Muckler to sign extension with Sens

[Madferret]

Muckler to sign extension with Sens
By BRUCE GARRIOCH
Ottawa Sun

The Senators are expected to announce their first free-agent signing of the summer this week, the Sun has learned.Senators GM John Muckler, whose contract expires July 1, has agreed to an extension to remain in control of the club.

Muckler took over the Senators before the 2002-03 season, after former GM Marshall Johnston walked away from an extension.

TEAM INTACT

Not only has Muckler kept the core of the team intact, he has worked hard to help the team have playoff success by making bold moves at the trade deadline. With the NHL lockout on the verge of being settled, Muckler wants to stick around to help lead Ottawa to the Stanley Cup and is excited about the prospect of seeing goalie Dominik Hasek in net.

Muckler was also responsible for the hiring of coach Bryan Murray last summer, but Murray has yet to make his debut behind the club's bench because of the lockout. It's not known if Senators owner Eugene Melnyk will be in town for the announcement.

[TimmyTabasco]

Good move

But, who will replace him, when he retires..Murray?

[butterfly_style]

Good news . . .I think.
I mean, it keeps Rob Ray drawing a pay-cheque, doesn't it ?

[grim]

Sexton, Bridgeman, Gauthier, Muckler... our plan of hiring older and older GMs is getting harder and harder to sustain. I mean how could you find someone much older than John Muckler? I hear they have someone in the wings though. Older than muck, lots of free times... loves hockey strategizing... and his friendly goats.

http://www.carolinacountry.com/images/stories/ourstories/forest/forestgoat.jpg

[KB in Kelowna]

Hiring older and older gm's. Hey there may be work for Rusty and me with an NHL franchise yet. :laughing:

Seriously, I am not sold on Muckler as a gm. Most of his success has been with work done by others.

I'll sit back now and wait for the attack.

[grim]

Hiring older and older gm's. Hey there may be work for Rusty and me with an NHL franchise yet. :laughing:

Seriously, I am not sold on Muckler as a gm. Most of his success has been with work done by others.

I'll sit back now and wait for the attack.

No I agree. Although he did seem to call in a few favours to land Bondra. And he managed to pry Rob Ray away from the other interested teams. And he managed to sign that groin injury riddled 40 year old goalie who will lead us to the cup. But other than that....

[Max Power]

Don?t forget dumping Bonk and good old Karl

[grim]

Don?t forget dumping Bonk and good old Karl

And we're so close to the year that Bonk turns into a Bertuzzi-like power forward.

Todd Bertuzzi

Year/Team/Games/Goals/Assists/Points
1995-96 NYI 76 18 21 39
1996-97 NYI 64 10 13 23
1997-98 NYI-Van.74 13 20 33
1998-99 Van. 32 8 8 16
1999-00 Van. 80 25 25 50
2000-01 Van. 79 25 30 55
2001-02 Van. 72 36 49 85
2002-03 Van. 82 46 51 97

[Max Power]

And we're so close to the year that Bonk turns into a Bertuzzi-like power forward.

Yes and Karl R turns into Pronger

[macca]

And we're so close to the year that Bonk turns into a Bertuzzi-like power forward.

:eek: Don't even think it!! :eek:

[grim]

"I spoke to (Hasek's agent) Rich Winter the other day," Muckler said. "Dom in ready to play, he's excited to play and he thinks he can play three more years."

Senators extend GM Muckler's contract, prepare for life after CBA

Chris Yzerman
Canadian Press

Monday, July 04, 2005

OTTAWA (CP) - Ottawa Senators general manager John Muckler has his plan of attack outlined once the NHL and the NHL Players' Association reach a new collective bargaining agreement.

"I read it first," the 71-year-old said Wednesday after the Senators handed him a three-year contract extension. Like the rest of the league's GMs, Muckler is awaiting word on a new CBA so he can get down to the task at hand - trying to get the underachieving Senators lineup ready to make a run at the Stanley Cup he felt they we're so close to before the lockout began last September.

