Do all NHL players get paid in USD?

[Cawz]

I remember back a while ago, some players on Canadian clubs would get paid in Canadian dollars, while most were in USD. But back then it was a bad deal for the player since the Canadian dollar was so poor. Does anyone know if all players nowadays have to be paid in USD, or is the option there for players to get paid in Canadian dollars. With the Canadian dollar over 1.05 again today, that translates into hundreds of thousands of dollars for most players, just on the exchange alone.

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[Fire Sweeney]

Yes.

 

[jessebelanger]

All get paid in USD

 

[Ozzlyn]

canadian dollar will drop soon anyway

 

[kdb209]

I remember back a while ago, some players on Canadian clubs would get paid in Canadian dollars, while most were in USD. But back then it was a bad deal for the player since the Canadian dollar was so poor. Does anyone know if all players nowadays have to be paid in USD, or is the option there for players to get paid in Canadian dollars. With the Canadian dollar over 1.05 again today, that translates into hundreds of thousands of dollars for most players, just on the exchange alone.

Yes.

11.17 Currency. All SPCs must provide for compensation in U.S. Currency for
Paragraph 1 NHL Salary and Bonuses. Minor League compensation may be in the
Native Currency of the NHL Club.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Unless I'm mistaken, the players have been paid in USD for at least a decade, if not two or more. That was one of the main reasons why Quebec and Winnipeg had to move, and that many feared that Edmonton, Calgary, and Ottawa might lose their teams, due to the (at the time) horrible exchange rate for the Canadian dollar.

 

[Cawz]

Unless I'm mistaken, the players have been paid in USD for at least a decade, if not two or more. That was one of the main reasons why Quebec and Winnipeg had to move, and that many feared that Edmonton, Calgary, and Ottawa might lose their teams, due to the (at the time) horrible exchange rate for the Canadian dollar.

I specifically remember some Oilers getting paid in Canadian dollars, but it was quite a while ago. I think it was some shrew signings by Sather for a player that didnt have much negotiating power, or something like that.

 

[kdb209]

Unless I'm mistaken, the players have been paid in USD for at least a decade, if not two or more. That was one of the main reasons why Quebec and Winnipeg had to move, and that many feared that Edmonton, Calgary, and Ottawa might lose their teams, due to the (at the time) horrible exchange rate for the Canadian dollar.

Under the old (1995-2004) CBA, players were paid in the native currency of their team, and had the option to convert their contract when assigned.

14.6 Currency Conversion (a) Upon the occurrence of a Player assignment (as described in
Section 14.1(a)) in which an Assigned Player goes from one country to another, the Assigned Player
shall have the following options in regards to currency:

(i) The Assigned Player can elect to convert his entire contract to the currency of the
Club he is assigned to (or the currency of the country in which his Club is
relocated) at the effective Currency Exchange Ratio on the day of the Player
assignment;

(ii) The Assigned Player can elect to continue to be paid the actual currency of his
contract; or

(iii) The Assigned Player can elect from time to time to be paid the actual currency of
his contract or to convert his contract to the currency of the Club he is assigned to
(or the currency of the country in which his Club is relocated) on a bi-monthly
basis at the Currency Exchange Ratio in effect on the last business day of the
month immediately preceding the applicable election.​

(c) When a player on a Canadian dollar contract with a Canadian Club is subject to a Player
assignment to a U.S. Club and is then subject to a Player assignment to a Canadian Club during the
term of the same contract, his salary with the acquiring Canadian Club shall be as stated on the face of
that Canadian dollar contract and the player shall thereafter be paid in Canadian dollars only without any
right to elect U.S. currency. By way of example, if a player on a Canadian Club earning $1 million per
year in Canadian funds is subject to an assignment to a U.S. Club and then subject to an assignment
back to a Canadian Club, his salary with the last Canadian Club shall be $1 million per year in Canadian
funds. The player's right to elect to be paid in U.S. or in Canadian funds while on the U.S. Club is
unaffected by this paragraph. These principles also apply when the Player assignment sequence is U.S.
Club - Canadian Club - U.S. Club.

