Snap Shots: August 4, 2010

TSN

The San Jose Sharks say they are close to finalizing a deal with free-agent forward Jamal Mayers.

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Snap Shots: August 3, 2010

The Star

Mike Modano is reportedly set to sign with the Detroit Red Wings later this week. The Livonia, Mich., native said in a text message to the Detroit Free Press that he will make a “Big announcement” on Thursday.

• Puckking: Modano is the type of guy who gets that pass to go where ever he likes at the end of his career. I’m sure Dallas fans are a bit disappointed but you can’t fault the guy for wanting too.

NYTimes

With the addition of Turco, Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman said his team’s roster is nearly set for 2010-11.

”We need to add a defenseman, but we’re not going to be making wholesale changes at this point,” he said.

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Signings: August 3rd, 2010

The New York Islanders announced today that they have signed 5′ 10” 195-pound winger Jon Sim to a one year two-way contract. Sim appeared in 77  games for the Islanders last year setting  a 3 year high in Goals (13), and Assists (9) bringing his career totals to Goals (74), Assists(61) and  +/(-33) in 435  NHL games. Sim was drafted in the 3rd round (70th overall) by the Dallas in the 1996 NHL entry draft.

“Jon brings an unmatched work ethic and veteran leadership to our lineup and we’re excited to have him back for the upcoming season” Islanders general manager Garth Snow.

The King is back

Reluctantly, I was taken away from my igloo (up here in Canada) where I bring the news to Hockey Jabber to spend some time with the family on my vacation. With those long droning days by the pool behind me I’m ready to get back to the NHL excitement…what it’s STILL the offseason?!

A few things were brought to my attention while I was away, things that so far I’ve neglected to talk about, and questions on whether or not I’d be covering certain topics.

The video game franchises (EA and 2k) have been asked about a dew times, so (by popular demand) I’ll now be bringing you and news/previews on the game franchises (a new category has been added.) I will be posting a summary soon on the news that’s already out there (I’ll filter out the useless crap) so if these games are your things be sure to check here.

Also I’ve been asked if I was planing to post on fantasy hockey. I was never the fantasy hockey type, but last season I joined a league with a few friends and I had a good time. This year I’ll probably do the same but I feel like I need to bring in someone with more knowledge on the subject, so if your interested I’ll post an email address below where you can get a hold of me at and we will see what we can do.

This also goes for anyone else who wants to get involved with Hockey Jabber. If you want to submit an article (once a day, week, month) drop me a line and we will discuss how your articles can get posted and seen by not only the regulars who visit Hockey Jabber but the hundreds who visit Sports Jabber (and the hundreds more who see it on bleacher, yardbark, etc.)

Snap Shots: July 27, 2010

“There’s nothing imminent. But that can change with one phone call. We’re continuing to listen on Tomas Kaberle. Needless to say, nothing has come across that we would do. It’s not an auction where we take the best deal. We’re going to take a deal only if it makes sense or we’re going to keep the player.”

The Star

A lot of people are expecting changes at Hockey Night in Canada with Trevor Pilling replacing Sherali Najak as executive producer, but Pilling is facing an uphill battle. There is no way that Pilling can eliminate or change the popular Coach’s Corner segment.

Montreal Gazette

• Puckking: Controversy creates cash. Love him or hate him Don Cherry gets people talking.

Brian Burke is not willing to exploit a loophole in the CBA that appears to favour deep-pocketed teams, one where players could be paid while they are retired, just to lower and eventually erase their cap hits.

WindsorStar

• Puckking: If there was a team that could do a deal like this it would be Toronto you have to respect (or shake your head at) Burke.

Talbot didn’t mince words, calling Ovechkin “a real douche.”

“I just hate the guy,” a laughing Talbot told deejays on Pittsburgh radio station 105.9 The X.

Vancouver Sun

• Puckking: Interesting to see how Ovechkin reacts (I’m guessing the Russian is going to laugh it off), but just in case watch your knees Talbot.

