This Is A Very Bad Offseason

[pixburgher66]

Have you seen these numbers? These are so incredibly inflated. Just...bad. BAD contracts. Anyone else quite nervous about what these means for future offseasons?

 

[Comeds]

Have you seen these numbers? These are so incredibly inflated. Just...bad. BAD contracts. Anyone else quite nervous about what these means for future offseasons?

Nope, I just do not see these numbers being that different from previous years UFA frenzies.

 

[pixburgher66]

Nope, I just do not see these numbers being that different from previous years UFA frenzies.

The amount of guys overpaid is staggering to me...maybe I'm overreacting. But with next FA supposedly being 'weaker' it could be a bad trend.

 

[MadCaptain]

I'm not very concerned. I knew it was coming because the NHL let the teams spend an extra combined $120 million to the free agent crop this year.

The free agent crop was also extremely weak so a lot of bad players were given this extra monies.

The extra cash wont be available in years the cap does not increase.

 

[BOSSMANPC]

The amount of guys overpaid is staggering to me...maybe I'm overreacting. But with next FA supposedly being 'weaker' it could be a bad trend.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[Comeds]

I think every year is like this. Look at a few examples from last July:

Zbynek Michalek 5 year, $20 million contract
Dan Hamhuis 6 year, $27 million contract
Anton Volchenkov 6 year, $25.2 million contract
Paul Martin 5 year, $25 million contract

I am not saying any of those players are bad players but if you look at their years before last I think all jump out at first as looking overpaid. Then again, like today, the consistency that they are being paid probably means they are not over paid and that its just the going rate.

 

[BOSSMANPC]

I will say this one more time. The cap has gone up to much too fast and it will bite this league again. Bookmark this post because I would bet ANYONE that I am right.

There was a lockout for a reason and if the NHL didn't learn from their own mistake maybe they should look at the NFL and NBA. The cap FLOOR is 9 mil more than the cap CEILING after the lockout.

Bad business.

 

[pixburgher66]

I will say this one more time. The cap has gone up to much too fast and it will bite this league again. Bookmark this post because I would bet ANYONE that I am right.

There was a lockout for a reason and if the NHL didn't learn from their own mistake maybe they should look at the NFL and NBA. The cap FLOOR is 9 mil more than the cap CEILING after the lockout.

Bad business.

This is what I'm getting at. Players are getting big contracts with longer tenure in many cases, and with the cap going down next year supposedly a lot of teams are gonna be losing players at a great rate, and I'm just afraid that players may price themselves out of the league. Gotta get some cost control, because while I understand that perhaps with the increase in cap these players are getting the same general % of that cap money, it just creates a vicious cycle that won't end until the cap is insanely high and league minimum type players are making over 1million.

 

[ritari330]

Yes I am worried

 

[PhillyPhaithful48]

Honestly I thought this year was much better than year past when referring to inflated contracts. I think this is good for the league. Until Stamkos and Richards sign.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Have you seen these numbers? These are so incredibly inflated. Just...bad. BAD contracts. Anyone else quite nervous about what these means for future offseasons?

Nope. My team will get a new arena & be well below the cap ceiling for years to come. People make fun of the Dipietro contract & I understand that. However, the Isles are doing a good job of signing their core players for reasonable contracts right now. I feel very good about the future of the Islanders going forward.

 

[Darkstone42]

I am not pleased with the precedents being set in the market (for example, Talbot for 1.8 per year? He scores like 10 points, for crying out loud!), but it could be much worse.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I am not pleased with the precedents being set in the market (for example, Talbot for 1.8 per year? He scores like 10 points, for crying out loud!), but it could be much worse.

Hey I'm the one who said Jagr at 2 million was ridiculous. 3.3 is ASSININE.

 

[esls79]

If the revenues for the league go down, then so will the cap. The salaries are tied to revenues and a percentage can be put in escrow - then only way a team can fail miserably is to have very little support (Phoenix and Atlanta) and a shitty arena deal (Phoenix). With that being said, a team needs to make the playoffs to break even if they spend close to or up to the cap.

 

[Darkstone42]

Hey I'm the one who said Jagr at 2 million was ridiculous. 3.3 is ASSININE.

$2 million would have been a worthwhile risk, but I agree that 3.3 is way too steep. Shero was wise to not pursue that any further. The Penguins signed Kennedy and Sullivan for a mere 200K more than Jagr got, so I'm pleased.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

$2 million would have been a worthwhile risk, but I agree that 3.3 is way too steep. Shero was wise to not pursue that any further. The Penguins signed Kennedy and Sullivan for a mere 200K more than Jagr got, so I'm pleased.

I actually like the Sullivan signing. Low risk high reward. I don't expect him to play more than 50 games though.

 

[Darkstone42]

I actually like the Sullivan signing. Low risk high reward. I don't expect him to play more than 50 games though.

In those 50 games, I think we can expect about 12-15 goals, which is fine by me.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Actually in terms of money spent per player this year has been one of the lowest, but that's because it's a weak UFA class. I think the UFA classes are only going to get weaker. Teams are signing their top players long term. So there will be fewer good players available on the UFA market which will drive the price up on the better players available.

It was said today that if the Stars hadn't had ownership issues Richards never would have been an UFA this offseason.

 

[Darkstone42]

Actually in terms of money spent per player this year has been one of the lowest, but that's because it's a weak UFA class. I think the UFA classes are only going to get weaker. Teams are signing their top players long term. So there will be fewer good players available on the UFA market which will drive the price up on the better players available.

It was said today that if the Stars hadn't had ownership issues Richards never would have been an UFA this offseason.

Yup, unfortunately, the increase in contract values for these middling players will drive up the prices on the stars down the road.

 

[BOSSMANPC]

If the revenues for the league go down, then so will the cap. The salaries are tied to revenues and a percentage can be put in escrow - then only way a team can fail miserably is to have very little support (Phoenix and Atlanta) and a shitty arena deal (Phoenix). With that being said, a team needs to make the playoffs to break even if they spend close to or up to the cap.

esls I respect you but disagree with you. We already have teams (Carolina being one) saying they can not generate enough money to pay to the ceiling. They said in an article that was posted here by dash I think that they would not be able to sign Cole and will impose a team ceiling on their own.

Smaller market teams can not generate the revenue that larger market teams can. That is not speculation that is an obvious fact.

I ran a large department for a company making millions and if you have a good year you CAN NOT start throwing money around like drunken sailors. There are up's and downs and if you have a few good years in a row and give the players big time money when the bad years come they are not going to knock at the door and give it back without a fight.

Also the lockout was suppose to help lower ticket prices, Did that happen? The fans pay the bills and in the economy we have right now buying tickets to sporting events falls behind people paying their bills and feeding their families.

AGAIN, I will take a bet with ANYONE that if the NHL keeps going down this road there is trouble on the horizon. I do not want to see the NHL turn into MLB where only a handful of teams have a chance to win because they are in big markets.

You said "then only way a team can fail miserably is to have very little support", not true. The Canes draw good crowds and now are having problems. They will not be the last to have these problems. It's basic economics that you can generate more money in a market of 5 mil than 1.5 mil. There is advertising and commercial sales along with merchandise sales. The numbers don't work out and that's obvious with the situation in Carolina.

They better get financially responsible and do it fast. I was afraid this would happen when they signed that deal with NBC/Versus. They felt good about themselves and it was like giving a hundred dollars to a crack addict. They were not going to buy food with it, they were going to blow it.

Again it looks like the league will need to step in and protect the owners from themselves.

JMO Folks.