"I don't know what the new economic order is," the Midland, Ont., native said. "We had a team that we feel could win the Stanley Cup, we still feel that way and we'd like to keep it together."

Right now, the Senators have 10 players under contract for next season. Taking into account the union-proposed 24-per-cent salary rollback, those players will take up about $23.6 million of Ottawa's payroll.

Muckler said if the new agreement comes in with a salary floor and ceiling of about $21 million US and $38 million with a luxury tax kicking in somewhere around the $29-million mark, the Senators might be forced to make some tough personnel decisions.

"If that's the case, maybe there will be some changes," he said.

Among players Ottawa would need to make sure they had room to re-sign, unless the CBA stipulates that 2004-05 season contracts be honoured, would be high-scoring wingers Marian Hossa and Martin Havlat, as well as other key players such as Mike Fisher, Todd White and Jason Spezza, who's fresh off of winning the American Hockey League scoring title with the Binghamton Senators.

Muckler said perhaps six or seven of the players who played in the AHL this season could be a part of the big-league club, but the Senators don't expect to go on a free-agent signing binge.

"There are about seven teams that I would call buyers, and the rest of us are trying to hold on to what we have," he said. "If you look at our numbers, we don't have money to spend."

One Senator whom Muckler confirmed will be back is goaltender Dominik Hasek, who has yet to play a game in Ottawa after signing as a free-agent last summer.

There was some speculation that the 40-year-old wouldn't be back after being inactive for a whole season. Hasek had already been coming off a season of little activity because of a serious groin injury when the Senators signed him.

"I spoke to (Hasek's agent) Rich Winter the other day," Muckler said. "Dom in ready to play, he's excited to play and he thinks he can play three more years."

Since the Senators' most recent playoff failure, a first-round loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in April 2004, Ottawa's leadership has been in question. Muckler has repeatedly stated that, when play does resume, management will be expecting stronger direction from the team's best players without needing to make changes to its core.

On Wednesday, he gave captain and NHLPA executive committee vice-president Daniel Alfredsson a vote of confidence that the Swede will continue to wear the C.

Ottawa coach Bryan Murray has also been sitting on the sidelines after he was hired last summer to replace longtime bench boss Jacques Martin, and he'll be the man charged with getting the club to perform.

"There's a feeling here that they haven't reached the level they want to get to," Murray said. "There will be, from my point of view, things different from the previous regime."

http://www.canada.com/sports/hockey/story.html?id=e54cac67-15b6-437e-9f62-24d8038931d4

[Max Power]

"Among players Ottawa would need to make sure they had room to re-sign, unless the CBA stipulates that 2004-05 season contracts be honoured, Marian Hossa and Martin Havlat, as well as other key players such as Mike Fisher, Todd White and Jason Spezza, "

So Ottawa has 10 players not counting the ones above signed taking up 23 million with rollback. That does not leave us with any room to move if they don't want to go over the luxury cap number. I don?t see Todd White being resigned if this is the case. Anybody know who the other players are?

[Man.Utd]

Team payroll for those who are interested (after the 24% rollback, which seems to be all but guaranteed). Players under contract (assuming 04-05 contracts aren't honoured):

Daniel Alfredsson $4.13 million
Wade Redden $3.57 million
Zdeno Chara $3.5 million
Greg de Vries $2.3 million
Bryan Smolinski $2.0 million
Chris Phillips $1.75 million
Dominik Hasek $1.52 million
Vaclav Varada $1.2 million
Peter Schaefer $912,000
Brian Pothier $532,000

Total: $21,414,000

Players unsigned and what they made last season:

Hossa $2,600,000
Havlat $1,750,000
Simpson (UFA) $1,140,000
Fisher $1,035,000
White $988,000
Volchenkov $760,000
Prusek $710,000
Vermette $570,000
Neil $532,000
Spezza $565,000
Langfeld $360,000