 

[RandR]

I remember back a while ago, some players on Canadian clubs would get paid in Canadian dollars, while most were in USD. But back then it was a bad deal for the player since the Canadian dollar was so poor. Does anyone know if all players nowadays have to be paid in USD, or is the option there for players to get paid in Canadian dollars. With the Canadian dollar over 1.05 again today, that translates into hundreds of thousands of dollars for most players, just on the exchange alone.

Even though the player contracts are denominated in U.S. $, wouldn't Canadian teams actually pay Canadian-based players in Canadian dollars at a Canada-U.S. exchange rate, presumably periodically set or referenced by the league? There must also be all kinds of transactions between the league, teams, NHLPA, players, etc. that involve currency conversion. That would be unless all league business had to be done in U.S. $, which wouldn't make sense for business transactions where both parties are in Canada.

So, for example, when Montreal pays Carey Price, would they not convert his monthly salary payments specified in his U.S-denominated contract to the Canadian equivalent, which is what they would then transfer to his (Canadian) bank account?

I don't see why the league wouldn't issue or reference (eg- from OANDA) an ongoing Canadian-U.S. exchange rate to be used for all transactions that involve a currency conversion. This is, for example, what large companies do to handle things like expenses for employees who frequently travel cross-border for work.

Of course, this still means that Carey Price's contract is worth a little less to him this year than last due to the higher Cdn $, but at least he or his team aren't having to also suffer unnecessary currency conversion charges or spreads when he gets paid.

 

[Blitz]

canadian dollar will drop soon anyway

sure... whatever you say.

 

[Cawz]

canadian dollar will drop soon anyway

All trends and forecasts disagree with that. CAD went over 1.06 USD today

 

[BadHammy*]

All trends and forecasts disagree with that. CAD went over 1.06 USD today

It'll probably be that way for 3-5 more years, maybe a little more, but it will turn around eventually. It's dangerous for the sake of Canadian exporting to be above 1:1, since the U.S. is Canada's biggest trade partner. Moreover, the economy here can't suck forever.

 

[blues10]

AHL players are still paid in US and CDN dollars. There is even a nice pay scale to compensate those playing in Canada for having a low Canadian dollar.

Is there a Minimum Salary for AHL Players?

Players playing in the AHL on an AHL Standard Player’s Contract shall receive minimum compensation as follows:

•2010-11 - $37,500 U.S. Clubs/ or $40,000 Cdn. Clubs
•2011-12 - $39,000 U.S. Clubs/ or $41,000 Cdn. Clubs
•2012-13 - $40,500 U.S. Clubs/ or $42,000 Cdn. Clubs
•2013-14 - $41,500 U.S. Clubs/ or $43,000 Cdn. Clubs


Players on loan to the AHL from Lesser Leagues shall receive minimum compensation as follows:

•2010-11 - $31,500 U.S. Clubs/ or $32,700 Cdn. Clubs
•2011-12 - $31,500 U.S. Clubs/ or $32,700 Cdn. Clubs
•2012-13 - $32,500 U.S. Clubs/ or $33,750 Cdn. Clubs
•2013-14 - $32,500 U.S. Clubs/ or $33,750 Cdn. Clubs

http://www.phpa.com/en/content/home/about/ahl-collective-bargaining-agreement/

 

[Cawz]

Moreover, the economy here can't suck forever.

Hope not, but you guys are so far down that spiral that getting back up will be a painful process. Seriously, who would invest in the American dollar right now?

Obviously we hope your economy turns around, but the Canadian energy ministers just finished a big meeting to try to get more overseas markets and get away from trading so much with the US.

 

[RTN]

AHL players are still paid in US and CDN dollars. There is even a nice pay scale to compensate those playing in Canada for having a low Canadian dollar.



http://www.phpa.com/en/content/home/about/ahl-collective-bargaining-agreement/

LOL. That's a great little bonus for AHLers on Canadian clubs.

 

[dre]

i believe vinny damphousse old contract with montreal was for like 10 million $CND. I remember hearing that on tv as a kid, but don't quote me on that. I'd imagine he was prob one of the last to take his contract in CND.