Anton Stralman’s agent, Marc Levine, traveled from Sweden to the United States on Monday, and is currently in flight to Toronto for Wednesday’s arbitration hearing.

Columbus Dispatch

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Signings: July 27th, 2010

The New York Rangers announced today that they have signed 6′ 2” 208-pound winger Alexander Frolov to a one year 3million dollar contract. Frolov appeared in 81  games for the LA Kings last year setting  a 5 year career low in Goals (19), but finished with Assists (32) bringing his career totals to Goals (168), Assists(213) and  -/(+23) in 536  NHL games. Frolov was drafted in the 1st round (20th overall) by the LA Kings in the 2000 NHL entry draft.

“Alex is a highly skilled player who we feel will play a key role in improving our offense and play in all situations,” Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather

• Puckking: Good signing, with money still left to sign Marc Staal.
  

The New York Islanders announced today that they have resigned 6′ 1” 206-pound winger Matt Moulson to a one year 2.45million dollar contract. Moulson appeared in all 82  games for the Islanders last year setting  career highs in Goals (30),  and Assists (18). Moulson was drafted in the 9th round (263rd overall) by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2003 NHL entry draft, and signed as a free agent with the Islanders in 2009.

“Matt is one of our young core of players and we’re excited to have him return this upcoming season,” Islanders General Manager Garth Snow

• Puckking: Who can disagree with this signing? Now it’s up to Matt to show he can be a  threat each year.

The LA Kings announced today that they have signed 6′ 4” 229-pound winger Alex Ponikarovsky to a one year 3million dollar contract. Ponisarovsky appeared in 77  games for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins scoring Goals (21), Assists (29) bringing his career totals to Goals (116), Assists(150) and  -/(+50) in 493  NHL games. Ponisarovsky was drafted in the 4th round (87th overall) by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1998 NHL entry draft.

Snap Shots: July 26, 2010

The National Hockey League Players’ Association has a 5 p.m. ET deadline to file a grievance on behalf of Kovalchuk against the NHL.

• Puckking: It’s being reported the NHLPA will file the grievance.

Russian newspaper SovSports is reporting that unrestricted free agent Alexander Frolov is on the verge of signing with the New York Rangers

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Signings: July 26th, 2010

The Vancouver Canucks announced today that they have resigned 6′ 0” 185-pound winger Mason Raymond to a two year 5.1million dollar contract. Raymond appeared in 82 Canuck games last year setting career highs in Goals (25)  and Assists (28) bringing his career totals to Goals (45), Assists(52) and  -/(+3) in 203 NHL games. Raymond was drafted in the 2nd round (51st overall) by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2005 NHL entry draft.

• Puckking: A very reasonable price (and a steal if he can hit 30) but the Canucks are already up against the cap.

The Nashville Predators announced today that they have resigned 6′ 3” 198-pound defenseman Ryan Parent to a two year 1.8million dollar contract. Parent appeared in 48 NHL games last year posting Goals (1)  and Assists (2) . Parent was drafted in the 1st round (18th overall) by the Nashville Predators in the 2005 NHL entry draft and was reacquired by the the Predators this past summer for the rights to sign UFA Dan Hamhuis.

Under Review: Contracts

This is the first “Under Review:” post (hopefully the get better over time) I’m going to be talking about contract (I bet you can guess what inspired this post.) Here are a few thoughts I’ve had on them and maybe a few ideas that will spark some debate (or resonate with you.)

Should the NHL put a “cap” on the number of years you can offer on long term deals?

When you look at a contract (usually there are a few years on it) that is front loaded, and fair, you can understand why teams and players do it. From the players stand point you make the big bucks up front, which everyone wants, and if you walk away at the end your not leaving (in the overall picture) that much money on the table. From the owners point you create a situation where you can create a manageable cap hit and flexibility (usually for an above average player, or expensive player) and you can build a team around that elite player(s) in a cap age.

