Bobby Holik's $9 million/year salary

[The Panther]

In short: How did Bobby Holik (with the Rangers) make $9 million/year? I've never understood this.

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[TheDevilMadeMe]

Devils went to the finals in 2000 and 2001 with Holik as a key player, albeit 3rd line center. Rangers at the time seemed to prioritize poaching as many players as possible from the (much more successful) Devils.

After signing with the Rangers, Holik said he was happy he didn't have to move his family, as the team's don't play that far apart.

The salary was a joke at the time. The best 3rd line center in the league... Is still a 3rd line center. Rumors were that the Devils offered him 8 million per year.... Still way too much. Holik proved in the late 90s that if you rely on him to score in the playoffs, you are probably losing early.

The NHL equivalent of "people are promoted until they reach a level where they are no longer competent at their job"

 

[Johnny Engine]

I do remember certain media - The Hockey News maybe? - pushing the idea that by tossing money at gritty Holik and Kasparaitis, they were finally "getting it right" and trying to build a team around the expensive offensive talent they had. Of course, they still overvalued both guys and seemed to exclusively deal with goaltenders who were about to drop off the face of the earth, but hey, grit.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Holik is a classic example of a big market team spending foolishly in the pre-cap era. The Rangers tried to buy a Stanley Cup and failed miserably.

HOCKEY; Rangers Lure Holik Across the Hudson

https://nypost.com/2002/07/02/hes-bway-bobby-holik-rangers-agree-on-5-yr-45m-contract/

Three years later, the Rangers buy out Holik.

Rangers Part Ways With Holik

 

[The Panther]

I just don't get what Sather (was it him?) was thinking. Someone in the NYR brass obviously decided, 'We're getting this guy no matter what!' as an objective. I wonder if the Devils thought no one would be crazy enough to match their offer-sheet... Well, someone was.

To put this in perspective, they paid a 32-year-old (at youngest!) second-line winger on the decline more than Crosby has been making in salary...

 

[Ivan13]

Devils went to the finals in 2000 and 2001 with Holik as a key player, albeit 3rd line center. Rangers at the time seemed to prioritize poaching as many players as possible from the (much more successful) Devils.

After signing with the Rangers, Holik said he was happy he didn't have to move his family, as the team's don't play that far apart.

The salary was a joke at the time. The best 3rd line center in the league... Is still a 3rd line center. Rumors were that the Devils offered him 8 million per year.... Still way too much. Holik proved in the late 90s that if you rely on him to score in the playoffs, you are probably losing early.

The NHL equivalent of "people are promoted until they reach a level where they are no longer competent at their job"

They did the same thing with the Avs, Kamensky, Keane, Gusarov, Lacroix, Lefebvre, Fleury, Kasparaitis and of course giving that obscene OS to Joe.

 

[VanIslander]

He was an elite 3rd line center whom the Rags thought could be very good top-6 forward, as a solid two-way pivot, so they gave him star money.

If he had produced 30 goals a year as the 2nd line center at MSG while maintaining his physical game, the contract could have almost been worth it (of course one to two mill was simply incentive needed to sign him.)

 

[Lukin1978]

Even back then it was a ridiculous amount of money.

 

[streitz]

NHL Team Payrolls, 1994 to 2004 - San Jose Sharks, NY Rangers, All Teams, NHL Team Payrolls


Rangers with over 15Mill from the next team and still didn't make the playoffs for like 7 years. Devils won cups in 00/03 with a 20mill smaller payroll, that's honestly sad haha.

 

[blood gin]

That was also right around the time Holik, never a great skater to begin with, lost a step. And he never seemed to play with the same passion and intensity as a Ranger as he did in his prime as a Devil. A lot of his snarl and effectiveness was gone forever in that country club environment

 

[mrhockey193195]

I honestly didn't care about the salary being ridiculously high. This was the pre-cap era, and I didn't care if the Dolan family ran up their bill.

