Speculation: V. 2014 Stars Offseason Thread: Spezza to the Rescue

[Satan]

Part I. The New Star Has Risen
Part II. Tomahawk Steaks For Everyone
Part III. Miniature American Flags for Others
Part IV. Declaration of Free Agency

Continue...

Like it was suppose to go up this year?

The cap was like 64M.

It is now 69M

That is a rise.

Click to read more...

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

V. 2014 Stars Offseason Thread:

Part I. The New Star Has Risen
Part II. Tomahawk Steaks For Everyone
Part III. Miniature American Flags for Others
Part IV. Declaration of Free Agency

Continue...

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

The cap was like 64M.

It is now 69M

That is a rise.

Teams were expecting it to be well into the 70s were they not?

 

[Satan]

It was projected to be like 71.x in mid-season

 

[Satan]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=438619

Found this. I'm at work so it's kind of a pain to post and quote things.

It's healthy growth. Of course another lockout can foil a lot of team's plans.

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

Of course another lockout can foil a lot of team's plans.

Which I think we can all expect.

 

[Satan]

Still. Toews and Kane had them by the balls.

It's not going to be the last massive contracts dealt out.

 

[glovesave_35]

The thing with those guys is that since they're butt buddies and have to do everything exactly the same and at the same time it's going to hurt Chicago (awesome) more than some other teams.

 

[Satan]

If they were butt buddies you'd think they'd both be coming to Labrador City on the 31st of this month.

Unfortunately (fortunately for Kane) only Toews is.

 

[Alistar]

The annoying thing about Chicago is that they won't end up moving any of their good players to make room, they'll find some sucker team (Florida) to take Bryan Bickell and Corey Crawford off their hands and clear 10 mill that way.

 

[BigG44]

The cap should have been about $70 but the PA didn't want to factor in much of the Rogers money. That huge windfall is going to have a pretty big impact on the cap next year ... the PA won't have a choice at that point.

The only reason it fell about $1 million from the $71 projection was the Canadian dollar. Even at $69 .... the cap is ahead of some conservative estimates made right after the lockout ... which unfortunately barely even phased league revenue. There was no dip, and they hit the ground stronger than every. It's actually disappointing. There's no reason for the league to not lock out the players again at the conclusion of this CBA to squeeze even more out of them.

 

[BigG44]

Teams were expecting it to be well into the 70s were they not?

It's actually kind of funny ... those teams expected the players to be greedy and allow some of the Rogers money to count this years and use the escalator. The PA was conservative and didn't use the escalator, and they only gave in slightly on the HRR.

The escalator was used all but one year in the last CBA. I hope this is a trend though. One side has to act responsibly if there isn't going to be another lockout at the end of this BS.

I think it's awesome the greedy ass owners at the top counted on greed from the players and struck out. Of course ... greed is honestly a motivator to not use the escalator and blow the cap up. The escrow costs only go up higher with the cap meaning they lose more money.

So I was sort of painting it into too much of a positive thing when in reality both sides are just trying to cover their ass. Escrow is a ***** though.

 

[glovesave_35]

Guys, we should all realize how awesome Seguin's contract is. 5.75 for the next 5 years is ****ing amazing. Benn still has three years left on his badass contract too.

I love that the reason Boston traded him was to save money and one of the biggest bonuses we get out of it is that we get to save money by having him.

 

[oconnor9sean]

Guys, we should all realize how awesome Seguin's contract is. 5.75 for the next 5 years is ****ing amazing. Benn still has three years left on his badass contract too.

I love that the reason Boston traded him was to save money and one of the biggest bonuses we get out of it is that we get to save money by having him.

Meanwhile, Boston is going to have to pay more next year for an inferior player in Krejci.. Chiarelli for President.

 

[BigG44]

Guys, we should all realize how awesome Seguin's contract is. 5.75 for the next 5 years is ****ing amazing. Benn still has three years left on his badass contract too.

I love that the reason Boston traded him was to save money and one of the biggest bonuses we get out of it is that we get to save money by having him.

Don't want to sound negative but those were market RFA contracts. Neither one is really a discount it's just the benefit of having RFA aged superstars.

The market is being set for these players right now at $8.5+ million (on average) by guys like Getzlaf, Perry, and Giroux. That number will only continue to tick up in the next few years as the cap climbs.

By the time Benn is a free agent and for sure Seguin ... their level of play will likely easily be worth over $9 on average.

 

[MetalGodAOD*]

Yea they're not really comparable. Although not giving Benn or Seguin a bridge contract probably worked out for us in the end.

 

[BigG44]

You can look at it this way ... Chicago had a huge benefit only paying those guys $6.3 for 5 years.

We're in that same, nice window with Benn and Seguin right now.We too will be in the position of having to pay them major money pretty soon ... only 3 years for Benn. You get 5 with Seguin.

