OpAckTool said:
Alot of you are nuts for blaming these contracts on the GMs. The owners are the ones managing a budget. Sure a GM can step in and give his recommendation, but, the owners are the ones making the final financial decisions for their team.
For instance, Charles Wang was the one with the idea of signing Yashin to an unprecedented 10-year, $90 million contract. It has turned out to be a disaster of a deal, but, at the time he wanted that to send a message to Long Island and to the NHL that the Isles were back and they mean business. However, it turned out to be the wrong message...and Wang now knows that.
As for DiPietro's 15-year contract offer last summer, that was an obvious negotiating ploy by Isles management to get DiPietro to back off on his salary demands and sign a contract. And it's actually quite brilliant, cuz it worked. After DiPietro's contract negotiations went sour before training camp, the Isles approached DiPi and his agent with the huge 15-year deal and reiterated to him that they are committed to him, and that he would serve as their franchise goalie. However, the team also knew that there's no chance in the world this deal would work and the insurance coverage wouldn't feasibly work. But DiPietro took the bait, and was openly flattered by management's determination in keeping him an Islander for his career. A few days later, DiPietro signed a contract for much less than he was demanding. For obvious reasons, the Isles will never admit their true intentions about that deal. Wang isn't stupid, he knows the Yashin contract has been a huge burden on his wallet and the team, there's no way he's doing the same thing to keep DiPietro here til he's 39. But in the end...no one has to know that, except Wang himself.
As much as I hate to pass an opportunity to trash Milbury... I have to agree that the Yashin fiasco was not his fault. It's pretty well known that whole bright idea was mostly Wang's doing.
RE: Jagr... he is perhaps onr of the biggests bargain in the NHL right now. For those unaware. Here's a quick review. 2004... Rangers trade Anson Carter to Washington for Jaromir Jagr. Washington agrees to pay out nearly half of the 44 million remaining on the eye-popping 11 million/year contract they gave him. Jagr also agrees to defer roughly 1 million/year, in order to make the deal happen.
End result? Rangers trade Anson Carter (at 3 per) for Jaromir Jagr (at a bit over 5 per). They upgrade from Anson Carter to one of the world's premier players for a 2+ million increase on an already hefty payroll (i.e. not much money to them). Rangers win big, Caps lose big.
In 2005 Jagr has his salary rolled back and is now locked up with the Rangers at roughly 4 million per. 15 years into his NHL career at age 33, he is still one of the game's most prolific stars. The Rangers get Jagr for the same price or cheaper than these NHL forwards to name a few (2005-06 production/status) - salary...
Alexei Zhamnov (injured) - 4.1 mill
Bobby Holik (3g 3a -4) - 4.25 mill
Bill Guerin (4g 6a even) - 6.7 mill
Keith Tkachuk (0g 0a -2, injured) - 7.6 mill
Jeremey Roenick (3g 2a -1) - 4.9 mill
Sergei Federov (0g 1a even, injured) - 6 mill
Doug Weight (2g 8a -2) - 5.7 mill
Jagr already has more goals (14) than all of the above combined.
The one signing that surprised me the most in the new NHL (not pre-existing contracts) was hands down the signing of Vladimir Malakhov for 2 years at 3.5 per. That is an astounding number in this capped NHL for a career underachieving defenseman.
But what really surprised me most of all, was who gave him that deal. One of the most respected GM's in all of sports, Lou Lamiorello. And then he went on to say publically that the Devils were better on defense than last season 03-04. Nice try Lou.