Total: $11,010,000

So we're coming in at $32,424,000 if all the players re-sign here for the same amount (which won't happen) and we still need a 7th dman (can be had for cheap using a guy from Bingo/low-scale FA). Hossa likely makes 4M next season, Havlat 2M, and Spezza 1.5M. The rest shouldn't recieve more than 2M combined as far as raises go. At the end of the day, our payroll will come to roughly 40 million. Probably a bit over that actually (can't see it being more than 42M though......). So roughly the same as last year's amount. Hasek can make up to 6M but only he we win the Cup - if that's the case we'll also have more revenue from a long playoff run to soften the blow. And bonuses will likely count toward the following season in the new CBA by all accounts. Besides, management would be willing to pay an extra 4 million if it guaranteed them a Stanley Cup (at least you think they would....)

Now, we can probably re-work Hasek's contract. He's going to want to play for a winner at this point and Ottawa is the only contender who'd be willing to take a chance on him - he's not in a position to negotiaite a big contract. White could likely be had for less aswell. This is the only NHL city he's had success in, he's not they type of guy who'll be able to command big $$$ via free agency, and loves playing here (who wouldn't love playing in his home town?).

Guys like Chara, Redden, and Alfredsson - big $$$ guys who are commited to the team as evident by past negotiations - could very well be willing to re-structure their contracts too. They will make just as much money being the stars, but if they're willing to back-load it'd do wonders for the payroll. Guys like de Vries and Smolinski will make their money in the immediate future, as their contracts already dictate, while the others will make the bulk of their $$$ in a year or two. That way we don't have to pay as much at one time, keeping payrolls balanced as time goes by and not inflated one year, low the next. If worst comes to worst, we buy out a player or two (Smoke and de Vries seem like the obvious choices if one - or both - have to go). Our situation isn't pretty but it's not that bad ether. At the very least we'll be able to retian (more or less) status-quo. That's alot more than many other contenders can say, they'll be letting many players go to get under the cap.

[butterfly_style]

What about Bondra ?
Do you think the Sens will give him an offer?
I would like to see him in an ottawa jersey for a full season.
He would probably like to finish his career somewhere like ottawa . . . especially since all his supporting cast was traded from DC

[Max Power]

With the free agent market panning out to be a good one I wouldn't be surprised to see a buy out on Greg de Vries and Bryan Smolinski. I like Smolinski but 2 million is high for a 3rd or 4th line center. This would probably only happen if a free agent opportunity that would help the club arises.
I don?t see Hossa making over 3.5 with the new salary structure.

As far as Bondra goes I'd pass if we can find someone who suits our needs better. I wouldn't be upset if they did sign him but I don't see it happening unless he comes at a bargain

[Madferret]

Thank-you Andrew for doing that. Great read & info, I was a little hazy on what kind of work Mucks had ahead of him etc etc...

:thumb:

[Man.Utd]

In regards to Bondra, I wouldn't mind seeing him in Ottawa again either, just not for that 4.5 million price-tag. As Maxy said, we could spend that money much on a player who better suits our needs. And I don't know if we're going to be signing any FA (any big-name FA's anyway). Our cap situation will be good enough to keep status quo and probably add a support player or two with some restructuing (back-loading from guys lke Alfie?), but we shouldn't assume Melnyk is just going to open up his wallet and add two or three big name players (as nice as that would be!).

