Buy:B.A.
07-01-04, 01:35 PM
Players, teams approach free agency with caution
June 29, 2004
By Wes Goldstein
SportsLine.com Staff Writer
As the opening of free agency approaches, a burning question around the NHL is whether the St. Louis Blues will offer Chris Pronger a qualifying amount of nearly $10 million to keep his negotiating rights?
Of course they will. The Blues don't want to make the same mistake Anaheim did when they gambled and lost Paul Kariya last year, but that doesn't mean St. Louis will give Pavol Demitra the same consideration at $6.5 million.
So Demitra, one of the league's more gifted offensive talents who at 29 is in the prime of his career, will get to test unrestricted free agency a few years ahead of schedule.
High-profile veterans like Brett Hull may be forced to take pay cuts if they want jobs. That might be considered fortunate for a player of his caliber were it not to come at a time when teams will be re-evaluating what a player is really worth to them. Instead, it's a sign of the confounding times facing teams and players around the league as free agency kicks off July 1 and the game braces for a possible shutdown when the current collective bargaining agreement expires in September. As the NHL heads toward a new economic landscape, one that will feature either a hard salary cap or another system intended to discourage dramatically escalating pay scales, no one is quite sure what rule of thumb to use.
Certainly not after high-priced teams like the New York Rangers have gone seven years without a playoff appearance, while low-budget outfits like the Tampa Bay Lightning, Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks have proven that lavish spending isn't the key ingredient for success.
"I think the best course of action is not trying to predict or crystal-ball the way things will be," said Montreal Canadiens GM Bob Gainey. "Just make the best of the situation we're in."
That's easier said than done. The league, claiming its teams lost a collective $275 million last season, is pushing for a salary cap of $31 million, while the players association, which disputes the level of losses, has argued for a free market system that makes things equitable through a luxury tax and revenue sharing.
With a happy medium not on anyone's radar screens just yet, most teams are trying to maintain as much cost flexibility as possible while at the same time trying not to sacrifice the key assets they have.
That makes for a trying time for nearly 150 players who are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents this week, and the many more who will join them if teams do as expected and let go of players they would have not have thought twice about qualifying a year ago.
Players like Demitra, who has become unaffordable to a team that desperately has to trim its $60-million payroll and already has $16-million committed to Keith Tkachuk and Doug Weight before even dealing with Pronger.
The Blues are not the only ones.
Out in Anaheim, where Disney has ordered a salary slash of $12 million to make the team more attractive to buyers, the Mighty Ducks are thinking long and hard about picking up the $2.8 million option on bedrock defenseman Keith Carney. If they don't, he's a free man just like Roman Hamrlik will be if the Islanders don't qualify him at $3.6 million.
The Ottawa Senators already started the ball rolling at the draft when they traded away center Radek Bonk and goaltender Patrick Lalime for nominal mid-round choices, which they felt was better than getting nothing. The Senators had no plans to qualify the players, who would have cost them more than $6 million for the privilege.
"It frees up money and gives us options to make other moves," said Senators GM John Muckler.
One of them is likely to be the signing of free agent goaltender Dominik Hasek, but only to a contract that the future Hall-of-Famer wouldn't even have entertained not that long ago. Reports out of Ottawa say Hasek will get a $2 million base salary, and could earn a $5 million bonus if the Senators win the Stanley Cup.
Given the economic conditions, it doesn't seem to be a bad deal for Hasek, who will be 40 in January, and bombed in his injury-plagued comeback attempt with the Red Wings after a year of retirement. Two of his former Detroit teammates -- left wing Brendan Shanahan and defenseman Chris Chelios -- have been told they'll have to take significant pay cuts if they want to return, while right wing Brett Hull already has been advised to seek employment elsewhere.
If Hull, 39, is willing to take a lot less then the $5 million he made last season, someone will quickly find a use for his talents as a sniper, but if not, he will more likely find himself joining the ranks of other high-profile elder statesmen scrambling for jobs.
Consider the list of those who should be available July 1: Ed Belfour, Craig Conroy, Vincent Damphousse, Kris Draper, Paul Kariya, Alexei Kovalev, John Madden, Joe Nieuwendyk, Chris Osgood, Ziggy Palffy, Teemu Selanne, Mark Recchi, Mike Ricci, Gary Roberts, Mike Ricci and Alex Zhamnov to name a few. Talents to be sure, but when you factor in their ages, recent production levels and the payroll restrictions teams could face, what will they be worth?
"No one knows what's going to happen," said agent Don Reynolds, whose client Keith Primeau took a slight annual pay cut when he recently chose term over dollars and signed a new four-year deal worth $17 million.
That deal pushed the Flyers over the $45 million mark in salary commitments for next season, a level already equaled by Dallas and being approached by Detroit and Toronto. Those teams seem to believe there will either be a high salary threshold or a forgiving phase-in period, which is a gamble at best.
But so is letting quality restricted free agents go free in the hopes that they can be re-signed later at a lower price. That could happen in some cases, but many good players who normally wouldn't be available should end up with other teams who have far fewer dollars committed to salaries in the future.
Just not right away. If anything, this year's free agent period should be marked by caution rather than signing frenzy as teams wait to see how the market will develop.
"I expect a lot of opportunities July 1," said Florida Panthers GM Mike Keenan, whose team has less than $10 million in contract obligations. "We want to do some things, but we can be patient about it."
