Question on B Richards contract

[Northern Dancer]

Richards will in 2012-2013 make 12 million of which 8 million is a bonus. Should (God forbide) the NHL be locked out/strike and the entire season is wiped out is Richards out 12 million dollars? (if this has been asked and answered before, my apologies)

And Part B, if he is out 12 million does it reduce his cap hit for the remainder of the contract?

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[cheswick]

Richards will in 2012-2013 make 12 million of which 8 million is a bonus. Should (God forbide) the NHL be locked out/strike and the entire season is wiped out is Richards out 12 million dollars? (if this has been asked and answered before, my apologies)

And Part B, if he is out 12 million does it reduce his cap hit for the remainder of the contract?

I'm pretty sure if the entire season is missed the contract would simply start with the next season. I think that's what happened last time. Also when Alexei Yashin decided to sit out an entire season it was ruled his contract would not be reduced by a year and he still owed that year from his contract.

 

[skroob**]

I'm pretty sure if the entire season is missed the contract would simply start with the next season. I think that's what happened last time. Also when Alexei Yashin decided to sit out an entire season it was ruled his contract would not be reduced by a year and he still owed that year from his contract.

Yes, contracts are set and measured in years/seasons played. Not calender years.

 

[Northern Dancer]

I'm pretty sure if the entire season is missed the contract would simply start with the next season. I think that's what happened last time. Also when Alexei Yashin decided to sit out an entire season it was ruled his contract would not be reduced by a year and he still owed that year from his contract.

Yes, contracts are set and measured in years/seasons played. Not calender years.

But didn't Brian Leetch have one year left on his contract when the Leafs traded for him. The lock-out if I remember correctly, took up that year and he was a UFA to start the new season post CBA.

 

[Tawnos]

Richards will in 2012-2013 make 12 million of which 8 million is a bonus. Should (God forbide) the NHL be locked out/strike and the entire season is wiped out is Richards out 12 million dollars? (if this has been asked and answered before, my apologies)

And Part B, if he is out 12 million does it reduce his cap hit for the remainder of the contract?

How it affects his cap hit will be determined by the new CBA.

That being said, my understanding was that the bonus was to be paid on July 1. The entire reason for it being a bonus and not part of his regular salary was so he would get that money whether the season was locked out or not. A sort of "lockout protection"

 

[Fugu]

The lockout did indeed tick off a year of everyone's contracts. Jagr was an unique situation, not that I recall the details, but he was being handled under the old CBA partly as Washington and NYR were splitting the payment; and I believe he had an option he could invoke to extend the contract.


Regarding Richards, I think it will depend on how the contract and bonus is written up. Heatley had a front-loaded, bonus riddled contract as well which the Sens had to pay before July 1 for the upcoming season (and before he was traded to the Sharks for that season). I guess this is my way of saying we'd have to see a copy of his contract to really know.

 

[kdb209]

Richards will in 2012-2013 make 12 million of which 8 million is a bonus. Should (God forbide) the NHL be locked out/strike and the entire season is wiped out is Richards out 12 million dollars? (if this has been asked and answered before, my apologies)

And Part B, if he is out 12 million does it reduce his cap hit for the remainder of the contract?

It is very likely that Richards Signing Bonus would be paid in full even if the '12-'13 season were wiped out by a lockout - as would Ehrhoff's and a few others who structured their SPCs with bonuses as lockout insurance.

The League Year starts on July 1. The CBA does not expire until Sept 15.

Any Signing Bonus due on July 1 would have to be paid under the terms of the current CBA. Any Salary, which would technically not be earned until the start of the Regular Season and thus affected by any Strike or Lockout, would be prorated by whatever portion of the season is played/canceled.

It's possible, but not likely, that transition rules in a new CBA could try to claw back those bonuses - but it is uncertain whether there would be legal grounds for that.

The new CBA and any transition rules would also define how cap hits are calculated going forward - and, if cap hits are still based on an average, how to treat the salaries lost during a lockout/strike year.

 

[mouser]

Regarding Richards, I think it will depend on how the contract and bonus is written up. Heatley had a front-loaded, bonus riddled contract as well which the Sens had to pay before July 1 for the upcoming season (and before he was traded to the Sharks for that season). I guess this is my way of saying we'd have to see a copy of his contract to really know.

Also, there's always the possibility the CBA 2012 transition rules could do something differently from the CBA 2005 transition clauses. As long as it's collectively bargained between the NHL and NHLPA there aren't too many restrictions on what they could do.

 

[kdb209]

I'm pretty sure if the entire season is missed the contract would simply start with the next season. I think that's what happened last time. Also when Alexei Yashin decided to sit out an entire season it was ruled his contract would not be reduced by a year and he still owed that year from his contract.

That was because the arbiter ruled that his contract could be tolled - effectively extended indefinitely until he reported and fulfilled it's terms.

Yes, contracts are set and measured in years/seasons played. Not calender years.

Yes, but the CBA has the power to modify those contracts - witness the 24% rollback. The CBA can specify that all existing SPCs are extended by a year.

One of the issues during the last lockout was whether SPCs would burn a year, or whether they would be extended. The NHL/NHLPA agreed that they would burn a year - with the exception of ELS deals which were treated under the "slide" rules of the old & new CBAs and the transition rules of Exhibit 16 (new ELS SPCs and those which slid in '03-'04 were treated as slid again during the lockout).

But didn't Brian Leetch have one year left on his contract when the Leafs traded for him. The lock-out if I remember correctly, took up that year and he was a UFA to start the new season post CBA.

Correct - most SPCs burned of a year during '04-'05, and any players in their final year became UFAs.