As @Johnny Engine mentioned, this was an attempt to stop going after the "star offensive player" and to get the star defensive player for once. I think what everyone is saying is right, Sather decided to get this guy at all costs in order to focus on the perceived problem with the Rangers (no defense). At the end of the day, I still don't have any problems with the signing except for what happened after: the Rangers never implemented any form of defensive system wherein a player like Holik would be playing to his strengths, and instead pidgeon-holed him into an offensive role (albeit, he was a fine offensive player, but was also a marvelous defensive player). Hell, by the end, he was our #1 C and centering Jagr (just like back in 1990).

 

[brachyrynchos]

Every summer in the late '90's-early 00's the Rangers would have one of the best rosters due to their signings and trades, those teams would scare me. The thing is, with such a roster turnover NYR just never seemed to mesh on the ice even with the quality of players they had and brought in (maybe bought is more applicable) and they were good players, most past their prime or as with Holik playing higher up in the lineup in a role not best suited for them at this point in their careers. Part of what made Holik a great Devil was their system and his linemates, and the role he played there were all different in NY.

 

[MS]

For the people calling him a '3rd line center', he was clearly not a 3rd line center at that point and had averaged close to 60 points/season over the previous 6 years in the middle of the Dead Puck Era. At the time, he was considered the best defensive #2 center in the NHL - that era's Ryan Kesler although a different style player.

Problem was he was already 31-32 and his play quickly saw the predictably fall-off that pretty much every player sees in his early 30s, especially a guy like Holik who was never fast to begin with.

 

[overg]

I can only presume New York was continuing their long standing rivalry with Boston, and trying to top the latter's 4 year, $20 million contract with Martin freakin' LaPointe in 2001.

 

[Eisen]

Devils went to the finals in 2000 and 2001 with Holik as a key player, albeit 3rd line center. Rangers at the time seemed to prioritize poaching as many players as possible from the (much more successful) Devils.

After signing with the Rangers, Holik said he was happy he didn't have to move his family, as the team's don't play that far apart.

The salary was a joke at the time. The best 3rd line center in the league... Is still a 3rd line center. Rumors were that the Devils offered him 8 million per year.... Still way too much. Holik proved in the late 90s that if you rely on him to score in the playoffs, you are probably losing early.

The NHL equivalent of "people are promoted until they reach a level where they are no longer competent at their job"

That says it all. I'd just like to add that he was big and heavy. People liked that at that time a lot more than they should have.

 

[Brodeur]

Here's a fun behind the scenes of the Holik negotiation along with a handful of others: Excerpt: Money Players

Holik maybe fit in a bit better in the late 90s/early 00s mold. 6'4, more brute strength than skill, but still was putting up 50-60 points while usually not having the best even strength linemates. He was capable of playing a shutdown role and was usually around 60% in the faceoff dot. Ryan Kesler and David Backes are probably the best modern day comparables, albeit Kesler is more skilled than Holik was.

There was certainly sticker shock when Holik did sign though. Most of us thought 9 million was reserved for 40 goal scorers (Bill Guerin got a similar deal that day). And otherwise, this was the sort of contract you'd see in a non-capped environment.

I can only presume New York was continuing their long standing rivalry with Boston, and trying to top the latter's 4 year, $20 million contract with Martin freakin' LaPointe in 2001.

If I recall correctly, there's a funny backstory to the Lapointe contract. During one of the owners meetings, Boston's owner was complaining about the escalating salaries and Detroit's owner made a snide remark to the effect of "Not our fault that you're cheap." Boston's owner was furious and basically instructed his GM to sign away a Red Wing when the opportunity arose. And that player ended up being Lapointe.

If there's a silver lining, I believe a young Patrice Bergeron lived with Lapointe as a rookie and the veteran helped show him the ropes.

 

[sr edler]

For the people calling him a '3rd line center', he was clearly not a 3rd line center at that point and had averaged close to 60 points/season over the previous 6 years in the middle of the Dead Puck Era. At the time, he was considered the best defensive #2 center in the NHL - that era's Ryan Kesler although a different style player.

Problem was he was already 31-32 and his play quickly saw the predictably fall-off that pretty much every player sees in his early 30s, especially a guy like Holik who was never fast to begin with.

