Who will sign the largest and longest contract post CBA?

[trahans99]

With only 200-300 players signed on for next year that leaves between 400-500 players needing to be signed and i'm guessing most in mid July.

My question is who will sign the

1) largest (per year $$)
2) longest contract

My guess would be between Pronger, Lidstrom (if he's a FA - can't remember) and Iginla.

I would peronably choose Iginla and will say 5.5m but I think realistically Lidstrom would fetch 6m or so (but Det has to get rid of some other salaries)

As for longest contract i'll say 4 years is the longest and it'll go to players like Nash, Heatley, Kovalchuk. The majority of contracts will be for 1 or 2 years with some 3 years and only the young standout players getting 4 years IMO (i could very well be wrong but if i was a gm thats what i'd do)

Let me know what you all think.

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[Eddie Vedder]

pronger.. too injury prone for a huge investment.

lidstrom is a good choice.

Heatley, Kovalchuk.. all those kids are pretty safe bets as well.

 

[kdb209]

pronger.. too injury prone for a huge investment.

lidstrom is a good choice.

Heatley, Kovalchuk.. all those kids are pretty safe bets as well.

Lidstrom is a possibility.

But I don't think it will be Heatley or Kovalchuk. Both are just coming off their 1st ELS contract and would have been RFAs with no arbitration rights under the old CBA. Rumor has the new ELS being 4 years and then becoming arb eligible immediately. They may be subject to one more year of ELS (or may have a signing time window to avoid it) but still will not be arbitration eligible. They will at least face the prospect of being an RFA with a 100% (or 110%) QO and no arbitration. They'll get decent offers, but not in the $4M-$6M range - they still don't have any leverage other than a holdout.

Expect a UFA or very top end arbitration eligible player to get the top contract next year, probably a UFA.

A few years down the road - Heatly, Kovalchuk, Iginla, who knows.

 

[Slapshot17]

Sidney Crosby will sign both the largest and the longest as soon as the rookie clause ends.

 

[Habsfan 32]

Crosby.

 

[OilKiller]

Iginla. 5.5 M to 6 M. If Sutter can talk him into it, sign this guy for as long as possible. 5 years would be good...

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't Crosby very likely going to be limited, at least for a time, by the rookie salary cap that we all hear will be part of a new CBA? Something like $1.8 million - which would not be the largest contract.

I think that the vast majority of contracts signed will be one year deals. This would be wanted even more so from the players' standpoint - remember that the owners are negotiating contracts when the NHL is revenue wise is at its lowest. If I am youngish and have large skills, I would hope that revenues and money to spend goes up next year, the year after, at which point more dollars will be out there for contracts. I would not want to be locked in when the dollars available are at their lowest.

 

[Icey]

I believe the new CBA is rumored to have a 3-year maximum length on any contract.

 

[Drury_Sakic]

I am going to say Peter Forsberg..

He's 31(set to become an UFA if the changes we expect happen) and the Avs have little cap room. He got the playing in Sweden thing out of his blood and will have had a fair amount of time to hopefully heal some old wounds. He loves the Avs and would do almost anything to play for them again...


What this means is a 6 year deal...that is very backloaded..(i.ie. alot of money after Sakic and Blake retire or move on... moving from a mill or 2 a year early back to the 8-9 mill range the final years...



But, if you want to talk total contract length, we could see a team sign a guy to something crazy like a 10 year deal if they wanna spread out money to keep someone on the team bad enough...(pay him after he retires still)

 

[flambers]

Crosby.

Crosby is under the rookie Salary cap his contract will be lower than avg.

My pick is Iggy. 6 year deal. No idea on the amount

 

[Gary]

With only 200-300 players signed on for next year that leaves between 400-500 players needing to be signed and i'm guessing most in mid July.

My question is who will sign the

1) largest (per year $$)
2) longest contract

My guess would be between Pronger, Lidstrom (if he's a FA - can't remember) and Iginla.

