swflyers25
7-31-05, 9:29 PM
Canadian Press
7/31/2005 8:43:00 PM
The phones will be ringing but will anyone sign?
The largest free-agent pool in NHL history opens for business at noon ET Monday, with general managers and player agents unable to predict who will sign where, for how much, and how soon.
''I'm one of those guys,'' said Philadelphia Flyers GM Bob Clarke. ''Nobody knows. I mean, how much money will the free agents get? Who knows. We don't have a clue.''
''Honest and truly, I don't know what to expect,'' added veteran GM Lou Lamoriello of the New Jersey Devils.
More than 200 unrestricted free agents should be available by the time a number of restricted free agents don't receive qualifying offers to retain their rights before Monday's noon ET deadline.
Headlining the unrestricted forwards are Peter Forsberg, Markus Naslund, Mike Modano, Alexei Kovalev, Pavol Demitra, Ziggy Palffy, Bobby Holik, Alexei Zhamnov, Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne and Miroslav Satan.
But the real depth in this year's unrestricted crop is on the blue-line, where the Norris Trophy may be at stake: Scott Niedermayer, Adam Foote, Sergei Gonchar, Brian Leetch, Derian Hatcher, Brian Rafalski, Mathieu Schneider, Mike Rathje, Roman Hamrlik and Adrian Aucoin highlight a long list of available defencemen.
Will they quickly find homes?
''Will there be a frenzy of signings? Maybe,'' said Vancouver Canucks GM Dave Nonis. ''But it could be the complete opposite. We'll be making lots of calls, but who really knows what's going to happen.''
The reason for the mystery is that no one yet knows what exactly the market will look like in the NHL's post-lockout world. Existing salaries have been rolled back 24 per cent and no player is allowed to earn more than $7.8 million US under the new collective bargaining agreement.
The first big signing will help set the bar.
''I don't think that even the teams that are definitely going after somebody know exactly what the right price is to pay for a player,'' said Nashville Predators GM David Poile.
''So somebody's going to set a market and that market may be good or bad for Nashville, in terms of what interest we'll have in specific players. It may allow us to get something done on Monday and it may not allow us to get something done until later in the summer. It's an unknown situation.''
Niedermayer and Forsberg are probably the only two free agents who have any chance of touching $7.8 million, but one team executive who requested anonymity believes the unofficial cap on stars will be $5 million a year. That's because while the salary cap this season is set at $39 million per team based on expected league-wide revenues of $1.7 billion, several GMs believe the damage done to the business from a year without hockey will bring revenues and therefore the cap down for the 2006-07 season - perhaps as low as $35 million.
So that affects how they approach offering long-term deals.
''No question, and that makes it even that much more complicated,'' said Edmonton GM Kevin Lowe. ''That's what guys are envisioning. You have to consider that. I think it's safe to say that no one is expecting the cap number to go up next year unless everyone has underestimated their revenue projections.''
Adding to the intrigue is that GMs have one eye on this year's crop and another on the 2006 free-agent list. Liberalized free agency kicks in next summer when players with eight years of NHL experience or anyone 29 and younger can qualify for unrestricted free agency if they're out of a contract.
The likes of Joe Thornton, Vincent Lecavalier, Jose Theodore, Ed Jovanovski, Wade Redden, Zdeno Chara, Sergei Samsonov, Jarome Iginla, Marty Turco, Ryan Smyth, Patrick Elias, Evgeni Nabokov, Chris Pronger and Patrick Marleau could all be available to the highest bidder next summer if they don't sign long-term deals in the interim - a younger and more talented group than this year's list.
''That's when you'll have the better unrestricted free agents,'' said Ottawa Senators GM John Muckler. ''That's when you'll have a tonne of guys. Look at us, we have Redden and Chara (who could be unrestricted). There's about four or five really good goaltenders that will be unrestricted. To me, if you're going to the unrestricted market to build, you better have some cap room next summer.''
Said Lowe: ''That's what everyone is pointing to. But you have to wait a year to see if any of them sign. But yes, you're starting to hear that about next year.''
When this year's market opens Monday, meanwhile, it won't be the same six or seven teams doing all of the buying. The NHL's apparent new-found parity means all 30 teams can dial up some help. In fact, Detroit, Toronto, Philadelphia, Colorado and Dallas don't have that much cap room left to get carried away this summer, perhaps leaving the likes of Columbus, Pittsburgh, Nashville and Atlanta to do the most damage.
''I'm going to be busy, I'm going to be very busy I hope,'' said Blue Jackets GM Doug MacLean.
The Predators rarely ever dared to dip into the free-agent market in the old world, but now admit they'll go for the plunge.
''Considering that we were completely inactive before, we will be more active for sure,'' Poile said with a laugh during Saturday's entry draft.
But if the money is basically the same around the league, what will be the biggest determining factor in choosing between markets?
''Many of the older ones now have got some substantial financial security and in that case, you'd like to think they'd look at the opportunity to win first and foremost,'' said Phoenix Coyotes GM Mike Barnett.
