What is the benefit for teams signing staggered contracts?

Impossibles

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May 14, 2003
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The Canucks have done this a couple times now. I don't understand why teams are signing players to staggered contracts, since the average of the contract counts against the cap.

Are they hoping club revenues keep increasing, so it won't be such a hit in the pocketbook, or are they hoping to trade during the last years of the contracts and not actually have to pay that much?
 

albertGQ

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Jul 1, 2005
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I think its the players that want the staggered contracts.

Eg. Young forward signing a 3yr $12M deal. If it was a $4M average, then at the end of the deal, the young forward would have to be qualified at $4M, but if it was staggered at $3M for the first year, $4M for the second, and $5M for the third, the young forward would have to be qualified at $5M instead of $4M
 

boredmale

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Jul 13, 2005
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i actually wonder why teams don't sign front loaded deals. Let's take the Elias contract for instance. Pay him 8 Million the first 5 seasons and 1 million the last 2. This would be great for them because lets say he slows down in the final 2 years and isn't worth the 6 million dollar cap hit, they can trade him and his 1 million dollar salary to another team that doesn't have cap issues.
 

AdmiralPred

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Jun 9, 2005
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i actually wonder why teams don't sign front loaded deals. Let's take the Elias contract for instance. Pay him 8 Million the first 5 seasons and 1 million the last 2. This would be great for them because lets say he slows down in the final 2 years and isn't worth the 6 million dollar cap hit, they can trade him and his 1 million dollar salary to another team that doesn't have cap issues.

A few threads below as of today.

Is there a max to the number of years a SPC may be negotiated?
 

sk84fun_dc

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Nov 4, 2004
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i actually wonder why teams don't sign front loaded deals. Let's take the Elias contract for instance. Pay him 8 Million the first 5 seasons and 1 million the last 2. This would be great for them because lets say he slows down in the final 2 years and isn't worth the 6 million dollar cap hit, they can trade him and his 1 million dollar salary to another team that doesn't have cap issues.

there are rules regarding the salary change from one season to the next built into the CBA, so that huge a drop-off from 6 to 1 would not be allowed

but, Elias' contract is staggered

"Elias' six-year, $42 million contract breaks down so he'll earn $7.5 million the first two years, $6 million the next two and $5 million for the final three years" source: Bergen Record
 

kdb209

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Jan 26, 2005
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A few threads below as of today.

Is there a max to the number of years a SPC may be negotiated?

There is no maximum length for a contract in the CBA, but there is a practical limit - insurance.

Teams always get insurance to cover their liabilities in case of injury, etc, but it is very difficult to get a carrier to offer insurance on a long contract.

This issue came up when there were the rumours of Mad Mike offering DiPietro a 10+ year contract. It was supposedly insurance that scuttled the deal - it was impossible to get insurance on it. Reports then said the team could not get insurance on contracts over 5 years.

Yes I know there are counter examples - Yashin's 10 yr deal and some 6 yr deals like Elias'.
 

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