Hm, interesting. Holik actually led the Devils in scoring in both 96–97 and 97–98, and in 98–99 he was 2nd in scoring, but all those teams fell flat in the playoffs. In 99–00, voilà, Devils add Gomez, and Holik is also outscored by Arnott, and magic happens again.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

For the people calling him a '3rd line center', he was clearly not a 3rd line center at that point and had averaged close to 60 points/season over the previous 6 years in the middle of the Dead Puck Era. At the time, he was considered the best defensive #2 center in the NHL - that era's Ryan Kesler although a different style player.

Problem was he was already 31-32 and his play quickly saw the predictably fall-off that pretty much every player sees in his early 30s, especially a guy like Holik who was never fast to begin with.

In terms of scoring depth, he was the #3 center on the Devils in 2000 and 2001 behind Jason Arnott and Scott Gomez. (Though Holik centered the top PP unit, with Arnott playing point).

Prior to the Arnott trade and Gomez's emergence as a rookie, the Devils did indeed use Holik as a scoring line center, and while he was passable in that role, he wasn't all that great at it.

So call him the best third line center in the league who was capable of filling in on a scoring line if you had nobody better. This is who the Rangers made one of the highest paid players in the league.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Hm, interesting. Holik actually led the Devils in scoring in both 96–97 and 97–98, and in 98–99 he was 2nd in scoring, but all those teams fell flat in the playoffs. In 99–00, voilà, Devils add Gomez, and Holik is also outscored by Arnott, and magic happens again.

Should be noted that if you prorated Doug Gilmour's stats to a full season in both 96-97 and 97-98, he would have led the Devils in scoring both years. But yes, Holik wasn't bad as scoring line center; he just wasn't great at it either. The late 90s Devils were always trying to find that elusive #1 center to push Holik farther down the depth chart, and I think a big part of their success in 2000 and 2001 was that they found the ideal role for Holik as the best 3rd line center in the league.

In 98-99, the Devils' top line was Elias-Holik-Sykora. Arnott would take over the role of center on that line in 99-00 and the line became magic.

 

[GMR]

Wasn't there talk of him winning the Conn Smythe in 2001? He was being lauded a lot in those playoffs from what I remember, though it shouldn't have garnered him that kind of salary in retrospect.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Wasn't there talk of him winning the Vezina in 2001? He was being lauded a lot in those playoffs from what I remember, though it shouldn't have garnered him that kind of salary in retrospect.

You mean the Conn Smythe? He was a candidate from the Devils, that is true. I believe Elias, Sykora, Holik, and Rafalski were the Devils' leading candidates heading into the 2001 finals

 

[GMR]

You mean the Conn Smythe? He was a candidate from the Devils, that is true. I believe Elias, Sykora, Holik, and Rafalski were the Devils' leading candidates heading into the 2001 finals

Sorry, I meant Conn Smythe. I'm still stuck in the Lunqvist thread debate. I did remember correctly then about him being a candidate. Would have become the first European to win it, and a very unlikely winner indeed. My guess was one of the offensive stars like Elias or Sykora would get it.

 

[NyQuil]

I was a Rangers fan back then.

The team wanted to make a big impact and signed the best center and defenceman available at that time.

I can recall thinking that the salary was ridiculous but that it didn’t really matter because it was the Rangers.

 

[brachyrynchos]

I was a Rangers fan back then.

The team wanted to make a big impact and signed the best center and defenceman available at that time.

I can recall thinking that the salary was ridiculous but that it didn’t really matter because it was the Rangers.

Yup. Money was no object for the Rangers, and regardless of how things turned out with their acquisitions and additions they always had the right intent in wanting to win.

 

[NyQuil]

Yup. Money was no object for the Rangers, and regardless of how things turned out with their acquisitions and additions they always had the right intent in wanting to win.

In retrospect, it seemed as if they never really had much of a strategy or plan for the team aside from throwing money at the shiniest object available.

Ultimately they just delayed a rebuild of the 1994 squad that they just couldn’t quite let go of.