News Article: NHL Agents told salary CAP could be 68M next year

[deeshamrock]

Short news piece concerning the CAP for next year in which the report is that NHL agents were told the CAP could be 68M for next year.
The video segment (about 3 min) talks about a few NHL teams, etc. and ends with Elliot Friedman saying he believes the league and players will come to an agreement that should have the CAP at 70.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/nhl-agents-told-cap-could-decrease-next-season/

So going forward, if the kings manage to sign Sekera, TP, MJ and Shore and get in at the CAP. How do they fit Kopi's new deal in starting the following year? It might be in the 9M range, where does that money come from?

Click to read more...

 

[KINGS17]

Kopitar won't be getting $9M a season, and I doubt his extension is negotiated this summer.

Dean's biggest priorities right now are re-signing Sekera and acquiring a legit #3 center.

 

[onlyalad]

I think with the new cap rules, and Kopitar still in his prime, he might be willing to take a bridge deal to give him a better deal when the cap does go up.

 

[deeshamrock]

Kopitar won't be getting $9M a season, and I doubt his extension is negotiated this summer.

Dean's biggest priorities right now are re-signing Sekera and acquiring a legit #3 center.

I think Kopitar will get the fair market value and even if it dips down to 8.5 or so, whether it's this year or next, it still presents an issue or where the money comes from, since it's likely they will be at the CAP

It won't be easy to sign Sekera, who is looking for north of 6M and could get it elsewhere. And as much as I agree on the 3C, they won't have money for that. They'll probably will have to put Shore there. I'l love for them to get a top winger for that first line. but no money for that either. Maybe they move Pearson up and put Zykov on the 2nd line. Anything to get creative, infuse some youth and speed and savce mney.
Just getting Sekera, TP, MJ and NS signed will eat up what space they have.
Right now they are at 59.9 for next year. I assume Andy Andy and McBain are gone. If the CAP is 70M , even with Slava's money coming back (guilty or trade) it doesn't leave much wiggle room. And if they buyout Richards, that's more money that they have to account for CAPWISE.

 

[Captain Mittens*]

I think with the new cap rules, and Kopitar still in his prime, he might be willing to take a bridge deal to give him a better deal when the cap does go up.

 

[deeshamrock]

I think with the new cap rules, and Kopitar still in his prime, he might be willing to take a bridge deal to give him a better deal when the cap does go up.

It's not the length of the contract, it's the cash. And he's not going to take a paycut less than he's making now, no legit agent would negotiate that.

He'll get close to fair market value on (given he'll be turning 29 when the new deal starts) about 6 years or so, taking him to 35. And if the Kings won't do that, there will be NHL teams that would.

 

[Fishhead]

Fehr. Sigh.

 

[Ron*]

It's not the length of the contract, it's the cash. And he's not going to take a paycut less than he's making now, no legit agent would negotiate that.

He'll get close to fair market value on (given he'll be turning 29 when the new deal starts) about 6 years or so, taking him to 35. And if the Kings won't do that, there will be NHL teams that would.

I don't know why posters here think the Kings are going to lowball Kopitar. They lowball him, and 29 other teams get in line to give him max deal offers.

Come on people, get real.

 

[KINGS17]

I don't know why posters here think the Kings are going to lowball Kopitar. They lowball him, and 29 other teams get in line to give him max deal offers.

Come on people, get real.

I don't see the Kings lowballing Kopitar. What's the going rate for a 20-goal, 65-point center that won't shoot the puck (Only 7 more shots this season than Dwight King, and 84 LESS than Jeff Carter. Let that sink in for a minute.)? I don't know why some people expect the Kings to give Kopitar a deal of $9M a season for 8 years, get real.

Kopitar is not going to be in his "prime" for most of his next contract, and maybe not for any of it.

Kopitar has a lot of work to do this coming off season and next season before he convinces any GM that he is a player worth a long-term deal at more than $8M a season. Kopitar got paid on his last deal. There's no reason for Dean to be overly generous on his next one. If another team wants to be stupid and offer Kopitar the kind of deal that would strip the Kings, if they matched the offer, of the supporting cast that will allow them to compete for a cup, then there really is nothing Dean can do about it.

I expect that negotiations on an extension with Kopitar will start AFTER he gets the contract negotiations of Sekera and Toffoli sorted out, the buy out of Richards done, followed by the acquisition of a #3 center. Then Dean AND Kopitar will know exactly what Dean can afford to offer Kopitar on his next deal.

If what Dean can afford to offer isn't enough for Kopitar, then he will bring quite a return when he is traded, because there is no way Dean is going to let him walk for nothing in return.