 

[Hockey Team]

I would assume that the players/clubs can decide whether the player's paycheck gets paid as USD or CAD, as long as the exchange rate being used is correct and consistent (eg, if they use the exchange rate on the 15th for this month they have to do that every month), so that they can't game the currency market to circumvent the cap. (that can be significant too, could easily pay a player 5-10% more by cherry picking the best exchange rate of the month).

Can't imagine they would force the clubs to convert their Canadian revenue into USD then make the player convert it back to CAD to use it.

 

[driller1]

Hope not, but you guys are so far down that spiral that getting back up will be a painful process. Seriously, who would invest in the American dollar right now?

Haha. China of course. Not because they want to, but they need to manipulate their currency to have an exporting edge. Who do you think buys US Treasuries to finance the US budget while the US runs huge deficits?

And its not like China wants / can afford for the USD to depreciate. Their trillions and trillions of dollars of debt would be worth a lot less than what its worth now.

 

[Integral]

All trends and forecasts disagree with that. CAD went over 1.06 USD today

Although I can't speak for how "soon" the USD will strengthen, keep in mind that the monetary easing of the USD is an intentional policy being pursued by the Federal Reserve. The idea is to weaken the US dollar which should spur exports and discourage imports. Other national banks have tried similar measures but can't compete simply because of the quantity of US dollars and their status as a reserve currency.

In any case, I don't think anyone expects this to be a permanent arrangement.

 

[I am the Liquor]

Under the old (1995-2004) CBA, players were paid in the native currency of their team, and had the option to convert their contract when assigned.

How do you know all this stuff?

I feel like I should be paying you.

Its pretty remarkable.

 

[saskganesh]

Haha. China of course. Not because they want to, but they need to manipulate their currency to have an exporting edge. Who do you think buys US Treasuries to finance the US budget while the US runs huge deficits?

And its not like China wants / can afford for the USD to depreciate. Their trillions and trillions of dollars of debt would be worth a lot less than what its worth now.

Well, it's still largely American purchasers, led by the Federal Reserve itself. China only owns about 8% (roughly) of US debt.

 

[squidz*]

Although I can't speak for how "soon" the USD will strengthen, keep in mind that the monetary easing of the USD is an intentional policy being pursued by the Federal Reserve. The idea is to weaken the US dollar which should spur exports and discourage imports. Other national banks have tried similar measures but can't compete simply because of the quantity of US dollars and their status as a reserve currency.

In any case, I don't think anyone expects this to be a permanent arrangement.

Furthermore, arbitrage has to set in eventually. Living right on the US side of the border, it's easy to see how devastating the strong Canadian dollar is to Canadian businesses. The price differences have gotten so big that people from Thunder Bay have been regularly driving down to Duluth (about 3.5 hours plus border crossing time) to do all their shopping. The exchange rate probably won't be going back to 1990s levels any time soon (if ever) but the Canadian dollar is sitting around its peak and will come off it in the next few years.

 

[squidz*]

Well, it's still largely American purchasers, led by the Federal Reserve itself. China only owns about 8% (roughly) of US debt.

The bigger reason China can't allow US currency to depreciate is their dependence upon exporting to the US. Nearly 20% of all Chinese exports go to the US. If the dollar depreciates, the exchange rates they've been forcing for the Yuan will become completely untenable and they'll suffer massive economic issues from the drop off in exports.

 

[5lidyzer19]

Nevertheless, the dollar has remained the world's currency anchor. As long as this anchor rests firmly on the ocean floor, stability is guaranteed for the national economies that invest in the dollar.

But if that anchor should tear itself loose and begin to drift freely in the ocean of global finance, the chaos that ensues would result in trouble for more than just exchange rates.

That way, the dollar crisis would spread from the world of currencies to the real world of factories, businesses and household accounts within days.

Major and minor private investments yield lower returns when interest rates climb. People would start to save, the economy would falter and eventually shrink. The first mass layoffs would arrive soon afterwards. US citizens would have to once more drastically reduce their level of consumption, as unemployment and waves of bankruptcy would shake up the country. Millions of households would become unable to pay back their bank loans. Then real estate prices and share values would begin to drop, having been overpriced for years and used as mortgages for consumer credit. When the real estate bubble bursts, consumption inevitably dwindles even further. The hunger for imports would fade, causing problems for exporting countries as well. It would only be a matter of days before newspapers would once more feature a term that seemed to have disappeared decades ago: world economic crisis.

