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Lol, Joe Thornton taking a price cut. I think everyone has. Look at what Joe Sakic, Selante, Karyia, Borque, and all the stars on the Avs did last year. Im too lazy to look it up but I know for sure they all took HUGE hits on their salaries so that they could all be on one team together and win together (in which they still didnt win lol)
edit...sorry make that 2 years ago my bad. alcholhol has taken its effect upon me tonight.
That was actually quite a few years ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by Snakespy
And more importantly... BEFORE the salary cap.
(i.e. the team could have signed every one of those guys at their regular rate and still been fine)
Now when a guy takes a paycut to help out the team, it has deeper ramifications for the team.
Locking up Thornton for under 8M was huge for the Sharks, and it also set the ceiling for any individual player not named Crosby. Some think Heatley will get more next year, however.
In the new era, teams that have their **** together will get desirable players extended before other teams have a chance to nab them with offer sheets. Now SJ doesn't have to worry about Thornton for three years.
Personally, if I were a Sharks fan... I would have preferred having him locked up under a longer contract... three years isn't long enough for me with a player like Thornton.Quote:
Originally Posted by r'aggro
And if you manage to get them under a long contract, maybe near the end of the contract you'll have them at a bargain price as other players (of equal calibre) may have exceeded what his contract is at the end.
Though I'm sure that the agents know that game too...
OMG...
Edmonton offers Penner a 5 year, $25 contract as a restricted free agent?
One on hand... the guy scored 29 golas last year and his best years are probably ahead of him.
On the other hand... there have been plenty of "one year wonders" in the NHL... seems like a lot for someone who hasn't shown any consistency yet.
And then there is the unpleasent matter of the three (?) first round draft choices.
I don't think that Anaheim will mtach this one the way that Buffalo did.
Edmonton has been very active... and they still are!
Not so sure about this one though...
Penner is a really interesting player imo; the guy is just huge, but isn't a plodder. I do think there is a good chance his production last year was the result of strong line mates. He needs to use his size more, but bringing him on could help fill the Smyth gap for you guys.
I was under the impression that the offer sheet fell somewhere between 4-4.5 million per year, which would cost EDM a first, a second, and a third rounder. Steep, but much better than 3 firsts.
..
Doesn't matter anyway, Philly is kicking everyone's *** again this year.:p
Hmmm... those picks make the offer sound much more palateable to me than three 1st round picks.
This deal could go either way... a stroke of brilliance by Lowe or a bust.
The good news is that Edmonton is LOADED with good prospects in their farm system.
From being a farm team for the league for years and from trading both Smyth and Pronger... they have a stockpile. Something like seven forwards drafted after 2003 in the 1st round.
Smid (from the Pronger trade), Pitkanen, and Gerbeshov for the D.
The future looks good in Edmonton! Just don't know if it'll be this year or not...
Certainly a ballsy move by Lowe. The thing is, Penner isn't quite worth as much as the offer sheet would indicate after one great year, and this will make things sticky for everyone in the future.
I can picture the teams with lots of cap space throwing inflated offer sheets at every promising player under 25 who currently play for a team close to the cap ceiling. Things might get messy. Where a player such as Vanek is concerned, it's worth it. But I hope this strategy doesn't become too widespread.
In the meantime, though, I applaud Lowe for these aggressive moves. He's doing what he can to generate excitement for Oilfans, and to keep attendance up after a crappy season.
I agree.Quote:
Certainly a ballsy move by Lowe. The thing is, Penner isn't quite worth as much as the offer sheet would indicate after one great year
For that money, you can have a more consistent, and well established player.
Possibly.Quote:
I can picture the teams with lots of cap space throwing inflated offer sheets at every promising player under 25 who currently play for a team close to the cap ceiling. Things might get messy. Where a player such as Vanek is concerned, it's worth it. But I hope this strategy doesn't become too widespread.
Maybe even just for the short term though.
I remember when Free Agency came to football. All kinds of teams were WAY overpaying for players who didn't justify their contract. And things eventually settled down (for the mostpart).
Free Agency has already been around in hockey for years. The difference now is that there is a salary cap. In the days before the cap, I could see this behaviour being a lot more risky for the rest of the league... as in precedent setting.
And teams need to make a value judgement... not just in terms of their own cap situation... but in the case of Restricted Free Agents, if the steep cost in draft picks is worth it or not.
I may be overly optimistic... but I have the feeling that this season will be nothing like last season. I feel like they addressed some key issues while at the same time not losing their biggest strength (their massive depth of "good"... not "great" forwards).Quote:
He's doing what he can to generate excitement for Oilfans, and to keep attendance up after a crappy season.
