Player Discussion Marián Gáborík: End Of The Road

[Upgrayedd]

I really, really hope this is the case.

If it's not the case we are worse off at the moment then we thought we were, which would be pretty incredible all things considered lol

 

[Burrowsaurus]

did he also sustain arm and upper body injuries? his shots are all slow fluttering butterflies

 

[Sensinitis]

Have a feeling he retires this summer or next.

It’s hard to believe a re-tooling team would have over 12M dished out to Ryan, Burrows and Gaborik in the lineup next season.

Something’s gotta give.

 

[BonkTastic]

did he also sustain arm and upper body injuries? his shots are all slow fluttering butterflies

He did, actually. Doctors diagnosed him with Stage 2 "Old".

Stage 1 Old attacks the legs, which significantly slows down skating and endurance. Gaborik was diagnosed with this in LA. Stage 2 Old attacks the muscles in the arms.

It's a chronic condition. There is no known cure. Some athletes have genetic immunities to Old and their bodies can cope with the disease better than others - guys like Jaromir Jagr, Rod Brindamour and Gary Roberts are examples of these lucky few individuals. For the general population, once you get Old, it becomes very difficult to continue a career in professional sports (unless you are a golfer or practice some other non-athletic sport).

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Wait until 2019 and the buyout isnt so bad.

Its a likely option IMO. That's when they will need the extra $ for Duchene and EK if they are still here. I still think he's better than Burrows .. and a much better option on the 2nd half of the PP where Boucher keeps throwing Burrows out.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

He'll either be bought out, retire or MacArthur-retire. There's little chance he actually plays out his career in Ottawa.

 

[BonkTastic]

Its a likely option IMO. That's when they will need the extra $ for Duchene and EK if they are still here. I still think he's better than Burrows .. and a much better option on the 2nd half of the PP where Boucher keeps throwing Burrows out.

Yeah... this could happen.

Buyout costs if we wait a year (buyout in the summer of 2019):
2019/20 - Buyout Cost: $1,041,667 - Cap Hit: $2,741,667
2020/21 - Buyout Cost: $1,041,667 - Cap Hit: $2,841,667
2021/22 - Buyout Cost: $1,041,667 - Cap Hit: $1,041,667
2022/23 - Buyout Cost: $1,041,667 - Cap Hit: $1,041,667

 

[tony d]

Think he gets bought out this summer.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Yeah... this could happen.

Buyout costs if we wait a year (buyout in the summer of 2019):
2019/20 - Buyout Cost: $1,041,667 - Cap Hit: $2,741,667
2020/21 - Buyout Cost: $1,041,667 - Cap Hit: $2,841,667
2021/22 - Buyout Cost: $1,041,667 - Cap Hit: $1,041,667
2022/23 - Buyout Cost: $1,041,667 - Cap Hit: $1,041,667

Yup Buy out Burrows this year and Gaborik next year IMO

 

[BonkTastic]

Yup Buy out Burrows this year

It's his last year of the contract. Just let him be the "13th guy" all season and let him stew in the pressbox in case of injuries.

I'd rather pay him out the full amount he's owed in one year where the salary doesn't matter, instead of drawing it out over 2 years when it might matter in 2019/20.

I mean... it's all small potatoes I guess. Just a slight preference on my part.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

Been saying this literally for months.

We replaced one problem player with an even worse problem player. Hopefully he retires (though I'm not holding my breath for that to happen, because why would he?), or else it's going to be a painful 3 years around these parts listening to literally the exact complaints people had about Phaneuf being tossed Gaborik's way, with the obvious caveat that Phaneuf is still an NHL-caliber player, while Gaborik is going to look like he's skating in an Old Timer's Charity game collecting a top-6 forward NHL paycheque.

I don't even know what to do with him at this point. His contract is all but un-tradeable (except to us, apparently), and there's no good reason for him to retire when he can make a small fortune playing out his career with the Sens on the 4th line until he's almost 40 years old.

It's a mess. I have no clue what to do with him. What happens if you send him to the AHL and he's fine with it? We give him the Redden treatment, but he still collects the almost $11mil left on his contract? We all know that actual salary matters to this club, not cap hit. $11 mil buried in the minors is $11mil we can't spend on the NHL roster.

I'm not confident this gets solved in a way that makes the club particularly happy about the outcome.

