With the 2006-07 NHL regular season now over, some teams are wasting little time getting the jump on some contract signings. Here’s the latest signings and analysis:
- Detroit Red Wings re-sign forward Pavel Datsyuk to a seven-year, $46.9 million contract on April 6, 2007.
The length and amount of this deal was surprising, given the news out of the Detroit since last summer of how contentious at times negotiations between Datsyuk and the Red Wings reportedly were. At times there was apparently so little talk between the two sides that it appeared as though Datsyuk might become an unrestricted free agent in July.
The main issue appeared to be the amount of money per season being sought by the talent Russian forward. GM Ken Holland scoffed last fall at reports of the Datsyuk’s camp seeking over $6 million per season, claiming the forward might have to look elsewhere for that kind of money, yet Holland eventually agreed to pay Datsyuk an average of $6.7 million per season.
The length of the deal also came as a surprise, particularly given the concerns over Datsyuk’s playoff stats. While he’s had two straight 87 point seasons, and 328 points in 363 NHL games, his playoff numbers are underwhelming: only 15 points in 42 post-season games heading into the 2007 playoffs.
That gave rise to some criticism that the Wings were overpaying for too long a strong regular season player who comes up short in the post-season.
Holland, however, when the deal was announced that team owner Mike Illich and former Wings captain Steve Yzerman pushed hard for Datsyuk to be re-signed, believing it was important to lock him up to a long-term deal.
That’s quite a measure of faith from Illich and Yzerman in Datsyuk, with the former putting up considerable cash to back up that faith. However, if Datsyuk can start coming through in future post-seasons as well as he does in the regular season, it’ll be seen as a savvy move by the Wings.
- Colorado Avalanche re-sign team captain Joe Sakic to a one-year contract on April 9, 2007.
The Denver Post reported Sakic and the Avalanche agreed to a “deal in principle” over the final weekend of the season.
Unlike the Datsyuk signing by the Red Wings, this one is no surprise. Although Sakic was eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in July, few hockey experts believed he’d test the market, let alone that the Avs would actually let him go.
The Denver Post reported Tuesday the contract is worth $6.75 million, a $ 1million raise over last season's contract, reflective of his strong performance in 2006-07 (100 points in 82 games, the sixth time in his long career he reached the one hundred point mark).
That’s a considerable amount of coin but given Sakic’s performance and his value to the Avalanche, he’s earned it. Besides, if the Avs had been unwilling to pay him that much, somebody else would’ve.
The Avalanche had plenty of available cap space to do this, having less that $20 million committed to payroll for next season prior to re-signing Sakic. It still gives them plenty of room to re-sign other key players plus to get into the bidding for some of the top talent in this summer’s UFA market.
- Ottawa Senators re-sign defenseman Anton Volchenkov to a three-year contract on April 9th, 2007.
As of this writing there’s no word on how much Volchenkov will earn in his new contract, but considering he earned $1.3 million last season it could between $1.5 million and $2 million per season.
Volchenkov, known as the “A Train” to Senators fans for his energetic, hard-hitting style, was one of four blueliners up for new contracts after this season. He and Christoph Schubert were restricted free agents, whilst Chris Phillips and Tom Preissing are eligible for UFA status this summer.
The Senators had over $34 million committed to next season’s payroll, and Volchenkov’s signing, while affordable, does limit the amount of available space to re-sign the other three, especially Phillips, whom the Sens reportedly hope to re-sign before July 1st.
It remains to be seen if Volchenkov’s signing has any significant impact on the Senators attempts to re-sign their other key free agents.
- The New York Rangers re-signed defenseman Thomas Pock to a two-year contract extension on Monday, which will keep Pock off of this summer's unrestricted free agent market.
According to the New York Daily News, Pock's new contract pays him " $650,000 in 2007-08 and $685,000 in 2008-09.
This signing scarcely puts a dent in the Rangers cap space for this summer, as they now have less than $24 million committed to next season, giving them plenty of room to re-sign key players like Brendan Shanahan, Michael Nylander and Sean Avery, and still leaving enough to pursue some free agents this summer.
So Many top players have come off the board staying with there teams. With so many tams with cap space and so few impact players. People will Overpay for the Sourays and Ryam Smyth's of the world. This is exactly what the league wanted. There is just not enough talent to spread out threw the league.