But why are the same traders who used to purchase products now so mad about dollar bills? Why do they rely on the good called security -- a commodity whose quantity cannot be increased at all? Doesn't every business student learn that the currency of a country is only as stable -- and hence as valuable -- as what the national economy of that country has to offer and produces? Does no one see that the tension between the dream and the reality is increasing and that this tension will snap, leading to suffering for millions?

Of course they see it! Investors can see what is happening. They wonder about it and shake their heads. It even scares them a little, sending chills down their spine. But they keep buying dollars as though possessed. The greater their doubts, the more greedily they order dollars. Indeed, that's exactly what is so crazy about these investors and their behavior: The client isn't just a client. He creates the security he's purchasing by the very act of purchasing it. If he were to stop buying dollars tomorrow, suspicion about the currency would spread and insecurity would grow. Then the dream would end. The dollar would start to falter and all the wealth held in dollars would lose its value

The only way to fight a weak dollar is to strengthen it. Many people no longer care whether the US currency still justifies the faith people seem to have in it. The new game, which amounts to playing with fire, works exactly the other way around: The dollar deserves the faith it gets because otherwise it loses that faith. Dollars are bought so they don't have to be sold. The dollar is strong because that's the only thing that can prevent it from growing weak. Reality is ignored because only by ignoring it can the dream come true. Or, to put it still more clearly: Behaving irrationally has become rational behavior.

Of course, those playing this game know that, in the long term, currencies can't be stronger than the national economies from which they derive. Consumption without production, imports without exports, growth on credit -- these are all things that can't last in this world.

But if things have become that obvious, why aren't investors recoiling in fear? Why do foreigners, US presidents of all stripes and even Federal Reserve presidents known for their seriousness allow themselves to get involved in such a risky game, when the risk is that of destroying everything?

The answer is terrifyingly simple: Everyone knows how dangerous the game is, but continuing to play it strikes them as less dangerous than quitting. After all, what's to be gained from overreacting? Investors allowed themselves to get caught in the dollar trap years ago, and there's no easy way out. If they start taking their dollar bills and government bonds to the market themselves, they would lose money -- either gradually or all at once. They would like to avoid both scenarios, at least for a time.

Last century, the United States already suffered from one deep economic crisis that gradually spread to the rest of the world. The Great Depression lasted 10 years and brought mass unemployment and starvation to the United States. The country's economic power sank by one-third. The crisis virus wrought havoc all over the West. Six million people were unemployed in Germany when the economic fever was at its peak.

Today's investors face a difficult choice, one they're not to be envied for. They can see the relative weakness of the US economy and they're registering the tectonic shifts in the world economy. They know that a great statistical effort is being made to prolong the American dream.

For capital market investors, reality isn't reality until the majority of investors are convinced it is reality and have begun reacting accordingly. Right now, everyone is watching everyone else closely. Everyone knows the dream of the stable economic superpower has ended, but everyone is keeping his eyes shut just a little longer.

The Americans are enjoying the present at the cost of selling off ever larger chunks of their future. Arguably, the imminent economic crisis is the most thoroughly predicted one in recent history. Rather than refuting the crisis, the current US economic boom merely heralds it.

Biologists have observed similar phenomena in plants contaminated by toxins. Before they wither, they produce one last batch of healthy shoots -- to the point that they can hardly be distinguished from healthy plants. Some speak of a panic bloom.

So who will be the first to destroy the dollar illusion? Aren't all investors bound together by an invisible link, since every attack on the key currency would lead to a loss of value for them, perhaps even destroying a large part of their financial assets? Why should the central banks of Japan or Beijing throw their dollars onto the market? What could make US pension funds wilfully destroy their wealth, held in dollars? What sense would it make to send the United States into a deep crisis when that crisis could drag all the other states along?