I would peronably choose Iginla and will say 5.5m but I think realistically Lidstrom would fetch 6m or so (but Det has to get rid of some other salaries)

As for longest contract i'll say 4 years is the longest and it'll go to players like Nash, Heatley, Kovalchuk. The majority of contracts will be for 1 or 2 years with some 3 years and only the young standout players getting 4 years IMO (i could very well be wrong but if i was a gm thats what i'd do)

Let me know what you all think.

Hey, I could be wrong but with a cap of $36 million for 23-27 players, I don't think those guys will command nearly as much as you suggest. I think "elite" players with make up to $4.5 million maximum, and the extreme high end susperstars (IF a Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr type ever came along) would be $6 million. MAYBE Crosby will fit into that category I don't know. Just one mans thoughts...

 

[OilKiller]

Hey, I could be wrong but with a cap of $36 million for 23-27 players, I don't think those guys will command nearly as much as you suggest. I think "elite" players with make up to $4.5 million maximum, and the extreme high end susperstars (IF a Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr type ever came along) would be $6 million. MAYBE Crosby will fit into that category I don't know. Just one mans thoughts...

Using Iggy as an example though, last year he was at what 7.5 M? So if you figure in a 24% rollback, I think that is where some of the numbers are coming from.

 

[Chimaera]

Luongo...


Or like Vinny Lecavalier!

 

[speeds]

call me crazy, but I don't see Iginla taking a paycut at all from his 7 mil last year. He's the guy that drives the team.

CAL was willing to pay him 7 mil of their 36 mil payroll last year, why won't they this year upcoming if the cap is about that level?

 

[MykeAbner]

CAL was willing to pay him 7 mil of their 36 mil payroll last year, why won't they this year upcoming if the cap is about that level?

Because they will have to pay a tax on that and because they were losing money with a payroll of that size.

 

[speeds]

Because they will have to pay a tax on that and because they were losing money with a payroll of that size.

Perhaps true with regards to the tax (we'll need to see what that is, but you're probably right), and most likely true with regards to losing money - depending on how shady a guy thinks these owners are. Both valid points.

Still, I don't think Iginla is a player who sees his value hurt in this new CBA world, but that will remain to be seen.

 

[London Knights]

Perhaps true with regards to the tax (we'll need to see what that is, but you're probably right), and most likely true with regards to losing money - depending on how shady a guy thinks these owners are. Both valid points.

Still, I don't think Iginla is a player who sees his value hurt in this new CBA world, but that will remain to be seen.

In relation to other stars in the game in the new landscape, no he won't. But you won't see the 10 million dollar contract remerge in the NHL for many a year when it can potentially be 1/4 of your salary. This isn't the NBA where 2 stars and a combination of 6 character and average talent guys can make you a championship contender. You need a star goalie, at least 2 star forwards, and at least 2 star defensemen, as well as no real glaring holes in the other 14 postions that play at least 3 minutes a game.

 

[DARKSIDE]

Scott Niedermayer. Figure he's looking for minium of 3 years at $5.000.000 to $6.000.000 million per.

 

[GKJ]

Sidney Crosby will sign both the largest and the longest as soon as the rookie clause ends.

He has to be worth it first. You don't know what will happen in 2-3 years he might not be setting the world on fire like a lot of people have already said will happen.

 

[abracanada]

Because they will have to pay a tax on that and because they were losing money with a payroll of that size.

Actually, the last year they played, they made a 15 million dollar profit.

 

[MojoJojo]

Khabibulin.

 

[coppernblue]

Rick Nash
second season 41 goals
20 years old
that should add up to a 3 or 4 year contract
may not be the highest earning due to him being so young and no leverage (no arbitration, etc.) but should be near the longest

 

[Mysterion]

Hossa is due for a long and expensive contract signing. Most productive under 25 year old in the NHL.

 

[trahans99]

Hossa is due for a long and expensive contract signing. Most productive under 25 year old in the NHL.

Isn't Thornton 25, i'd rather Thornton over Hossa and Lecavilier for that matter too.
But I agree, Hossa is going to get a long term contract is Ottawa is smart.

 

[nyrmessier011]

For the next couple of years I would say the biggest contract anyone will sign for is $6.5M/season.