But again, Bondra I'd like to see back if we can get him for less than he made last season (1.5 - 2 million would be a nice price, off the top of my head). We all know about how he can score and bring it offensively, but he showed a very impressive (and unexpected IMO) defensive game. He was great on the PK! We all know he's better as a RW'er but his LW production wasn't bad, and he can go to the other side of the ice in a pinch if injuries occur (good ol' versitility!). Factor in he was under a new system, on his off-wing for the first time in years, had new linemates, was no longer the main-man on offense, and may have been hurt near the end of the season (thanks to Domi's head-hunting) and I'd wager A LOT that he would be much more successful if brought back. If he develops good chemisty on a scoring line and sees some PP time, easy 30+ goals from the left side IMO. And his numbers weren't horrible to being with. What's more, he's a left-handed shot who can play LW. I'd really like to see him on a scoring-line with Spezza, having the right-handed playmaker passing to the left-shooting finisher to form a lethal combonation. Bondra's pleasantly surprising defensive game helps the two-way presence, and maybe stick Hossa on RW for a little bit of jam (he's not very physical but is a big-body presence while driving to the net and digging in the corners, forexample). Top-six of???

Bondra - Spezza - Hossa
Havlat - White - Alfredsson (not a phsyical unit, but Alfie and Havlat are pretty good agitators and White has proven chemistry with the captain. Marty has to be tried at LW, at least for a little while. We may be able to solve that LW problem from within'.).

Anyway, I'm rambling.

*Buyouts will not allow a player to return to their team. Basically, you're telling a player you don't think he's worth what he's making and you're paying him to not play for you. To get his contract off the books basically. It has been confirmed that teams will be allowed a one-time, two-thirds buyout of existing contracts that won't count towards the cap so de Vries and Smoke may very well be gone.

**The Lalime/Bonk moves are looking better everyday! We would've ended up buying them out as far as I'm concerned, and as set to become UFA's we would've had to qualify them on top of that just to retain their rights. So good on Mucks to get something for them (4th rounder in '05 and a 3rd rounder this past draft (Shawn Weller) if I'm not mistaken. Not a bad return at all, espcially with this scouting staff being able to find gems throughout the draft). :thumb:

[Newfie John]

Team payroll for those who are interested (after the 24% rollback, which seems to be all but guaranteed). Players under contract (assuming 04-05 contracts aren't honoured):

Daniel Alfredsson $4.13 million
Wade Redden $3.57 million
Zdeno Chara $3.5 million
Greg de Vries $2.3 million
Bryan Smolinski $2.0 million
Chris Phillips $1.75 million
Dominik Hasek $1.52 million
Vaclav Varada $1.2 million
Peter Schaefer $912,000
Brian Pothier $532,000

Total: $21,414,000

Players unsigned and what they made last season:

Hossa $2,600,000
Havlat $1,750,000
Simpson (UFA) $1,140,000
Fisher $1,035,000
White $988,000
Volchenkov $760,000
Prusek $710,000
Vermette $570,000
Neil $532,000
Spezza $565,000
Langfeld $360,000

Total: $11,010,000

So we're coming in at $32,424,000 if all the players re-sign here for the same amount (which won't happen) and we still need a 7th dman (can be had for cheap using a guy from Bingo/low-scale FA). Hossa likely makes 4M next season, Havlat 2M, and Spezza 1.5M. The rest shouldn't recieve more than 2M combined as far as raises go. At the end of the day, our payroll will come to roughly 40 million. Probably a bit over that actually (can't see it being more than 42M though......). So roughly the same as last year's amount. Hasek can make up to 6M but only he we win the Cup - if that's the case we'll also have more revenue from a long playoff run to soften the blow. And bonuses will likely count toward the following season in the new CBA by all accounts. Besides, management would be willing to pay an extra 4 million if it guaranteed them a Stanley Cup (at least you think they would....)

Now, we can probably re-work Hasek's contract. He's going to want to play for a winner at this point and Ottawa is the only contender who'd be willing to take a chance on him - he's not in a position to negotiaite a big contract. White could likely be had for less aswell. This is the only NHL city he's had success in, he's not they type of guy who'll be able to command big $$$ via free agency, and loves playing here (who wouldn't love playing in his home town?).