The underlying motive is the same as the one that once prompted investors to buy dollars -- fear. This time it is fear that someone else may be faster, fear that the dollar's strength won't last, fear that every day spent waiting may be one day too long. It's fear that the herd instinct of global financial markets will set in and overtake those who can't keep up.

The dependence of foreign central banks on the dollar will defer its crash, but it won't prevent it. Today's snowdrift will become tomorrow's avalanche. The masses of snow are already accumulating at breathtaking speed. The avalanche could happen tomorrow, in a few months or years from now. Much of what people today think is immortal will be buried by the global currency crisis -- perhaps even the leadership role of the United States.

Incidentally, the commission that former US President Bill Clinton created to investigate the negative balance of trade concluded in clear terms that the government has to do whatever it can to put an end to the growing disparity between imports and exports. It demanded that the public give up its optimism and return to realism, that people start saving again and that the state reduce its imports in order to prevent too hard a crash landing.

None of that has been done. In fact, what is being done is the opposite of everything the experts recommended. Debt is growing, imports are increasing and an optimism now lacking every basis in reality has become official state policy. Lester Thurow, a member of Clinton's commission, draws the sober conclusion that no one will believe the US balance of trade could produce a crisis "until it happens."

Although I can't speak for how "soon" the USD will strengthen, keep in mind that the monetary easing of the USD is an intentional policy being pursued by the Federal Reserve. The idea is to weaken the US dollar which should spur exports and discourage imports. Other national banks have tried similar measures but can't compete simply because of the quantity of US dollars and their status as a reserve currency.

In any case, I don't think anyone expects this to be a permanent arrangement.

"Years of current account deficits - deficits induced not by the decisions of private savers looking to maximize returns but by foreign public sector entities seeking to maintain export growth - has literally resulted in a US economy that, on net, is unable to produce the goods its citizens want to consume.

South Korea, Russia, and other emerging markets that go through severe crises usually undergo a sharp depreciation in the inflation-adjusted value of the currency, making them hypercompetitive, at least for a while. This makes it easier to replace imports with domestic goods and services and much more attractive to export.

In contrast, the global financial crisis actually strengthened the U.S. dollar as it was seen as a haven. Currency depreciation - of substantial magnitude - is a mechanism by which economies recover from financial crisis. But we shouldn't underestimate that challenges that accompany such an adjustment.

Put simply, the Federal Reserve is positioned to declare war on Bretton Woods 2. November 3, 2010. Mark it on your calendars.

So perhaps Bretton Woods does not end because foreign governments are unwilling to bear ever increasing levels of currency and interest rate risk or due to the collapse of private intermediaries in the US, but because it has delivered the threat of deflation to the US, and that provokes a substantial response from the Federal Reserve. A side effect of the next round of quantitative easing is an attack on the strong dollar policy.

The rest of the world is howling.

Consider the enormity of the situation at hand. The Federal Reserve is poised to crank up the printing press for the sake of satisfying their domestic mandate. One mechanism, perhaps the only mechanism, by which we can expect meaningful, sustained reversal from the current set of imbalances is via a significant depreciation of the dollar. The rest of the world appears prepared to fight the Fed because they know no other path.

Bad things happen when you fight the Fed. You find yourself on the wrong side of a whole bunch of trades. In this case, I suspect it means that Bretton Woods 2 finally collapses in a disorderly mess. There may really be no other way for it to end, because its end yields clear winners and losers. And the losers, in this case largely emerging markets, and not prepared to accept their fate.

Bottom Line: The time may finally be at hand when the imbalances created by Bretton Woods 2 now tear the system asunder. The collapse is coming via an unexpected channel; rather than originating from abroad, the shock that sets it in motion comes from the inside, a blast of stimulus from the US Federal Reserve. And at the moment, the collapse looks likely to turn disorderly quickly. If the Federal Reserve is committed to quantitative easing, there is no way for the rest of the world to stop to flow of dollars that is already emanating from the US. Yet much of the world does not want to accept the inevitable, and there appears to be no agreement on what comes next. Call me pessimistic, but right now I don't see how this situation gets anything but more ugly

We've often seen the phrase, "Saved by WWII" when seeing the analogy between now and the 1930s. Then the world was in disarray, based on economic constraints rooted in WWI reparations, the expansion and bursting of the stock market, and world wide abject poverty.