Agreed, I never liked that trade. With the retention the Senators aren't saving much money, so unless they plan to buy him out . . . i dunno what the f*** they're doing.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

There has to be some truth to the retirement rumors otherwise the move made no sense. The buyout numbers don't really add up.

 

[Upgrayedd]

There has to be some truth to the retirement rumors otherwise the move made no sense. The buyout numbers don't really add up.

What's the theory as to why he would retire and leave that cash on the table? Have we even seen that outside of Lecavalier who did it to sign a another deal where he could actually play the game rather than be scratched.

I hope for it too but would never personally turn down cash I was entitled too so im trying to figure out the angle here.

 

[Zorf]

There has to be some truth to the retirement rumors otherwise the move made no sense. The buyout numbers don't really add up.

The flip side ot this is that if it is true it also makes no sense for LA to trade him if he was coming off the books this summer. I think they could have found someone a bit younger than Dion who's just as effective for $5M per season and not have the worries of Dion's dwindling foot speed for the next 3 or 4 seasons.

 

[Micklebot]

What's the theory as to why he would retire and leave that cash on the table? Have we even seen that outside of Lecavalier who did it to sign a another deal where he could actually play the game rather than be scratched.

I hope for it too but would never personally turn down cash I was entitled too so im trying to figure out the angle here.

Presumably, at some point, you'll chose to retire from a job that would have paid you a salary, so yeah, you'll probably walk away from money. This is no different other than the scale.

Having said that, Gaborik already has an estimated net value of around 64 mil dollars. How much is an extra 5-6 (after taxes of course) going to impact his life? If he's at a point where the grind of playing impacts his quality of life, or he suspects that pushing through may result in long term issues (like further messing up his kness, back, god forbid concussions ect), he may just cut bait and decide the juice isn't worth the squeeze. Who knows, he might have a post hockey career already lined up to offset some of the lost income, if he even cares about that.

edit: I suspect that the determining factor is really if he still has the drive to play; if he still enjoys going to work, if you will. Aside from that, there might be a certain degree of not wanting to let a team down that prevents players from walking away before the end of their contract. I suspect that both those factors (wanting to win and wanting to honour their contract/not letting their team down) outweigh the desire to get more money for these guys who in most cases are already very much set for life. It would be different if we were taking about Johnson, who's parents screwed him over and is bankrupt.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Presumably, at some point, you'll chose to retire from a job that would have paid you a salary, so yeah, you'll probably walk away from money. This is no different other than the scale.

Having said that, Gaborik already has an estimated net value of around 64 mil dollars. How much is an extra 5-6 (after taxes of course) going to impact his life? If he's at a point where the grind of playing impacts his quality of life, or he suspects that pushing through may result in long term issues (like further messing up his kness, back, god forbid concussions ect), he may just cut bait and decide the juice isn't worth the squeeze. Who knows, he might have a post hockey career already lined up to offset some of the lost income, if he even cares about that.

edit: I suspect that the determining factor is really if he still has the drive to play; if he still enjoys going to work, if you will. Aside from that, there might be a certain degree of not wanting to let a team down that prevents players from walking away before the end of their contract. I suspect that both those factors (wanting to win and wanting to honour their contract/not letting their team down) outweigh the desire to get more money for these guys who in most cases are already very much set for life. It would be different if we were taking about Johnson, who's parents screwed him over and is bankrupt.

I would argue there are many differences between an average joe retiring and walking away from a salary they would have to earn compared to a pro athlete walking away from a guaranteed contract where in certain cases they need to complete one medical at the beginning of the year fail it and collect your cheque, especially considering the scale, regardless are there any examples of what you are alluding to? I can't think of many guys retiring early and leaving substantial sums of money on the table other than the unique Lecavalier situation. Not really trying to argue just can't see the angle myself nor come up with any comparables as to what we are all hoping for.

 

[Micklebot]

I would argue there are many differences between an average joe retiring and walking away from a salary they would have to earn compared to a pro athlete walking away from a guaranteed contract where in certain cases they need to complete one medical at the beginning of the year fail it and collect your cheque, especially considering the scale, regardless are there any examples of what you are alluding to? I can't think of many guys retiring early and leaving substantial sums of money on the table other than the unique Lecavalier situation. Not really trying to argue just can't see the angle myself nor come up with any comparables as to what we are all hoping for.