Guys like Chara, Redden, and Alfredsson - big $$$ guys who are commited to the team as evident by past negotiations - could very well be willing to re-structure their contracts too. They will make just as much money being the stars, but if they're willing to back-load it'd do wonders for the payroll. Guys like de Vries and Smolinski will make their money in the immediate future, as their contracts already dictate, while the others will make the bulk of their $$$ in a year or two. That way we don't have to pay as much at one time, keeping payrolls balanced as time goes by and not inflated one year, low the next. If worst comes to worst, we buy out a player or two (Smoke and de Vries seem like the obvious choices if one - or both - have to go). Our situation isn't pretty but it's not that bad ether. At the very least we'll be able to retian (more or less) status-quo. That's alot more than many other contenders can say, they'll be letting many players go to get under the cap.

If Muckler plans on signing Havlat for 2 million he's in for another hold-out. Take that to the bank.

[Madferret]

If Muckler plans on signing Havlat for 2 million he's in for another hold-out. Take that to the bank.

No he won't. He'll be traded. Ottawa still owns his rights, and I'm sure he'd attract some interesting offers. Take that to the bank of Gandler John my boy...

:thumb:

[Man.Utd]

If Muckler plans on signing Havlat for 2 million he's in for another hold-out. Take that to the bank.

Huh? I really think Mach 9 would be smart enough take that offer. Havlat would recieve a raise of $250,000. For doing nothing in Ottawa/Binghamton thanks to the lockout. Not to mention having a very poor season over in Europe. He got slightly over a PPG in a less than impressive Czech league, but when he moved to play in Russia (and much better competition) he got a lousy two points (with lots of quality ice I might add) and was booed out of town. Then he got cut from the Czech WC team due to his poor club performance. This raise is basically a reward for having a very successful NHL performance in '04 and a vote of confidence that he'll continue to improve. Havlat is lucky to get anything at all. He has to take it - he has no grounds to negoitiate as a RFA. Not only has his stock went down if anything, he can't just get up and leave either. We own him...... or his rights anyway.

Muckler has went on record about not liking whiners and shipping them out of town (see: Rachunek). So he'll just:

- Let Marty sit if he holds out (and I doubt he will, it's a fine deal circumstances considered). He's got years before he hits free agency and will be itching to play. We let Yashin sit for a season - we'll do it again (and we don't need RW'ers as much as we needed a C).

- Take five 1st rounders off a team stupid enough to sign him and pay the compensation penalty. With a scouting team like Ottawa's, that's hardly a bad situation to be in even if it hurts short-term.

- Trade him like Ferret suggested. Don't kid yourself, even for hold-outs there's a pretty big market. Look at Yashin. Milbury didn't care he held out in the past. Yeah, he's an idiot, but Detroit was offering up Yzerman and Detroit is no fooolish organization. We took New York's offer realizing Chara would be a gamer, Spezza a potential 100pt guy, and Muckalt as a throw in.

[grim]

I like Marty. Ottawa doesn't have any other point per game left wingers. In the old (current) system, as a four year veteran, with his numbers, he would have got $3M right? 3M - 24%*3M = $2.272M

Deal.

[Madferret]

I like Marty. Ottawa doesn't have any other point per game left wingers. In the old (current) system, as a four year veteran, with his numbers, he would have got $3M right? 3M - 24%*3M = $2.272M

Deal.

If that's what Ottawa can get him to sign for then absolutely, hell multi-year that deal. But, if his agent is going to start a distraction right at the start of a very important year for the Sens, then we may have another Yashin on our hands.

[Max Power]

Players unsigned and what they made last season:
Hossa $2,600,000
Havlat $1,750,000
Simpson (UFA) $1,140,000
Fisher $1,035,000
White $988,000
Volchenkov $760,000
Prusek $710,000
Vermette $570,000
Neil $532,000
Spezza $565,000
Langfeld $360,000



So out of these players who would be unsigned for 04/05 season

Martin Havlat (II)
Curtis Leschyshyn (III)
Brian Pothier (II)
Martin Prusek (II)
Rob Ray (III)
Todd Simpson (III)
Shaun Van Allen (III)
Vaclav Varada (II)