 

[KINGS17]

Regarding the overall state of the cap:

This is going to be a bad summer to be a UFA. With so many teams locking up their best young talent to longer term deals at slightly higher cap hits (a move I hope Lombardi exercises with Toffoli, because it's smart and the right thing to do), players like Justin Williams will not be seeing the 5-year/$5M per year deals they were hoping for this summer.

I don't see the price of oil rising dramatically next year, which will continue to affect the CDN dollar. The salary cap is not going to increase dramatically for the 2016-17 season either.

 

[417th]

Regarding the overall state of the cap:

This is going to be a bad summer to be a UFA. With so many teams locking up their best young talent to longer term deals at slightly higher cap hits (a move I hope Lombardi exercises with Toffoli, because it's smart and the right thing to do), players like Justin Williams will not be seeing the 5-year/$5M per year deals they were hoping for this summer.

I don't see the price of oil rising dramatically next year, which will continue to affect the CDN dollar. The salary cap is not going to increase dramatically for the 2016-17 season either.

I do see the price of Oil going up significantly next season or after the U.S. election but other than that I agree with what you are saying.

 

[Basilisk]

Kopitar will get about 7.2 ...........

 

[johnjm22]

Letting Kopitar walk over a few millions dollars worth of cap space doesn't benefit the organization. The Kings would instantly become a worse team, and what remains of their cup window would be gone.

Regarding the cap, people often like to talk about the CDN, but the USD is more important. As long as the U.S. dollar shows strength, it will help keep the cap in check.

 

[KingsFan7824]

This is going to be a bad summer to be a UFA.

Let's wait and see how it goes before making that declaration. Cap or no cap, it's still NHL GM's we're talking about.

 

[Herby]

Players of Kopitar's caliber rarely hit UFA anymore, there would be huge demand for a center with his skill, size and championship winning experience. Kopi's agent knows this and Lombardi knows it to. Paying Kopitar that much may be overpaying him, but if you fail to do it you are throwing in the towel on the Kings winning another cup until they draft and develop another Kopitar, and well that is not something the Kings have been historically good at.

 

[SFKingshomer]

I don't think Kopitar is worth more than about 7 per but he will get whatever he wants because the Kings can't afford to lose him. Same with Doughty on his next deal...

 

[Reclamation Project]

Kings might as well rebuild if Kopitar someone leaves. But he won't.

 

[KINGS17]

It's going to be very interesting to see how Chicago fairs with the insane deals that they gave to Toews and Kane. They will not be able to keep the very good supporting cast they have together next season.

This may be the off season where a highly desired RFA gets poached. Saad will get an offer sheet if Chicago can't get a deal signed with him prior to the deadline.

It could happen with Toffoli as well. If Chicago signs Saad to a reasonable long-term deal, that could set the price for Toffoli's next contract. I would hope Dean would buy some of his UFA years in this next contract negotiation.

 

[KINGS17]

Kings might as well rebuild if Kopitar someone leaves. But he won't.

Kings might as well let Kopitar go, if he plays like he did last season and demands the kind of money some here want to give him.

 

[ADifferentTim]

I say keep Anže. I blame the SI Curse.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Kopi's deal won't get signed this offseason imo.

But this will be the last offseason people really get a chance to 'poach' other players because they have capspace, many teams are running out OR they have players on sweetheart RFA deal right now that will have to get paid.

Salaries are going to equalize a bit if the cap doesn't go up for a couple of years. No one is going to be able to give a guy a huge deal without severely handicapping their team beyond that year.

 

[LAKings88]

Kopi won't walk. IF LA can't resign him they'll trade him for a decent price. (Top prospect/1st/Serviceable player)

Kings wont get the better end of the trade but he wont go for free.

 

[Reclamation Project]

They'd have to trade him this offseason for the best return.

And yes, I'm aware it's not happening nor am I insinuating it.

 

[apadilla]

Kopitar won't be getting $9M a season, and I doubt his extension is negotiated this summer.

Dean's biggest priorities right now are re-signing Sekera and acquiring a legit #3 center.

I'm not sure about that. Kopitar has the same agent that got 10.5M aav for Kane and Towes. I can see the agent asking for the same money/years. Would this price the Kings out? I don't see how the Kings could let him fly away.

 

[damacles1156]

Lombardi should lock up Toffoli at Six years, around 3.8 or 4.3 million. That way the Kings have Toffoli all through his prime production years at a good price. Kopitar's extension will probably be set aside till next off-season.