Pitkanen gets Bieksa $

[puckhead]

$4.5m for 3 years to stay with the Canes.

 

[dash]

wow...Joni hit the jackpot.

/I'd much rather have Bieksa

 

[DChero]

That keeps that tight Hurricanes defense intact. Score.

 

[forty_three]

*wipes brow*
*phew*

Now I can unblock his agent's number from dialing in to ANY 614 area code number.

 

[awaz]

el oh el

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

I think he's rolling off a 3 year $12M deal which paid him $4.5M last season anyhow, so $4.5M per is a logical step.

Still too much though.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

He would have gotten at least that much on the UFA market. Good signing for Carolina.

 

[Darkstone42]

He would have gotten at least that much on the UFA market. Good signing for Carolina.

The free agent market always over prices. Mediocre signing at best in my opinion. He's not worth more than 3 - 3.5 per.

EDIT: But I'm super scrutinizing about these things, and undervalue every player according to the market, since I deem the market inflated.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

The free agent market always over prices. Mediocre signing at best in my opinion. He's not worth more than 3 - 3.5 per.

EDIT: But I'm super scrutinizing about these things, and undervalue every player according to the market, since I deem the market inflated.

It's going to be inflated because the supply isn't going to meet the demand. With the cap going up all 30 teams have extra money to spend. Brad Richards is going to have his choice of teams. He & his agent must be overjoyed right now. Friday can't possibly come soon enough for them.

 

[Darkstone42]

It's going to be inflated because the supply isn't going to meet the demand. With the cap going up all 30 teams have extra money to spend. Brad Richards is going to have his choice of teams. He & his agent must be overjoyed right now. Friday can't possibly come soon enough for them.

That's exactly the problem. There's no need for the cap to go up. In fact, the cap going up doesn't really help anyone since the salaries all just go up with it.

 

[awaz]

That's exactly the problem. There's no need for the cap to go up. In fact, the cap going up doesn't really help anyone since the salaries all just go up with it.

helps the flyers

although they probably would've been ok, all recent things considered

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

That's exactly the problem. There's no need for the cap to go up. In fact, the cap going up doesn't really help anyone since the salaries all just go up with it.

The players had the right to do what they did. I don't blame them. They want more money it's that simple. The owners don't have to spend to the top of the cap & a number of teams don't. For those who do that's their choice.

 

[Darkstone42]

The players had the right to do what they did. I don't blame them. They want more money it's that simple. The owners don't have to spend to the top of the cap & a number of teams don't. For those who do that's their choice.

I know, it just makes the market too flexible, in my opinion. I mean, the players are going to get more money given the chance, but I don't see why it was necessary to give them the chance in the first place. Instead of forcing the cap up, just give them better benefits and stuff. Then the market can stay more consistent, and players will make what they're worth relative to each other.

Pitkanen is not a better defenseman than, say Brooks Orpik, and yet he's going to make a full million/year more than him.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I know, it just makes the market too flexible, in my opinion. I mean, the players are going to get more money given the chance, but I don't see why it was necessary to give them the chance in the first place. Instead of forcing the cap up, just give them better benefits and stuff. Then the market can stay more consistent, and players will make what they're worth relative to each other.

Pitkanen is not a better defenseman than, say Brooks Orpik, and yet he's going to make a full million/year more than him.

I'm sure the owners will want to make changes in the new CBA after next season. It will be interesting to see what the cap situation is after that deal is worked out. I just hope we don't have another work stoppage.

 

[Darkstone42]

I'm sure the owners will want to make changes in the new CBA after next season. It will be interesting to see what the cap situation is after that deal is worked out. I just hope we don't have another work stoppage.

Agreed. I think most owners can support the current cap floor, so they probably won't have to negotiate it down, but they need to stop it from going up any more before owners do get themselves in a position to need the floor (and thus the ceiling) to be lowered, because that's where a work stoppage will come into play.

 

[awaz]

I know, it just makes the market too flexible, in my opinion. I mean, the players are going to get more money given the chance, but I don't see why it was necessary to give them the chance in the first place. Instead of forcing the cap up, just give them better benefits and stuff. Then the market can stay more consistent, and players will make what they're worth relative to each other.

Pitkanen is not a better defenseman than, say Brooks Orpik, and yet he's going to make a full million/year more than him.

i actually think some players are almost evening out the market on their own.. look at all the long term deals.. carter and richards will be under 6 for the next 10 years.. kovalchuk is what, 7 for the next 10? OV, sid, and malkin are all around 9 for 7ish years.. kane and toews have contracts similar if i'm not mistaken.. long term contracts like this are going to level out the salary cap because the middle of the pack players wont have a leg to stand on when they are asking for more money than crosby or ovechkin

the problem isn't going to be the players, it's going to be the GM's getting into bidding wars over lesser caliber guys, shooting their salaries up where the superstar salaries are

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

i actually think some players are almost evening out the market on their own.. look at all the long term deals.. carter and richards will be under 6 for the next 10 years.. kovalchuk is what, 7 for the next 10? OV, sid, and malkin are all around 9 for 7ish years.. kane and toews have contracts similar if i'm not mistaken.. long term contracts like this are going to level out the salary cap because the middle of the pack players wont have a leg to stand on when they are asking for more money than crosby or ovechkin

the problem isn't going to be the players, it's going to be the GM's getting into bidding wars over lesser caliber guys, shooting their salaries up where the superstar salaries are

That's exactly what's going on now. Laich at 4.5 million is ridiculous. Pitkanen isn't worth 4.5, but that's what he got. Erhoff might get 6 million plus on Friday. He's good, but he's not that good.

 

[Darkstone42]

i actually think some players are almost evening out the market on their own.. look at all the long term deals.. carter and richards will be under 6 for the next 10 years.. kovalchuk is what, 7 for the next 10? OV, sid, and malkin are all around 9 for 7ish years.. kane and toews have contracts similar if i'm not mistaken.. long term contracts like this are going to level out the salary cap because the middle of the pack players wont have a leg to stand on when they are asking for more money than crosby or ovechkin

the problem isn't going to be the players, it's going to be the GM's getting into bidding wars over lesser caliber guys, shooting their salaries up where the superstar salaries are

In most leagues, the problems do arise from the middling players. They are the reason the cap needs to be fixed. Or at least more fixed. If GMs don't think the cap is going to keep going up year after year, they'll be forced to cut down on the bidding wars for those players.