If the rumors are true, and all the players might request is last years contracts honored then it is plausible the NHL would cave on that one demand. I'm interested to see how the Sens stand if this becomes a reality

Looking at this Sens salary it would hover around 27,235,080 +
Then add the signing of Havlat, Varada, Prusek and Pothier for sure which would make it around 32 million. Is that about right? This is just a quick calculation but if it's close the Sens are sitting pretty good with an almost full roster and a contender with that roster

[Madferret]

So out of these players who would be unsigned for 04/05 season

Martin Havlat (II)
Curtis Leschyshyn (III)
Brian Pothier (II)
Martin Prusek (II)
Rob Ray (III)
Todd Simpson (III)
Shaun Van Allen (III)
Vaclav Varada (II)

If the rumors are true, and all the players might request is last years contracts honored then it is plausible the NHL would cave on that one demand. I'm interested to see how the Sens stand if this becomes a reality

Looking at this Sens salary it would hover around 27,235,080 +
Then add the signing of Havlat, Varada, Prusek and Pothier for sure which would make it around 32 million. Is that about right? This is just a quick calculation but if it's close the Sens are sitting pretty good with an almost full roster and a contender with that roster

..and some room to move and add a few guys if needed.

[Newfie John]

Huh? I really think Mach 9 would be smart enough take that offer. Havlat would recieve a raise of $250,000. For doing nothing in Ottawa/Binghamton thanks to the lockout. Not to mention having a very poor season over in Europe. He got slightly over a PPG in a less than impressive Czech league, but when he moved to play in Russia (and much better competition) he got a lousy two points (with lots of quality ice I might add) and was booed out of town. Then he got cut from the Czech WC team due to his poor club performance. This raise is basically a reward for having a very successful NHL performance in '04 and a vote of confidence that he'll continue to improve. Havlat is lucky to get anything at all. He has to take it - he has no grounds to negoitiate as a RFA. Not only has his stock went down if anything, he can't just get up and leave either. We own him...... or his rights anyway.

Muckler has went on record about not liking whiners and shipping them out of town (see: Rachunek). So he'll just:

- Let Marty sit if he holds out (and I doubt he will, it's a fine deal circumstances considered). He's got years before he hits free agency and will be itching to play. We let Yashin sit for a season - we'll do it again (and we don't need RW'ers as much as we needed a C).

- Take five 1st rounders off a team stupid enough to sign him and pay the compensation penalty. With a scouting team like Ottawa's, that's hardly a bad situation to be in even if it hurts short-term.

- Trade him like Ferret suggested. Don't kid yourself, even for hold-outs there's a pretty big market. Look at Yashin. Milbury didn't care he held out in the past. Yeah, he's an idiot, but Detroit was offering up Yzerman and Detroit is no fooolish organization. We took New York's offer realizing Chara would be a gamer, Spezza a potential 100pt guy, and Muckalt as a throw in.

I say trade the piece of crap to Carolina somewhere. Actually.. I could actually see that happening. I'm just afraid of what goes back to Ottawa. :eek:

[Madferret]

I say trade the piece of crap to Carolina somewhere. Actually.. I could actually see that happening. I'm just afraid of what goes back to Ottawa. :eek:

Aki Berg is a piece of crap, Martin Havlat is not.

[Newfie John]

Aki Berg is a piece of crap, Martin Havlat is not.

Berg is a piece of crap too yes.

[Madferret]

Berg is a piece of crap too yes.

Quit trolling John...

[butterfly_style]

I'm sure a lot of leaf fans would love to see Mr. Havlat in "Blue & White"
Maybe we should start a Tucker for Havlat rumour.

[Newfie John]

Quit trolling John...

:laughing:

I'm sure a lot of leaf fans would love to see Mr. Havlat in "Blue & White"
Maybe we should start a Tucker for Havlat rumour.

Tucker for Havlat? Are you nuts? He isnt' worth that!