Player Discussion Nicklas Backstrom

[txpd]

I don't know why you chime in on a debate about Backstrom's contract if you don't feel like discussing Backstrom's contract. Sends mixed messages.

The specific number is irrelevant to the conversation. As of today the number needed to sign Backstrom and the number the Caps can fit under the cap might be $2 or $3m different from any guesses.

The question is not $8m or $9m but whether he stays or goes. It could easily be by that time that $8m is market and $9m an insult.

I don't think the Caps will lose Backstrom nor have to bust the salary cap structure to do it. Whatever the specific numbers might be. Do you disagree with that??

 

[Hivemind]

Swedes may have the stereotype of being "loyal," but it's not as if Swedish superstars don't get paid in the process. Mats Sundin was making $9M/season before the 2004 lockout and 24% salary rollback. The Sedins signed $6.1M and $7M contracts in 2009 and 2013 respectively, each with valuations of rougly 11% of the salary cap. Backstrom's 2010 contract was 11.28% of the salary cap at the time. Alfredsson's post-lockout contract was worth 12.5% of the salary cap. Lidstrom's contracts ranged from 10.44% of the salary cap to a whopping 17.27% of the salary cap, which is higher than the 16.82% that Alex Ovechkin signed in 2008 (and Lidstrom's was a 35+ to boot!).

Stipulating that Backstrom's contract will remain at least at the 10% of the salary cap mark, that's projecting out as $8.3M for the 2019-20 season. By the 2020-21 season (when his current deal expires), that's probably closer to $9M. If he matches his previous 11.28% mark, those numebrs are 9.36M and 10.15M instead.

Bonus laden means signing bonuses to make the contract buyout and lockout proof.

Fair enough. I was thinking performance bonuses, not signing bonuses.

 

[Silky mitts]

No doubt about it. But NB played here the whole career being underpaid. How much raise will he ask? IMO it will look like recent Blake Wheeler's deal. 8.25 x 5 years.

I remember when he signed his last deal, it was as if he looked at the slightly worse comps and said I'll take a little less than them, so I went back and looked and the best comps were probably Kopitar (7x$6.8M) and Toews (5x$6.3M) and his deal at the time looked worse than them but not like WTF was he thinking worse, and the Wheeler deal to this Backstrom deal is just like the Kopitar deal to the last Backstrom deal.
Signings - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

He got 10 years. Like next to nobody in ALL sports gets that kind of term.

I don’t think NB is looking back and is anywhere near miffed he signed that deal. His real $ figures aren’t shabby (7.5 this year and last, 8 next).

Some interesting offseasons coming and I for one have no idea how things will look when 70, 19, and 8 come due....

 

[shtorm2005]

Nicklas Backstrom returns to DC on 8/19, says he ‘would like to stay’ in Washington after 10-year contract expires

 

[Hivemind]

I think Backstrom will be the first player on a 10+ year deal to actually play to the end of his contract in the salary cap era.


(*knocks on wood*)

 

[tenken00]

 

[Ridley Simon]

Backstrom is so strong. What a horse. He’s the man. Wow.

I sincerely hope he and Ovy stay for another 5-7 years. Whatever they want

 

[Gniwder]

I think Backstrom will be the first player on a 10+ year deal to actually play to the end of his contract in the salary cap era.


(*knocks on wood*)

You are correct. Here are the other ones:
Were Any Long-Term NHL Contracts a Good Idea?

 

[21]

Swedes may have the stereotype of being "loyal," but it's not as if Swedish superstars don't get paid in the process.

Agents having most of the power to negotiate, Swedish player or not., they don't care.

Players loyal these days being more and more rare, also as a player you can't even trust the management for your own team.

For franchise players it's different though and Backstrom is on this level.

 

[Devil Dancer]

You are correct. Here are the other ones:
Were Any Long-Term NHL Contracts a Good Idea?

Neat article, needs an update though.

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

Neat article, needs an update though.

I enjoyed the Ovechkin segment. One of the few to not be outright cap circumvention.

It is cool to look back at it now in hindsight. Worth every penny.