Saved by a war that cost 60 million lives? What was the option? The starvation of the poorest had begun in Eastern Europe, and revolution was in the air in United States. No one can contemplate the extent of the disaster that is coming now, since we don't conceptualize WWII as being caused by economics.

Perhaps it's time to promote this explanation, so it would be clearer just what kind of a precipice we are now looking over.

 

[5lidyzer19]

The bigger reason China can't allow US currency to depreciate is their dependence upon exporting to the US. Nearly 20% of all Chinese exports go to the US. If the dollar depreciates, the exchange rates they've been forcing for the Yuan will become completely untenable and they'll suffer massive economic issues from the drop off in exports.

Keep in mind that the United States also struck a special agreement with OPEC in 1971. The U.s left the gold standard, but it made an even sweeter deal with a resource needed by every relevent economy on earth. Opec's oil can only be bought with U.s dollars. U.s dollars can only be "earned" by exporting your hard assets to us for paper. Since then, we've created the slickest form of empire ever devised. The United States makes dollars, and the rest of the world (our colonies)makes things that dollars can buy. The two pillars of american empire are military and the dollar. A strong dollar keeps the military strong, and a strong military keep the dollar strong.

Any attack on the system will be met with harsh consequences, as Iraq and Suddam found out when he stopped accepting dollars for their OPEC oil reserves. Within one year of this decision, the United States invaded Iraq and immediately switched away from the Euro. Saddam attacked the U.s Dollar, which is an indirect attack on the U.s Military. It is the reason that Iran has been in the crosshairs as well. Not to mention Venezuala and Chavez. They are all too weak to confront us militarily, but they have made no attempt to hide their attacks on the U.s Dollar.

Viewed from a different angle, an oil price ceiling is a dollar floor. Oil is traded in greater dollar volumes than any other commodity so the oil standard had more liquidity than gold ever did.According to the December 20, 2004 issue of the Oil and Gas Journal, the oil reserves of OPEC at yearend 2004 are estimated to be 885 billion barrels.

The oil equivalent of Fort Knox was not the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; it was the combined oil reserves of OPEC, three orders of magnitude greater and much larger in value than all the gold mined since the dawn of history

According to the United States Geological Survey, the total gold ever mined in the world is about 3.4 billion troy ounces. At $42 per barrel for oil and $420 per troy ounce for gold, the value of Opec's reserves is 26 times the value of all gold ever mined.

Haha. China of course. Not because they want to, but they need to manipulate their currency to have an exporting edge.

Every time I hear the U.s call China a currency manipulator, I get a big smile. The Federal Reserve is the greatest manipulator in the history of the world under the Dollar/Oil standard.

The U.s intentionally creates budget deficits since 1971.

U.s buys imports and increases our standard of living at the expense of the rest of the world. Foreign central banks build dollar reserves which they invest in dollar denominated U.s treasuries. Increased Treasury demand allows government to run deficiets....deficiets allow more consumption on a nation and consumer level....more consumption creates a need for more imports...you guessed it more imports leads to more foreign central banks demand for U.s treasuries. This loop of infinite rise in consumption levels and appetite for more and more debt was a disaster waiting to happen.

Other central banks would intentionally weaken their currencies in relation to the dollar to keep up their economies and exports to the U.S: The world's economic engine.

"You can have a peice of the American dream, but we'll be the king of the food chain reaping the most benefit."

Globalization was the U.s Dollarizing the world and getting them so deep into the game, that their only option is to continue the game or lose everything. Federal reserve policy makers learned that they could exert more power via U.s treasury debt, than they ever could running surpluses.

The housing and other bubbles are merely a sympton of a much larger dollar bubble bursting. Anyone confused as to why the U.s isn't bouncing back from this recession easily, or hoping for a lift in the dollar, has ignored the last 40 years-and more importantly the Fed's recent actions.

We are currently witnessing the breakdown of Bretton woods 2 and the U.s as a reserve currency-and we've already seen how this story ends 70 years ago.