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February 20, 1998—an important date in franchise history.

by David Lee on 07/22/10 at 12:36 AM ET
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Since the Hartford Whalers relocated to North Carolina for the 1997-98 season, there have been a handful of defining moments for the franchise.  The disastrous first year in Greensboro, the death of Steve Chiasson, the reacquisition of Ron Francis, the opening of the RBC Center, the acquisition of Rod Brind’Amour, reaching the Cup Final in 2002, winning the Cup in 2006, to name a few.  One defining moment that nobody talks about is the one that never happened. 

In the summer of 1997, Russian center Sergei Fedorov became a restricted free agent.  In his first seven NHL seasons, he tallied 592 (242/350) points in 506 games for Detroit.  At 27 years old, he was one of the best in the league, but he wasn’t able to come terms with the Red Wings.  When the season began, he remained a holdout.  At the Christmas break, he remained a holdout.  He declined an offer sheet from the New York Islanders.  In January of 2008, he remained a holdout and was already creating a riff with the other Russians in Detroit.  Also with the rest of the team, the fans, and just about everybody.  He made it worse when he announced that he would never play for the Red Wings again.  A few weeks later came one of the most important moments in Carolina Hurricanes history. 

On February 20, 1998, Fedorov signed a record-breaking offer sheet from the Hurricanes that was valued at $38M over six years.  There was a $14M signing bonus, a $2M base salary and a conditional bonus of $12M.  The condition of the bonus was that his team make the Stanley Cup semifinal.  This was a condition that was unrealistic in Carolina, and there was a lot of rumpus over this.  And the Wings were on the clock.  They had a week to match the sheet or accept the compensation.  In those days, the compensation for that contract would have been five first round draft selections.

There’s speculation that Mr Karmanos was simply playing poker with that offer sheet and was trying to force Mike Ilitch’s hand.  Those two native Detroiters have had a relationship that has been acrimonious at best, and there’s been a history of combative behavior between them.  Whatever Karmanos’ intentions were, the offer sheet was matched on February 26.  The Wings won the Cup that year, and Fedorov was paid a total of $28M for 21 regular season and 22 playoff games.  He scored six goals and added eleven assists in the regular season.  He scored ten goals and ten assists in the post-season.

In the remaining five years of the contract, Fedorov scored 345 (152/193) points in 381 regular season games.  In 1998-99, he used every penny of his $2M base salary to start the Sergei Fedorov Foundation, which assists Detroit-area children.  The main goal of the foundation is to help autistic kids, and they also help at-risk needy children.

The big point here is that when the Red Wings matched the offer sheet, they maintained their own status quo and they also made one of the biggest defining moments in Hurricanes history.

The Hurricanes were in their first season, there weren’t any fans coming to the games, and nobody cared.  The offer sheet may have been an honest attempt to bring a name-brand player to Greensboro and give the franchise some validity.  Sami Kapanen, Keith Primeau and Kevin Dineen weren’t big enough stars to draw in the casual fans, and the harsh reality is that in those days, there was no such thing as a hardcore hockey fan down here.  This attempt failed, but in the end, it may have saved the franchise. 

The following season, the Hurricanes were able to draw Ron Francis back to the franchise via free agency, and they were also able to acquire Paul Coffey.  These guys brought star power to the franchise, and Mr Francis would become the face of the franchise.  None of this would have been possible if the Fedorov contract and all its money had gone through.  And a lot else might never have happened.

It’s important to remember that Detroit’s compensation would have been five first round picks, starting in 1998.  Here’s how those picks panned out:

• In 1998, the Hurricanes drafted Jeff “Cousin to the Staals” Heerema.  His NHL career was a complete bust, so there would have been nothing lost there. 
• In 1999, they drafted defenseman “Avi” Tanabe in the first round.  His career was marked by injuries, concussions and underachievement.  I really wish that he was never a Hurricane.  Again, nothing would have been lost there. 
• At the draft in 2000, the Canes traded away their first round pick in a package to get defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh.  The all-star defenseman was later traded to the Panthers for Bret Hedican and Kevyn Adams, who were both mainstays for five seasons.  This draft position and the ensuing trade was pretty important, and the Hurricanes would have suffered in the long run without it.
• In 2001, the Hurricanes took defenseman Igor Knyazev in the first round.  He never played in the NHL, so this would not have been missed. 
• In 2002, Cam Ward was selected with the first round pick.  This was one of the best draft selections in franchise history, and the organization would definitely be worse off without him. 

I’m making a leap by assuming that the Hurricanes wouldn’t have sought Ron Francis if Sergei Fedorov had been in the picture, but I think it’s a fair leap to make.  They would have been loaded at center and wouldn’t have had any money to spend.  The impact that Ron Francis has had on this franchise is undeniable. 

Without Cam Ward, there is no way that the Hurricanes would have won it all in 2006.  If the Fedorov deal had gone through, he never would have been a Hurricane.

So, in a way, the Sergei Fedorov situation was the best thing that ever happened (or didn’t happen) to the franchise.

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David Lee is a restaurant manager with an unused degree in political science.  He can be found at Carolina Hurricanes games, Scrabble tournaments and indie-rock shows.  Sometimes, all in the same day. 

David has contributed to CBC.ca for their Stanley Cup playoff coverage in 2006 and to the New York Times Slapshot blog for theirs in 2008.  Red and Black Hockey was founded in July of 2005.

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