The Puck Stops Here
Next entry: NHL Gives Another Reason To Not Own A Team
Previous entry: Quick Trade Deadline Analysis
Phoenix’s Conflict Of Interest Continues
by PuckStopsHere on 03/05/10 at 11:20 AM ET
Comments (10)
The Phoenix Coyotes are under NHL control and have been for all of this season. A potential sale was announced in December to Ice Edge Holdings an underfunded group who wants to play some of the Coyotes home games in Saskatoon. The fact that there have been no significant further announcements about this sale, while other sales such as Tampa Bay proceeded quickly shows that there are problems with this potential sale and that there may be no end in sight to the NHL’s ownership of the Coyotes.
Meanwhile, Phoenix is in fourth seed in the West Conference with a 38-27 record (with five regulation tie points). A team in that position might be willing to buy players to make a potential playoff run at trade deadline time. The problem is that the rest of the NHL is paying the Phoenix Coyotes payroll. The rest of the NHL is paying for Phoenix to bulk up their team to try to defeat them.
This is not the first time that Phoenix Coyotes moves have looked suspicious. Their trade for Radim Vrbata from Tampa Bay looked like the NHL accepting salary from a financially struggling and soon to be sold Tampa Bay Lightning team as much as it looked like a hockey trade.
The question today is how much should the other NHL teams have to pay in salary for an opposition team to try to defeat them? Phoenix added Derek Morris, Wojtech Wolski, Lee Stempniak, Petteri Nokelainen and Mathieu Schneider in deadline day deals. The players they gave up were significantly less expensive or were draft picks. These moves are unlikely to turn Phoenix into a serious Stanley Cup contender. The problem is mostly the optics of the situation. Why should a team that is run entirely out of NHL welfare be one of the biggest buyers on the trade deadline day? It really looks bad that they are.
There are many problems that come from the NHL running some of its teams, while the others are run as private franchises. The private franchises are paying for their competitors. How much should they pay to try to be beaten? Should the amount go up with trade deadline deals? It doesn’t look right.
The NHL’s running of the Phoenix Coyotes does not seem to be ending soon. They are asking teams to pay more and more money to run the team. They are willing to buy players at the trade deadline to make a (likely failed) Stanley Cup run. This does not look good. It looks especially bad when you consider that the NHL had a willing buyer for the team last summer and fought hard to prevent the sale.
Filed in: | The Puck Stops Here | Permalink
Tags: Derek+Morris, Mathieu+Schneider, Phoenix+Coyotes, Wojtech+Wolski,
Comments
What alternatives are being proposed? Shut down operations until an owner is found? If you are going to play the games and NOT try to beat your competitors wouldn’t that be cheating the fans? What would look worse is if the team were selling off assets to remain non-competitive.
Posted by hockey1919 from montreal on 03/05/10 at 11:55 AM ET
By making the deals they make their team more competitive and attractive to future buyers. If they get 1-2 rounds of home playoff dates the moves will be more than profitable.
The alternative is… sell off all the good players and fester at the bottom of the standings bleeding money because no one wants to watch?
Posted by blammo from Vancouver, BC on 03/05/10 at 12:01 PM ET
Question: On most NHL teams when a GM wants to make a trade they take the trade to the owner for final approval, who do they take it too in Phoenix?
Also, if the Yotes can make a decent playoff run, most, if not all of that money would be immediately made back in ticket and extra TV revenue. Plus, if the team starts doing well and draws in some fans, it would certainly make the team more sellable. So although any team who gets beat by the Yotes in the playoffs will be pretty upset, the rest of the league GM’s and owners won’t mind too much.
Posted by Kstewy16 on 03/05/10 at 12:02 PM ET
The alternative is to stand pat and not be a big buyer at the deadline day. That looks like a less conflicted direction given how the team is funded.
I do not believe that Wolski and Morris will be the difference in winning a playoff round or two. Do you?
Posted by PuckStopsHere on 03/05/10 at 12:04 PM ET
A less conflicted direction? So the other GMs should say “OK, Phoenix won’t be a player at the deadline because they’re being run by the NHL?”
Regardless of what YOU think about Morris’ and Wolski’s impact, how can the NHL tell Don Maloney how to run his club (I understand other owners do this, but this is not the regular case). Is Bill Daly going to say “We won’t approve this deal because Derek Morris sucks and won’t fit with the club?”
Come on.
Posted by BrandNewDream on 03/05/10 at 01:00 PM ET
Gotta agree with most of the commenters here… If the NHL as a whole would rather not CONTINUE to bankroll Phoenix, then it’s in everybody’s best interest to let Maloney put together a team that he feels makes them most competitive for the Stanley Cup.
Would they have a better time attracting a buyer with a team that’s being forced to intentially dog it by the league? It’s in the best interest of the league and ALL of its team to have a financially viable team in Phoenix.
Before the deadline, Phoenix was in fourth place in a VERY competitive Western Conference and well under the cap. These are the exact teams that typically beef their rosters up on deadline day. Blocking them from making these types of improvements is a much bigger conflict of interests than allowing them to manage within the NHL salary cap.
Posted by Brooklahn on 03/05/10 at 01:29 PM ET
This is ridiculous. The far greater conflict would be for the NHL to prevent the Coyotes from making trades to improve their club.
Posted by 007devils007 on 03/05/10 at 02:12 PM ET
How do you handle this situation with integrity. Give the team a budget and leave them alone—which is precisely what the NHL did.
If other NHL GMs could build a contender on the cheap like PHX did, they would have had cap space to make deals. What a bunch of sour grapes.
Posted by The Falconer from Atlanta on 03/05/10 at 02:17 PM ET
“How do you handle this situation with integrity. Give the team a budget and leave them alone—which is precisely what the NHL did.
If other NHL GMs could build a contender on the cheap like PHX did, they would have had cap space to make deals. What a bunch of sour grapes. “
AGREED. Like it or not…the Yotes are good. It might be Dave Tippett…I don’t know…he’s never had a losing season so it could be him. It’s mainly the Calgary fans watching their world falling apart complaining.
Posted by stoneman from vegas on 03/06/10 at 07:03 AM ET
Add a Comment
Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.
Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.
Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.
Most Recent Blog Posts
Missing Other League All Star Games
Top Defenceman So Far This Season
About The Puck Stops Here
The Puck Stops Here was founded during the 2004/05 lockout as a place to rant about hockey. The original site contains over 1000 posts, some of which were also published on FoxSports.com.
Who am I?
A diehard hockey fan.
Why am I blogging?
I want to.
Why are you reading it?
???
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
When learning from experts it’s best to learn personally from them, or from their blog. We can provide that with poker lessons blog, your home to learn poker personally.
Do you get shocked from the luck in the game of poker? Stop getting shocked and start being a Poker Shoker
Donate to Kukla’s Korner
There is no conflict of interest. The NHL set a budget for the team at the start of the season, and that’s what they’re operating under.
Case closed, except for the whining.
Posted by Forechecker from Nolensville, TN on 03/05/10 at 11:41 AM ET