June 29, 2004
By Wes Goldstein
SportsLine.com Staff Writer
As the opening of free agency approaches, a burning question around the NHL is whether the St. Louis Blues will offer Chris Pronger a qualifying amount of nearly $10 million to keep his negotiating rights?
Of course they will. The Blues don't want to make the same mistake Anaheim did when they gambled and lost Paul Kariya last year, but that doesn't mean St. Louis will give Pavol Demitra the same consideration at $6.5 million.
So Demitra, one of the league's more gifted offensive talents who at 29 is in the prime of his career, will get to test unrestricted free agency a few years ahead of schedule.
High-profile veterans like Brett Hull may be forced to take pay cuts if they want jobs. That might be considered fortunate for a player of his caliber were it not to come at a time when teams will be re-evaluating what a player is really worth to them. Instead, it's a sign of the confounding times facing teams and players around the league as free agency kicks off July 1 and the game braces for a possible shutdown when the current collective bargaining agreement expires in September. As the NHL heads toward a new economic landscape, one that will feature either a hard salary cap or another system intended to discourage dramatically escalating pay scales, no one is quite sure what rule of thumb to use.
Certainly not after high-priced teams like the New York Rangers have gone seven years without a playoff appearance, while low-budget outfits like the Tampa Bay Lightning, Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks have proven that lavish spending isn't the key ingredient for success.
"I think the best course of action is not trying to predict or crystal-ball the way things will be," said Montreal Canadiens GM Bob Gainey. "Just make the best of the situation we're in."
That's easier said than done. The league, claiming its teams lost a collective $275 million last season, is pushing for a salary cap of $31 million, while the players association, which disputes the level of losses, has argued for a free market system that makes things equitable through a luxury tax and revenue sharing.
With a happy medium not on anyone's radar screens just yet, most teams are trying to maintain as much cost flexibility as possible while at the same time trying not to sacrifice the key assets they have.
That makes for a trying time for nearly 150 players who are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents this week, and the many more who will join them if teams do as expected and let go of players they would have not have thought twice about qualifying a year ago.
Players like Demitra, who has become unaffordable to a team that desperately has to trim its $60-million payroll and already has $16-million committed to Keith Tkachuk and Doug Weight before even dealing with Pronger.
The Blues are not the only ones.
Out in Anaheim, where Disney has ordered a salary slash of $12 million to make the team more attractive to buyers, the Mighty Ducks are thinking long and hard about picking up the $2.8 million option on bedrock defenseman Keith Carney. If they don't, he's a free man just like Roman Hamrlik will be if the Islanders don't qualify him at $3.6 million.
The Ottawa Senators already started the ball rolling at the draft when they traded away center Radek Bonk and goaltender Patrick Lalime for nominal mid-round choices, which they felt was better than getting nothing. The Senators had no plans to qualify the players, who would have cost them more than $6 million for the privilege.
"It frees up money and gives us options to make other moves," said Senators GM John Muckler.
One of them is likely to be the signing of free agent goaltender Dominik Hasek, but only to a contract that the future Hall-of-Famer wouldn't even have entertained not that long ago. Reports out of Ottawa say Hasek will get a $2 million base salary, and could earn a $5 million bonus if the Senators win the Stanley Cup.
Given the economic conditions, it doesn't seem to be a bad deal for Hasek, who will be 40 in January, and bombed in his injury-plagued comeback attempt with the Red Wings after a year of retirement. Two of his former Detroit teammates -- left wing Brendan Shanahan and defenseman Chris Chelios -- have been told they'll have to take significant pay cuts if they want to return, while right wing Brett Hull already has been advised to seek employment elsewhere.
If Hull, 39, is willing to take a lot less then the $5 million he made last season, someone will quickly find a use for his talents as a sniper, but if not, he will more likely find himself joining the ranks of other high-profile elder statesmen scrambling for jobs.
Consider the list of those who should be available July 1: Ed Belfour, Craig Conroy, Vincent Damphousse, Kris Draper, Paul Kariya, Alexei Kovalev, John Madden, Joe Nieuwendyk, Chris Osgood, Ziggy Palffy, Teemu Selanne, Mark Recchi, Mike Ricci, Gary Roberts, Mike Ricci and Alex Zhamnov to name a few. Talents to be sure, but when you factor in their ages, recent production levels and the payroll restrictions teams could face, what will they be worth?
"No one knows what's going to happen," said agent Don Reynolds, whose client Keith Primeau took a slight annual pay cut when he recently chose term over dollars and signed a new four-year deal worth $17 million.
That deal pushed the Flyers over the $45 million mark in salary commitments for next season, a level already equaled by Dallas and being approached by Detroit and Toronto. Those teams seem to believe there will either be a high salary threshold or a forgiving phase-in period, which is a gamble at best.
But so is letting quality restricted free agents go free in the hopes that they can be re-signed later at a lower price. That could happen in some cases, but many good players who normally wouldn't be available should end up with other teams who have far fewer dollars committed to salaries in the future.
Just not right away. If anything, this year's free agent period should be marked by caution rather than signing frenzy as teams wait to see how the market will develop.
"I expect a lot of opportunities July 1," said Florida Panthers GM Mike Keenan, whose team has less than $10 million in contract obligations. "We want to do some things, but we can be patient about it."