And I am sorry Ryan Smyth is not a 6 mill a year player he is not even worth 5 and Im sure he will get close to 7
TKF, Your right about Smyth, anything more than 4.5 mil is way too much for smyth, even though he'll get 6+. Also Spec, the A-train deal is a three year deal averaging 2.5 per year and is a great deal for the senators as V as emerged as a premier shut down d-man. He could have held out for 3, especially considering they got a year of UFA from him
Also Spec, I know the Sens have 34 million in capspace commited to next year, but that is to 15 players. And I sincerely doubt they'll hold onto Martin Gerber after draft day.
The sens have also opened talks with UFA Tom Preissing.
The re-signing of Pavel Datsyuk prior to the playoffs is quite the surprise. Did Holland fear that a long playoff run might up the kid's value, or that another Detroit first round flame-out might sour the kid on Motown? Hope the lad now has proper incentive to put up some good numbers in the post-season (particularly against the hated Calgary Flames).
TKF and I agree (for once) concerning the DOLLAR value of Ryan Smyth, but we disagree on his value as a player. There's a lot that Smyth brings to the table that isn't measured on the stats sheet, as fans in Edmonton are well aware and fans on Long Island are just beginning to learn. (Perhaps if Smyth signs in Los Angeles TKF might become a believer as well...)
It will be interesting to see if the Islanders are able to re-sign Smyth given the trade deadline investment they made to obtain him. Personally, I don't see Ryan getting a lot of attention from the top-tier teams (i.e. Detroit, Nashville, Anaheim, Buffalo), but rather from teams on the cusp that need that extra piece to push them into the mix.
My guesstimation is the Rangers (depending on how much cash they have left after repairing their blueline), Dallas (if the Stars part ways with Eric Lindros), or Ottawa (when they wave goodbye to Mike Comrie and should they falter against the Penguins).
Of course, I continue to live in hope all my guess work is wrong and Ryan signs a three year deal with the Oilers for reasonable coin, but I think Mr. Smyth has turned the page and Edmonton fans need to do so as well.
Really curious where Smyth will go. I don't see him staying in Long Island. Not sure if he is wanted by Lowe in Edmonton. Datsyuk at 6.7mil a year is about right, but the guy only hasn't proved he is a playoff warrior yet. Sakic at 6.75 is another good number. With all these guys starting to resign it could really drive up the price of the free agents that remain. Ryan Smyth could get 6mil if there is no one else available.
Last edited by Ryan7878 on April 10th at 12:55 PM.
Matt,
No way Smyth signs in Ottawa. In addition to the fact that they have 34 Million in Payroll committed to 14 players next year (without Comrie, Preissing, Emery, Schubert, Chris Kelly or Oleg Saprykin under contract), they have Redden, Heatley as UFA's next season and Spezza is an RFA. Muckler will not be interested in signing any name UFA's unless they are one year deals for bargain prices so that they can retain Spez and Heatley for sure.
Rumours of Redden being dealt in the off-season are beginning to fly in the Local media (Mostly on the radio TEAM 1200)
Go Joe ... I love Sakic ... even when as Canucks fan I have seen him demolish my team numerous times over the years.
If he averages 75 points for four more seasons he will pass Messier to be #2 all-time. I think that is entirely feasible. Mind you ... Jagr is only another 75 points behind Sakic and is three years younger ... not sure if he is interested in playing that long though ... Sakic strikes me as an Yzerman type who will play until he's forty.
This post-season will really have an impact on Forsberg and Briere contracts for next year. If Briere can continue his scoring in the playoffs he will be worth the kinda of money that Datsyuk got. As for Forsberg if he can play the whole playoffs without an injury and go into the off-season not needed some kind of surgery he will be getting offers upwards of 7-8 mil.
"Players do [not just] walk in a new locker room and become a leader."
So even without a "C" or an "A" on his chest, Chris Pronger didn't become one of the team leaders when he arrived in Edmonton? And Mark Messier wasn't a leader on the Rangers when he arrived in New York?
Leadership is your word. Ryan brings that to the table, but I'm thinking more of his on-ice quality to get his nose dirty, to play in the high target areas, to sacrifice body (and risk injury) for the good of the team. He's a quality player, and does a lot of the little things that spell the difference between winning and losing.
But sticking with your word "leadership", here's a link to the New York Islanders roster:
http://www.newyorkislanders.com/tea m/roster.asp
Look it over. There are only a couple of players on that roster with more playoff experience than Smyth, let alone a gold medal to their credit. Their captain is Alexei Yashin, for goodness sake! Talk about a team with a leadership vacuum!
