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Cap The Contracts
by Paul on 01/29/09 at 12:40 PM ET
Comments (5)
from Bruce Arthur of the National Post,
Ask a National Hockey League general manager to draft any three players from across the league, and it’s not impossible that the three names that come out would be Alexander Ovechkin, Vinny Lecavalier, and Henrik Zetterberg. Sure, Roberto Luongo or Sidney Crosby or Luke Schenn could jump in there - this last possibility is assuming the GM in question only listens to talk radio in Toronto, and then only in the first month of the season - but any GM would be thrilled to sign those first three players to a lot of dollars and for plenty of years.
But at some point there should be limits. That is not to directly criticize the 12-year, US$73-million deal Zetterberg signed Wednesday with the Detroit Red Wings. The deal’s average cap hit is just US$6-million, Red Wings GM Ken Holland is among the game’s smartest men, and Zetterberg, 28, is the epitome of the team-oriented star. This is probably a laudable move.
But even if it is, it doesn’t mean it should be allowed.
Filed in: NHL Teams, NHL Talk | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
Exactly - if a team doesn’t want to offer an extremely long-term contract, no one is forcing them to do so against their wishes. If a GM is determined to do something stupid, then why try to “protect him from himself?” He’s an adult and quite capable of taking the stance that Brian Burke does of not giving out contracts longer than five years. If they want to give out large contracts and the players are comfortable with them, then everyone else should stay out of the way and leave them alone.
It isn’t as though everyone in the league is going to get long-term deals, after all - just a few players on each team, and probably not all at once either.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 01/29/09 at 01:04 PM ET
I have no problem capping contracts, but then you have to remove the salary cap.
The owners got themselves into this “mess”. If this had happened before the lockout, Ilitch and Holland would’ve signed Hank for 8 or 9/year for 5 or 6 years and that would be it. Probably would’ve happened a lot sooner too.
Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 01/29/09 at 01:09 PM ET
There is no reason to cap the contracts as long as the owners are willing to pay. No one forced the owners to offer Zetterberg a 12 year deal, they did it because they believe (as do I) that it was a great deal
Posted by quiso04 on 01/29/09 at 01:22 PM ET
If a GM is determined to do something stupid, then why try to “protect him from himself?”
Do note two example mentioned regarding Yashin and Ricky D are ummm…wellll…. either a former or current Islander.
The new CBA was supposed to help protect the the billionares from paying the millionaires too much & provide “cost certainty”.
Oddly enough look at the average team payroll now and compare it to pre lock-out days.
Then there is the revenue sharing farce… taking $ from profitable teams to hand out to Nashville or Phoenix, for 2 examples, yet the teams receiving the hand-outs can’t even keep it all as they don’t satisfy the “x-y-z” of boosting attendance etc to keep all the revenue sharing $.
I surely don’t blame Kenny for doing everything in his power to keep his guys and adhere to the rules (and loopholes when needed).
Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 01/29/09 at 01:33 PM ET
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Nowhere in this article do I find a good reason to cap the contracts. If teams want to take the risk, then they should have the choice to take the risk. Organizations should be allowed to manage their teams as they feel fit, not as the league feels fit. What works in one market, does not work in another.
Posted by Sp4r7an on 01/29/09 at 12:55 PM ET