So Many NHL RFA’s and so Few Teams that Want Them
Jose Theodore
Written by: Larry “The Nucks IceMan” Johnson
Ken Campbell of the Hockey News has a great point in his article – Why so many RFAs are still unsigned.
Take a look at the numbers as reported by capgeek.com – 91 forwards, 44 defensemen and 11 goaltenders still unsigned and the names are quite recognizable to most that follow hockey in depth.
They range from Ilya Kovalchuk and his last season salary of $6.3 million to Aaron Boogaard’s $493,333 at forward, Kim Johnsson’s $4.8 million to Mike Kostka’s $499,500 on defense and Jose Theodore’s $4.5 million to Manny Legace’s $500,000 and all those in between.
The only way to operate these days is to sign the young entry level talent to long term contracts in order to meet the requirements of today’s salary cap.
The effect on the remaining RFA’s means that if they want to play, then they are going to have to lower their salary demands to what the market can afford.
This was proved again today when Mike Comrie, who earned $1.25 million last year with Edmonton, signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins for $500,000 and only got a one year deal.
Here’s a player that is only 29 years of age, and when healthy over the course of a season has scored 20 to 20 goals.
Carey Price in Montreal, who held out till yesterday did not get the $3 million per year he was looking for but instead settled for a two year $5.5 million contract.
On the other hand there is 22 year old Chris Stewart of the Colorado Avalanche signing a two year deal for $6 million. He just happened to lead the Av’s in goals with 28 and with his 77 points, finished second in scoring.
Makes perfect sense for Colorado to pay for this young talent.
What the NHL teams are also looking at is the end of the CBA deal in 2012 and you can expect that once again the teams will try to pull in these high priced contracts.
Wasn’t that the reason for the last CBA shutdown where contracts were up in the $10 to 11 million for the elite players?
Doesn’t seem like much has changed when Vancouver Canucks Roberto Luongo’s salary for this coming season is $10 million but due the structure of the long term deal is only a $5.3 million dollar cap hit.
This whole thing about Ilya Kovalchuk’s deal that was rejected by the NHL also had to do with the long term averaging so that the cap hit is reduced and well you probably have read enough about it, so I won’t go on.
So with a couple of season left to play before the CBA deal ends, look for more young players being locked up where affordable and the older RFA’s left to sit on the shelf unless their demands come down to suit the purchaser.
Look for the breaking news and updates on my Twitter at nucksiceman.
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