Smyth doesn't need a letter stitched on his chest to help move that club in a positive direction and play a valuable role both on the ice and in the dressing room. He can play on my team any day, just not for $6 million-plus dollars! [*grin*]
You're correct regarding the Senators and their current cap space. And with the Phillips signing, that puts Ottawa at roughly a $40 million cap hit and they still need to re-sign Ray Emery, Tom Priessing, Christoph Schubert and Oleg Saprykin. (I already have Mike Comrie priced out of the Senators future plans.) At first glance there's no cap room left to sign any UFAs.
But that's also assuming that nobody gets moved in a deal. I definately see Joe Corvo ($2.6 million) and perhaps even Peter Schaefer ($2.1 million) shipped out of town. That gets you most of the way there depending on how much (if any) salary comes back the other way. And no doubt Martin Gerber is expendable, but I doubt anyone will pick him up at $3.7 million. (That signing really ties Muckler's hands.)
Ottawa lacks the type of grit that Ryan Smyth brings to the game. If the Sens make another early playoff exit -- like I think they will, despite Toronto being out of the picture -- there are going to be some roster changes to make their squad little bit more hard-nosed.
And despite all the talk about Smyth being a $6 million plus player in the free agent market, I believe reality will sink in during the summer and he'll need to make a choice: sign with a contender for around $5 million (or less) with a shorter term or get the big payday from a lesser team. Personally I see him talking the smaller cheque to go to a better program, and that potentially puts the Senators into the running if they clear enough room.
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Last edited by Matt_McCallum on April 11th at 4:06 AM.
As for re-signing Speeza, Heatley, Redden et al in 2008-09, if the salary cap goes up by another $4 million, that solves most of the problem right there (provided the Sens want to keep spending money). So to my mind all the talk about shipping Wade Redden out of town is a bit premature. (But if you guys want to put him on the block, boy, he'd sure look good in Oilers silks!)
And I think the Sens might have an easier time moving Gerber in summer 2008 with only two years left on his contract and that salary number looking a little bit more reasonable by then. Too early to quarterback who'll need goalie help by then, but I'm certain there will be a couple of teams in the market, particularly if the Sens aren't looking for much back in return.
There are going to be options to keep that Ottawa nucleus together if Muckler is creative enough.
Last edited by Matt_McCallum on April 11th at 5:42 AM.
I take it since you did not respond directly to my reply to your comments about leadership that you concede the point.
Moreover, despite my respect for his talents and contributions, I've consistently said that Smyth does not deserve "Joe Thornton" money (as you put it). In the current market I personally peg him at $5 million a year tops given the recent Shane Doan contract -- well below "Joe Thornton" money, but still obscene as far as I'm concerned. It will be interesting in a couple of months to see what the market really is for Mr. Smyth. Perhaps he might be priced back into the Oilers' range...
Now I've got to respond to a comment in your latest post:
"Giving cap space to things that do not show up on a stat sheet is a [waste] now."
Okay, TKF, how detailed is your stat sheet and what are the metrics? Just goals and assists? Hits? Giveaways and Takeaways? Faceoffs won and lost?
Hockey isn't baseball, and isolated stats without a context are meaningless. A guy can score 40 goals a season, but if most of them are late in games that have long been decided, those pad-the-stats tallys aren't as valuable as the ones potted by money players who score the clutch goals when they are needed. (Prime example: Glenn Anderson.)
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Last edited by Matt_McCallum on April 11th at 5:32 AM.
Want a perfect meaningless stat in isolation? Ryan Smyth scored 36 goals this year. Only 15 players in the whole NHL scored more goals than Smyth. And 36 goals is exactly the same number scored by Joe Sakic, Sidney Crosby, Daniel Sedin and Bill Guerin. If the game is all about putting pucks in the net, then all these players should be pretty much equal, no?
I don't think so, but that's what the stat sheet says.
There are a lot of things that don't show up on the stat sheet that are critical to team success. For example, Chris Pronger didn't get credit for all the "third assists" he scored last year by moving the puck effectively out of the Oilers zone to the forwards. And even if the club didn't score on the rush, he got the puck out of the Oilers end and decreased scoring opportunities for the opposition. Pronger's quarterbacking the Oilers breakout was as valuable as any points he scored because it made the Oilers better as a whole. But you're not going to see that measured as an individual entry on any stat sheet, so there is obviously no value to that.
Your thoughts?
Last edited by Matt_McCallum on April 11th at 5:39 AM.