That's why the 4 year deal is the most attractive for Spezza. You just have to decide how big you're willing to gamble. If that's not what he wants ... he can easily get the longer deal in free agency.

The positive is he's saying the right things about wanting to win. Kane and Toews obviously took a bit less for Chicago. Crosby did as well. These situations aren't the same obviously, but it's something you might be able to do with Benn/Seguin ... time will tell on Spezza.

 

[glovesave_35]

Don't want to sound negative but those were market RFA contracts. Neither one is really a discount it's just the benefit of having RFA aged superstars.

The market is being set for these players right now at $8.5+ million (on average) by guys like Getzlaf, Perry, and Giroux. That number will only continue to tick up in the next few years as the cap climbs.

By the time Benn is a free agent and for sure Seguin ... their level of play will likely easily be worth over $9 on average.

I didn't compare Benn or Seguin's deals to Toews or Kane or anyone else. I merely pointed out that we have a superstar center signed for less than 6 mil for five years, and a 1st team all star for three years also under 6.

I also didn't call them a discount. I just called them awesome contracts, which they are.

 

[LT]

Toews and Kane's contracts are pretty consistent with the rest of the superstars in this league when you compare cap percentage, and especially when you eliminate those stupid last several years of cap circumvention on pre-new-CBA contracts. Weber, Crosby, Suter, Parise, etc. would all be in the 9-10+M range without those added years.

To me, Benn and Seguin almost did sign bridge contracts. Players of their caliber are a bit different though. Their current contracts are great for both the team and the player - the players get paid and have some sense of security, while still having the desire the prove themselves to the league and earn even more, while the team obviously benefits from the lower cap hit. Afterwards though, is when they cash in. Toews and Kane are an almost perfect example of what'll likely happen with Benn and Seguin. Might be scary, but that's still a ways off, and I'm not going to worry about that until we have to.

Chicago will be fine as well. Get rid of Bickell (there always seem to be takers for Chicago's leftovers), sign some cheap bottom six players, and they'll be set. Chicago's almost turning into Detroit in the sense that players simply seem to play better when they put a Blackhawks' jersey on. They've somehow turned plenty of cut-rate players into legit 3rd/4th line forwards or 4-6 defenders. They'll be as scary as always - this doesn't mark the end of their dynasty-lite team.

 

[LT]

You can look at it this way ... Chicago had a huge benefit only paying those guys $6.3 for 5 years.

We're in that same, nice window with Benn and Seguin right now.We too will be in the position of having to pay them major money pretty soon ... only 3 years for Benn. You get 5 with Seguin.

That's why the 4 year deal is the most attractive for Spezza. You just have to decide how big you're willing to gamble. If that's not what he wants ... he can easily get the longer deal in free agency.

The positive is he's saying the right things about wanting to win. Kane and Toews obviously took a bit less for Chicago. Crosby did as well. These situations aren't the same obviously, but it's something you might be able to do with Benn/Seguin ... time will tell on Spezza.

Why would a 4 year deal be attractive for Spezza? That'd make him a UFA at the same time at Seguin, unless that's exactly what you're hinting at.

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

[nhl]628125[/nhl]

 

[Ssudzzy]

Why would a 4 year deal be attractive for Spezza? That'd make him a UFA at the same time at Seguin, unless that's exactly what you're hinting at.

Gets him off the books probably right when he is declining significantly and opens up the cap room for a new Seguin contract

 

[Bkennedy*]

I just watched so many highlights.

Do you guys have any idea how ****ing good Jamie Benn is? Best player I've seen in a Stars jersey in a long long long time.

Don't get me wrong. Seguin is a stud, but Benn has this "Yeah... if I wanna try there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop me" side.

 

[BigG44]

I didn't compare Benn or Seguin's deals to Toews or Kane or anyone else. I merely pointed out that we have a superstar center signed for less than 6 mil for five years, and a 1st team all star for three years also under 6.

I also didn't call them a discount. I just called them awesome contracts, which they are.

Sorry ... it seemed like you were comparing them since we were talking about those two. My mistake. They are pretty comparable to Kane and Toews previous contracts though.

 

[BigG44]

Why would a 4 year deal be attractive for Spezza? That'd make him a UFA at the same time at Seguin, unless that's exactly what you're hinting at.

I don't think there's a problem with going 7 on Spezza, but I know some people do. 7 would likely put his cap hit between $5.5 and $6.5 if I had to guess based on some of the numbers I played around with.

If you got Spezza on a 4 year deal ... you're probably talking $7 to $8 though, but as Seguin was jumping to $8.5+ (mind you Benn is likely already there at this point), Spezza would be looking for a 35 plus contract which would be worth much less or honestly he could be replaced internally at that point.

His age though does tend to suggest he'll value term This will be his last major contract unless he signs for 3 years. This is last shot at term. I think it's likely he gets 7 years ... but 5 isn't unreasonable either. I just think the odds on favorite is greater term.