TSN (http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=132066&hubName=nhl)
7/31/2005 8:43:00 PM
The phones will be ringing but will anyone sign?
The largest free-agent pool in NHL history opens for business at noon ET Monday, with general managers and player agents unable to predict who will sign where, for how much, and how soon.
''I'm one of those guys,'' said Philadelphia Flyers GM Bob Clarke. ''Nobody knows. I mean, how much money will the free agents get? Who knows. We don't have a clue.''
''Honest and truly, I don't know what to expect,'' added veteran GM Lou Lamoriello of the New Jersey Devils.
More than 200 unrestricted free agents should be available by the time a number of restricted free agents don't receive qualifying offers to retain their rights before Monday's noon ET deadline.
Headlining the unrestricted forwards are Peter Forsberg, Markus Naslund, Mike Modano, Alexei Kovalev, Pavol Demitra, Ziggy Palffy, Bobby Holik, Alexei Zhamnov, Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne and Miroslav Satan.
But the real depth in this year's unrestricted crop is on the blue-line, where the Norris Trophy may be at stake: Scott Niedermayer, Adam Foote, Sergei Gonchar, Brian Leetch, Derian Hatcher, Brian Rafalski, Mathieu Schneider, Mike Rathje, Roman Hamrlik and Adrian Aucoin highlight a long list of available defencemen.
Will they quickly find homes?
''Will there be a frenzy of signings? Maybe,'' said Vancouver Canucks GM Dave Nonis. ''But it could be the complete opposite. We'll be making lots of calls, but who really knows what's going to happen.''
The reason for the mystery is that no one yet knows what exactly the market will look like in the NHL's post-lockout world. Existing salaries have been rolled back 24 per cent and no player is allowed to earn more than $7.8 million US under the new collective bargaining agreement.
The first big signing will help set the bar.
''I don't think that even the teams that are definitely going after somebody know exactly what the right price is to pay for a player,'' said Nashville Predators GM David Poile.
''So somebody's going to set a market and that market may be good or bad for Nashville, in terms of what interest we'll have in specific players. It may allow us to get something done on Monday and it may not allow us to get something done until later in the summer. It's an unknown situation.''
Niedermayer and Forsberg are probably the only two free agents who have any chance of touching $7.8 million, but one team executive who requested anonymity believes the unofficial cap on stars will be $5 million a year. That's because while the salary cap this season is set at $39 million per team based on expected league-wide revenues of $1.7 billion, several GMs believe the damage done to the business from a year without hockey will bring revenues and therefore the cap down for the 2006-07 season - perhaps as low as $35 million.
So that affects how they approach offering long-term deals.
''No question, and that makes it even that much more complicated,'' said Edmonton GM Kevin Lowe. ''That's what guys are envisioning. You have to consider that. I think it's safe to say that no one is expecting the cap number to go up next year unless everyone has underestimated their revenue projections.''
Adding to the intrigue is that GMs have one eye on this year's crop and another on the 2006 free-agent list. Liberalized free agency kicks in next summer when players with eight years of NHL experience or anyone 29 and younger can qualify for unrestricted free agency if they're out of a contract.
The likes of Joe Thornton, Vincent Lecavalier, Jose Theodore, Ed Jovanovski, Wade Redden, Zdeno Chara, Sergei Samsonov, Jarome Iginla, Marty Turco, Ryan Smyth, Patrick Elias, Evgeni Nabokov, Chris Pronger and Patrick Marleau could all be available to the highest bidder next summer if they don't sign long-term deals in the interim - a younger and more talented group than this year's list.
''That's when you'll have the better unrestricted free agents,'' said Ottawa Senators GM John Muckler. ''That's when you'll have a tonne of guys. Look at us, we have Redden and Chara (who could be unrestricted). There's about four or five really good goaltenders that will be unrestricted. To me, if you're going to the unrestricted market to build, you better have some cap room next summer.''
Said Lowe: ''That's what everyone is pointing to. But you have to wait a year to see if any of them sign. But yes, you're starting to hear that about next year.''
When this year's market opens Monday, meanwhile, it won't be the same six or seven teams doing all of the buying. The NHL's apparent new-found parity means all 30 teams can dial up some help. In fact, Detroit, Toronto, Philadelphia, Colorado and Dallas don't have that much cap room left to get carried away this summer, perhaps leaving the likes of Columbus, Pittsburgh, Nashville and Atlanta to do the most damage.
''I'm going to be busy, I'm going to be very busy I hope,'' said Blue Jackets GM Doug MacLean.
The Predators rarely ever dared to dip into the free-agent market in the old world, but now admit they'll go for the plunge.
''Considering that we were completely inactive before, we will be more active for sure,'' Poile said with a laugh during Saturday's entry draft.
But if the money is basically the same around the league, what will be the biggest determining factor in choosing between markets?
''Many of the older ones now have got some substantial financial security and in that case, you'd like to think they'd look at the opportunity to win first and foremost,'' said Phoenix Coyotes GM Mike Barnett.
TSN (http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=132066&hubName=nhl)