Bleacher Report - Articles by Sean

The NHL's Salary Cap Conundrum

Sean — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:54:04 -0400

It appears that, with the current economic meltdown, many NHL teams who have committed to long-term high dollar contracts could be in one hell of a position in the next year or two.

A team like the Flyers has committed some $54 million to the 2009-10 season and another $43 million allocated to only 13 players in 2010-11 when the cap is expected to take the biggest hit.

Of course, there are many teams in the NHL who have spent wisely and kept their books open to fluctuations in market conditions. These GMs, under the current system, may be in a position to do some bargain hunting to help those teams that will be in deep cap trouble.

However, what happens to those players who have been given a huge long term contract and become virtually untradeable? It's not impossible that Ovechkin's salary could end up being one-third of the entire Capitals' salary cap.

As we all know, the last CBA gave the owners/players each their own portion of the income to be divided at the agreed-upon terms. So, what happens when the players have priced themselves out of the salary cap and it becomes impossible for the teams to move enough salary around to cap requirements?

Since the league decided on a floating salary cap with escrow, players this year and next are going to end up putting money back in the owners pockets. I'm not too sure why they decided to go with the floating cap. Why not have a fixed cap of, say, $50 million?

With the use of escrow accounts, the league/players are still guaranteed their piece of the pie. However, each team always knows the salary cap is $50 million and can plan spending within that range. If the league does really well, each player's salary would be increase by a prorated amount, and if they do poorly the same would happen in the opposite direction.

Of course, I'm sure the players would be totally against this, as they constantly want their salaries to go up.

No matter what the outcome of the economic slowdown and its effect on the salary cap, it will certainly be an interesting year or two watching GMs squirm.

Montreal Canadiens: Where Do They Go from Here?

Sean — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:57:53 -0500

With the NHL trade deadline fast approaching, many are wondering what rabbit Bob Gainey will pull out of his hat.

Will he be able to land the big centre that the Habs desperately need but have been unable to acquire? If there was ever a time to make some big moves, it would be this trade deadline.

With a team full of free agents and a hefty portion of prospects, Gainey may think twice about moving players that he would normally move. That said, Gainey should consider trading any unrestricted free agents (UFAs) that he does not plan on signing. With 11 UFAs and four restricted free agents (RFAs), we may see a very different team come next September.

This coming free agent market will be one of the biggest markets in NHL history! According to a list I have looked at, there are 289 UFAs this year with a combined 2008-09 salary of $415,000,000.

With the addition of the RFA market (320 players for a total salary of $217,000,000), many teams could do a lot of retooling this summer. Due to the economic crisis, teams can pick up many good players at good prices.

I expect this to be a busy trade deadline and an even busier summer free agency.

What's Different Between the 2007 and 2008 Montreal Canadiens?

Sean — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:47:22 -0500

Just thought I would write a quick article discussing how this years Habs compare to last years after 30 games. Many have been very disappointed in this years performance but I do not think it is actually that bad. Watching them play the way they have with the record they have actually makes me a little bit excited. Anyway let's get to the numbers.

Record

· 2008 16-9-5=37

· 2007 14-11-5=33

Goals

· 2008 GF 87 GA 78

· 2007 GF 85 GA 88

Players

· Kovalev

· 2008 - 6-17=23 PP 1-8=9

· 2007 - 13-12=25 PP 9-7=16

· Plekanec

· 2008 - 6-7=13 PP 2-3=5

· 2007 - 10-13=23 PP 4-5=9

· Koivu

· 2008 - 7-15=22 PP 1-2=3

· 2007 - 5-16=21 PP 4-6=10

· Markov

· 2008 - 5-19=24 PP 2-6=8

· 2007 - 6-13=19 PP 4-9=13

· A. Kostitsyn

· 2008 - 6-7=13 PP 0-1=1

· 2007 - 11-22=33 PP 6-12=18

· S. Kostitsyn

· 2008 - 3-6=9 PP PP 2-3=5

· 2007 did not play in the first 30 games last year

· Higgins

· 2008 - 5-4=9 PP 0-1=1

· 2007 - 12-8=20 PP 5-4=9

· Latendresse

· 2008 - 3-6=9 PP 0-1=1

· 2007 - 19-10=29 PP 6-6=12

· Hamrlik

· 2008 - 2-6=8 PP 0-0=0

· 2007 - 2-12=14 PP 1-4=5

You can see by these stats that some players really need to pick it up. However, when you now bring in Lang and Tanguay's stats you can see these two guys have picked up the others slack, which shows the depth the Canadiens have.

· Lang

· 2008 - 10-12=22

· Tanguay

· 2008 - 9-12=21

Now after looking at these stats there is one obvious problem and we all know what it is, the power-play. However, we are actually able to score some even strength goals this year which we had trouble with last year. So all in all, if the power play or Lats, Higgins, and Pleks can start to click I think this team is in for a great season. Oh and enough about firing Carb. That is absurd.