But when you mix a front loaded contract with long term deals you can create a recipe for disaster (ex. See Kovalchuk.)

The Devils had a deal in place that would have 11.5million for 5years, but ended with them paying him 3.5million in the last 6years (allegedly done to circumvent the cap.)

While the jury is still out on that, and people on both sides of the fence, in my opinion something needs to be put in stone in the next CBA on contracts, and perhaps that is to put a limit on the number of years you can offer a player.

Maybe the simplest and most efficient way is just to say that you can offer any player a deal up to their 39^th birthday.

(ex. A 26year old can sign up to a 13year deal)

No Contracts extending past a players 39^th birthday

I’m not going to throw every player who signs a long deal under the bus (a lot of deals appear to be reasonably done) but over the past few seasons a group of players have signed questionable contracts extending past their 39^th birthday. My list of questionable offenders include Marian Hossa, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Chris Pronger, Roberto Luongo and potentially Ilay Kovalchuk.

There may only be a handful of contracts done in this fashion (right now), as we have seen with the Kovalchuk contract the CBA can be exploited and “if it can be done it will be done”.

So why sign a player to a long term contract?:

Players, generally, are signed to long term deals to keep a reasonable cap hit. Remember these are your elite players who are looking for excess of 50 or 60 million dollars (the big money guys.) If you signed that 30 year old 50million dollar player to a 7year deal your looking at a Cap hit of over 7million a season without front loading (which I will explain in a second). But if you extended that contract another 4years your only looking at a cap hit of 4.5million a season

So now that you only have to pay player X 4.5million a season, instead of the 7million a season you would have to pay if you signed him to a deal just 4years shorter, you can begin to front load and make changes to the amount player X will make each year he will likely play while keeping a manageable cap hit for the team.

But if these players (my list of questionable offenders) don’t play to the end of their contracts (for other reasons then career ending injuries) then the teams who signed them have effectively just circumvented the CBA, regardless if the player left 2.5million on the table (because if you just made 50million over the last 7years do you really want to stick around for another 4years to make 2.5?)

I’m not saying I’ am 100% that these players will retire before their contracts run out (we’ve seen players play into their 40’s) but you have to admit the odds they retire before their contract expires is greater then the odds the play it out.

So what I am suggesting is would it be in the interest of the NHL to institute a new rule in the next CBA saying that no player can be signed to a contract that extends past that players 39^th birthday in that given year?

Now you may be wondering why 39?

While you can’t predict when a player will retire you can count the number of players who will be 39 or older next season on both hands. To offer contracts that go past a players 39^th birthday (while possible for players to go that long) is improbable.

Maybe 39 is a high number still, maybe 35 is something that will make players think twice about long term deals (who wants to make peanuts when they still have years left to play) but the principle is the same.

(Just to make things clear I’m not saying everyone has to retire at 35, just they have to sign a new deal at 35 or 39 and maybe you even cap that two a maximum 2year deal or 3year deal.)

Max you must pay each year

Or what if you put a floor on the minimum a player can make each year when they sign their new contract. You couldn’t make it too high because of unexpected injuries that might occur and end a career (people still need to get paid) but maybe a 15% floor.

This might be the first one to be thrown out by the NHLPA, but maybe it deserves some consideration because something needs to be done. Whether the NHL is considering any of these possibilities (most likely not, they got a bunch of people smarter then I am) or some other options the one thing everyone agrees on is that this will be one of (if not, “the”) major issues when the league and players go to renew their contracts.

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Signings: July 23rd, 2010

The Dallas announced today that they have resigned 6′ 2” 212-pound winger Fabian Brunnstrom to a one year 826k dollar contract. Fabian appeared in 44 Stars games last year scoring Goals (2) and Assists (9) bringing his career totals to Goals (19), Assists(21) and  +/(-1) in 99 NHL games. Brunnstrom signed as a free agent with the Stars May 8th, 2008.

“We are looking forward to having him come to training camp in September and battle for a spot on our roster”

-Stars General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk

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