. The Richards contract doesn’t break any rules but it certainly pushes the rule almost to a break point. Regardless, in the next CBA let’s hope the NHL and the NHLPA agree to find a way to put an end to these ridiculous workarounds that GMs keep trying to discover.
Posted by Iggy Rules on 07/04/11 at 09:43 AM ET
Signing bonuses have no affect on the cap number, which are calculated on total earnings, nor can they be used to circumvent the normal percentage rules stipulated in the CBA.
As far as I can tell, the contracts of Richards and Ehrhoff abide by the rules. There are no minimum salary years at the end a la the first Kovalchuk contract.
The botched Talbot contract looks like a clerical error rather than deliberate cap circumvention of an insignificant amount, so I don’t think it warrants punishment.
Posted by Moq from Denmark on 07/04/11 at 10:40 AM ET
What? Being saddled with a tired act like Jagr isn’t punishment enough?
Posted by WestWing from Portland, Oregon on 07/04/11 at 04:37 AM ET
This. His czech interview suggests he isn’t playing with a full deck.
http://letsgopens.com/tomas_translations.php?id=71
Doesn’t look like circumvention (not sure a guy with 12 goals in 2 years is worth even the $1 million salary at the tail end), so there’s no reason to take draft picks. Probably Holmgren’s just bad at math.
Posted by steviesteve on 07/04/11 at 01:05 PM ET
They need a new capologist. Fist they sign Pronger to a long term over 35 deal, now this
Posted by Chris in A^2 from Nyquist Puck Control on 07/04/11 at 02:45 PM ET
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I think the Flyers SHOULD be punished.
Posted by TestSubjekt from Toronto on 07/04/11 at 04:09 AM ET