ALEXANDER OVECHKIN, WASHINGTON CAPITALS

How much: 13 years, $124,000,000
How long: Expires in 2021 at age 35
Cap circumvention? No, actually. Unlike virtually every other long-term deal that was signed in the years before the NHL signaled its annoyance with circumvention, this one isn’t front-loaded at all; in fact, Ovechkin gets a slight raise in the contract’s second half. This is because Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has too much integrity to try to cheat the system and/or wasn’t smart enough to figure out the same loophole everyone else found.
What were they thinking? Alexander Ovechkin is freaking awesome.
Is it terrible? The jury’s still out. On the one hand, the deal was signed five years ago and still features the league’s highest cap by more than $800,000 (though Evgeni Malkin’s new deal will come close when it kicks in for 2014). That suggests the Capitals failed to get any sort of discount for their long-term commitment, and may have misread the future market for superstar players entirely. Also, the explanation for the deal that they offered at the time didn’t really hold up to scrutiny.
On the other hand, Ovechkin just won his third MVP and will be young enough when this deal expires that it may not be the last one he signs. When Ovechkin’s play dipped over the last few years and into this season, this contract started to look like a disaster. These days, it’s veered firmly back into “maybe not so bad” territory.

 

[Raikkonen]

Maybe not so bad. Gold.

Not so bad that some think he shouldnt be paid below Rantanen's 9,25 for TERM.

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

Maybe not so bad. Gold.

Not so bad that some think he shouldnt be paid below Rantanen's 9,25 for TERM.

Well, the article is a few years old and before the Caps won the Cup.

I think if they revisited the article now, it’d be considered an excellent deal. Especially if he plays at a high level this season and next.

 

[895]

Only 3 games, I know, but Backstrom looks like an old man out there.

I wonder if his next contract is going to be substantially smaller than we were expecting going into this season.

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

Only 3 games, I know, but Backstrom looks like an old man out there.

I wonder if his next contract is going to be substantially smaller than we were expecting going into this season.

He gets the benefit of the doubt.

I still remember some “fans” saying he’d amount to nothing after his first practice. Lol.

 

[Hivemind]

Swedes may have the stereotype of being "loyal," but it's not as if Swedish superstars don't get paid in the process. Mats Sundin was making $9M/season before the 2004 lockout and 24% salary rollback. The Sedins signed $6.1M and $7M contracts in 2009 and 2013 respectively, each with valuations of rougly 11% of the salary cap. Backstrom's 2010 contract was 11.28% of the salary cap at the time. Alfredsson's post-lockout contract was worth 12.5% of the salary cap. Lidstrom's contracts ranged from 10.44% of the salary cap to a whopping 17.27% of the salary cap, which is higher than the 16.82% that Alex Ovechkin signed in 2008 (and Lidstrom's was a 35+ to boot!).

Stipulating that Backstrom's contract will remain at least at the 10% of the salary cap mark, that's projecting out as $8.3M for the 2019-20 season. By the 2020-21 season (when his current deal expires), that's probably closer to $9M. If he matches his previous 11.28% mark, those numebrs are 9.36M and 10.15M instead.

His new contract is 11.29%, essentially matching his previous 11.28%.

 

[francaisvolantsparis]

Nicklas Bäckström - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

5X9.2M

BOOM!!!

 

[francaisvolantsparis]

4X13.1M for Ovi, I guess

 

[searle]

Yikes. Pretty high, if Ovi asks for more too then that's a bit chunk of the cap gone

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

Nicklas Bäckström - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

5X9.2M

BOOM!!!

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

Yikes. Pretty high, if Ovi asks for more too then that's a bit chunk of the cap gone

I’m curious what you thought a guy who is .97 PPG and has been the most consistent player on our roster for a decade was going to get?

 

[stanleycaps18]

The deal is fine. The bigger question is what Ovi's 4 year deal will look like and how much he will be willing to forgo to ensure a competitive team around him as he potentially challenges for the all time goal leadership.

 

[442]

This video is amazing

 

[895]

I said all along he could get 5x10 on the UFA market.

5x8 would have been team friendly.

So 5x9.2 seems like a fair deal. Not a bargain, not an overpayment.