If Gaborik completes his medical, he needs to play to earn his pay check, just like you would need to go to work. Gaborik isn't unable to play because of injury, he's just bad at it and gets injured frequently. This isn't a case of a guy walking away from 10 mil when he could just unofficially LTIRetire, it's a guy that needs to play to get a pay check.

As for specific examples, the best I can come up with is John Urschel, and while NFL contracts aren't guaranteed like NHL deals, he certainly wasn't expected to get cut anytime soon. He just decided he earned enough and valued his health more than more money. Jason Worilds was considered one of the most sought after free agents when he retired, so while he was technically without a contract, he'd have had no issue getting one, and left lots of money on the table.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

What's the theory as to why he would retire and leave that cash on the table? Have we even seen that outside of Lecavalier who did it to sign a another deal where he could actually play the game rather than be scratched.

I hope for it too but would never personally turn down cash I was entitled too so im trying to figure out the angle here.

That's what we're all wondering, but it all still comes back to the same question... what if any reason did the Senators have to make this deal if Gaborik does intend to play out his contract.

I thought there was some speculation of him possibly retiring from LA reporters? And his deal is structured that it was kind of a retire early, benefit the team with lower cap hit type deal.

Did we really make this move to save like 1 or 2 million on a buyout over buying Dion out? That just seems ridiculous.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

The flip side ot this is that if it is true it also makes no sense for LA to trade him if he was coming off the books this summer. I think they could have found someone a bit younger than Dion who's just as effective for $5M per season and not have the worries of Dion's dwindling foot speed for the next 3 or 4 seasons.

I'm assuming LA wanted him on their team at 5 mil and actually value him for that price tag, but I obviously couldn't say that was their thinking.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

It's his last year of the contract. Just let him be the "13th guy" all season and let him stew in the pressbox in case of injuries.

I'd rather pay him out the full amount he's owed in one year where the salary doesn't matter, instead of drawing it out over 2 years when it might matter in 2019/20.

I mean... it's all small potatoes I guess. Just a slight preference on my part.

I'd rather save the actual $ . It pays for an entry level player.

 

[Cosmix]

This has been a very complex way to atone for the cowen/greening contracts.

And don’t forget Michalek.

 

[Cosmix]

He did, actually. Doctors diagnosed him with Stage 2 "Old".

Stage 1 Old attacks the legs, which significantly slows down skating and endurance. Gaborik was diagnosed with this in LA. Stage 2 Old attacks the muscles in the arms.

It's a chronic condition. There is no known cure. Some athletes have genetic immunities to Old and their bodies can cope with the disease better than others - guys like Jaromir Jagr, Rod Brindamour and Gary Roberts are examples of these lucky few individuals. For the general population, once you get Old, it becomes very difficult to continue a career in professional sports (unless you are a golfer or practice some other non-athletic sport).

Or your name is Geordie Howe!

 

[BonkTastic]

I'd rather save the actual $ . It pays for an entry level player.

That's a fair take on it, yeah.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

What was the purpose for trading for him then?

How much would have buying out Phaneuf cost?

I think the purpose of trading for Gaborik was gambling on one of the alternate outs we have with that deal coming to fruition. Those alternate outs would be Gaborik retiring, or Gaborik being insured and further injuries preventing him from being able to pass his physical. Realistically, neither of those outs would have been available with Phaneuf.

I don't know if I'd play the 1-3-1 on bad knees in a cold small city for 3 years in exchange for 10M if I already had made 70-80 million dollars. Gaborik is almost 40. I don't think hoping for retirement is as farfetched as it might seem.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

I think the purpose of trading for Gaborik was gambling on one of the alternate outs we have with that deal coming to fruition. Those alternate outs would be Gaborik retiring, or Gaborik being insured and further injuries preventing him from being able to pass his physical. Realistically, neither of those outs would have been available with Phaneuf.

I don't know if I'd play the 1-3-1 on bad knees in a cold small city for 3 years in exchange for 10M if I already had made 70-80 million dollars. Gaborik is almost 40. I don't think hoping for retirement is as farfetched as it might seem.

If he is tired of the whole thing and wants to go back to sunny California .. he may throw in the towel... A fairly severe injury could influence his thinking as well.. Abdominal strain, Hip , Knee, Groin/hamstring like Wideman,,, that would likely be it