How much cap room does Edmonton have left anyway? The most prolific among the nhl rumor mongers think that Lowe may not be done yet.
--rumors of Hossa wanting out of Atlanta, something about having bad allergies there? (I can relate)
Hossa is a superstar, and the price would be real steep but wow what a pickup he would be for any team. I could see Stoll or Torres, Smid and a first going the other way--this assuming that Anaheim matches the Penner sheet. (Otherwise you'll have no first) and I'd jump all over that. Hemsky would probably be a better starting point, but I don't think edm can trade him for a winger.
Another tidbit is the LA King's situation with Mike Cammalleri, an rfa who is not close to re-signing. Plenty of teams would love to get him on board.
Not sure exactly. Though I don't think that they have been near the top... even when they had Pronger.Quote:
How much cap room does Edmonton have left anyway? The most prolific among the nhl rumor mongers think that Lowe may not be done yet.
And then they traded Pronger and Smyth.
So I knew that they had some room to play with... but *if* the rumour is that Lowe is still looking, I'm surprised at how much room they apparently have.
And I saw that Burke was not happy today about the offer. But Burke can blow it out of his arse as far as I'm concerned. Lowe told Burke when he dealt him Pronger that he was going to win a Stanley Cup because of it... and it looked to be prophetic.
Making offers is well within the rules. Doesn't mean that other teams have to like it when other teams are sniping off their top players... but it was inevidable that someone was going to do it. I'm juts a little surprised that it is Edmonton doing it... after being a farm team for the rest of the league for so many years.
As far as artificially raising the amount of contracts in the league by this behaviour... the rest of the league can blow it out of their arse here too as far as I'm concerned. For YEARS, Edmonton lost it's top talent because it could not afford to keep them largely due to the NY Rangers, Detroit, and Colorados of the league paying players beyond the scope of what small market teams could pay.
AT LEAST now there is a salary cap... those team have no right to whine and snivel. They didn't have to live through what teams like Edmonton did. They can stuff it.
And while there way well be some short term impact of overpaying for players... the market has a way of leveling itself out. A few teams will WAY overpay for players and then have to feel the repercussions of it long into the future (re: NYI and Yashin). Teams will learn and players will generally get offered what they are worth. The salary cap is a new... and still a learning process for the GMs in the new NHL.
Which leads me to this:
Teams would be smart now not to "max" out their salary cap. Because now a team (like Edmonton) can come along and make an offer to a restricted free agent... and if you haven't left yourself any room... your going to get burned.
Everyone knew how it would eventually be when the new bargaining deal was signed... I don't know why everyone is surprised that this is happening now.
Dude... that would be CRAZY if Edmonton took a run at him. And the prcie would have to be steep. I didn't mind Edmonton losing Lupul so much... but I really like Torres (who I think may develop into one of the games top power forwards), Stoll, and Smid. And I love Hemsky's potential as well. Every game I see of Edmonton, the analysts rave about his talents (which as of yet have not translated into scoring).Quote:
Hossa is a superstar, and the price would be real steep but wow what a pickup he would be for any team. I could see Stoll or Torres, Smid and a first going the other way--this assuming that Anaheim matches the Penner sheet. (Otherwise you'll have no first) and I'd jump all over that. Hemsky would probably be a better starting point, but I don't think edm can trade him for a winger.
I'd be willing to part ways with Horcoft (who's talents I think plataeud two years ago) and Pisani. And Edmonton's farm syustem is also full of prospects as well... some of which I wouldn't be too unhappy to see go (i.e. Mikhailov).
What I think Edmonton is missing now, is a purely defensive forward (would love to see Peca back) and a pure sniper (which Hossa would be).
The Kings are morons... they had BETTER resign him. If not... I';d be more than happy to see him in Edmonton.Quote:
Another tidbit is the LA King's situation with Mike Cammalleri, an rfa who is not close to re-signing. Plenty of teams would love to get him on board.
It's official... Penner is now an Oiler.
Hope that Lowe is right on this guy... cause he's costing the Oil a LOT!
Ha, just came in to post a link.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=215290&hubname=nhl
If edm has adequate depth in the system, then it works well for both teams. Anaheim will be a great team either way, and will certainly enjoy the extra draft picks.
Edmonton is still very deep at forward... even with the loss of Lupul, Sykora, and Smyth.Quote:
Originally Posted by r'aggro
And they have something like seven 1st rounders (forwards)... including several very high picks in their system since just 2003.
So their farm system is loaded too.
Anaheim is not completely known I think...
If Neidermyer and Selanne end up retiring, then they go from a great team to just a very good team.
I keep forgetting that Neidermayer is retiring. A guy like him would be tough for any team to replace.