31 goals on a last place team. Thats what all his numbers are. Last place numbers. He is always the best player on a Bad team. Sakic is a 100 point man and is lightyears better then Smyth will ever be. Guerin has one thing Smyth does not a Ring. He was on a last place team but was moved to a winner and remember he chose to sign in St Louis. The Sedin boys had there breakout season and they play for a very good Vancouver team. Crosby is just Crosby. As everyone says Smyth was the face of the Oilers. Crosby is what the Face of a franchise should look like.
36 goals mostly in games that did not matter.
1 run in the playoffs then The Oilers came back to earth with a Thud.
There is a Reason why he and every other Oiler wants the hell out of there Guerin included.
Watch his numbers drop next season like a ton of bricks.
I love how you want to have it both ways. The Oilers have made the playoffs seven times in the last ten seasons -- in two seasons advancing to the second round and a third season coming within one win of the Stanley Cup -- yet even before their post-trade deadline swoon this season you've called them a "bad team".
So what's your criteria for a bad team? One that misses the playoffs by a country mile (like the 2006-07 Los Angeles Kings)? One that's in the thick of qualifying for the playoffs (like the Oilers were for the majority of this season, like the Colorado Avalanche at the end of the year) and comes up short?
If you use the playoffs as a cutoff, then to your mind there are 16 "good" teams and 14 "bad" teams? And if so, are Toronto and Montreal then "bad teams" because they narrowly missed out on the final playoff spot by a difference of a point?
What about teams that falter in the playoffs? The Ottawa Senators are a great regular season team, but lousy in the post-season. Aren't all those regular season points meaningless if you can't get the job done when it counts? And if "good" teams like Detroit, San Jose and Anaheim lose to a "bad" team like Edmonton last year, are they still good teams?
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Last edited by Matt_McCallum on April 11th at 11:47 AM.
Settling the good team/bad team issue discussed above is critical to understanding your faults of Ryan Smyth. Let's summerize them:
"31 goals on a last place team"
"Best player on a bad team"
"Last place numbers"
"36 goals mostly in games that did not matter"
The Oilers were still in playoff contention (albeit barely with all the injuries mounting) when Smyth was moved at the deadline, and the team was ahead of the Colorado Avalanche. (You know, that's the club where Joe Sakic was scoring all his goals in games that didn't matter because they too missed the playoffs.)
Of the 31 goals that Smyth scored for the Oilers, five were game winners and six were the first goals of the game. Those seem to be meaningful goals to the Oilers' success. Investigate further and you'd find the majority of Smyth's goals for the club were significant in that they resulted in lead changes, brought the Oilers into proximity, or gave them an insurance goal. With the Oilers there were very few meaningless goals from Mr. Smyth this season.
When Smyth arrived in Long Island, that squad was in a tough playoff race. Without Smyth, the Islanders likely don't make the playoffs; they got deeper without giving up anyone on their roster. Getting the Islanders to the post-season, with a couple of million dollars that can be generated in revenues from the First Round, I'd call that a meaningful contribution, regardless of how that team ultimately fares in the playoffs.
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Last edited by Matt_McCallum on April 11th at 11:17 AM.
Of course I don't think Ryan Smyth is the equal of Joe Sakic or Sidney Crosby. But they all made the same goal-scoring contribution on the "stat sheet" that you hold so dear, and that points out the limitations of your position.
Furthermore, reminding you of an argument you made a few weeks ago, since only "good players are in the playoffs", I presume you believe only Crosby and Smyth qualify for that label because Sakic is on the outside looking in?
St. Louis didn't make the playoffs this season, so under your criteria are all of Bill Guerin's pre-San Jose goals now meaningless (like Smyth's efforts in Edmonton)? But if Guerin's work in San Jose is now meaningful because they are a playoff team, cannot the same be said for Ryan Smyth's efforts in New York? Indeed, doesn't Smyth play a more significant role because he helped get a team into the playoffs, while Guerin merely helped the Sharks fall into 5th place?
And you mentioned that Guerin has a Cup (which he won with New Jersey back in 1995). I agree, that's something missing on Smyth's resume, although he came close last year. But Guerin only had 3 goals and 11 points on that Devils Cup Winning team, so based on your "stat sheet" approach he obviously didn't contribute much to that win. You'd likely say he was lucky to be aboard for the ride. (I'm certain a number of us would disagree with you.)
Now if this summer Smyth moves to a contender or near-contender as a UFA and wins a Cup, does he become a "good" player in your book, or is he a "passenger" and "lucky to be there"?
Last edited by Matt_McCallum on April 11th at 11:55 AM.
You just throw so much chum in the water, it's hard not to keep going.
"One run in the playoffs then the Oilers came back to earth with a thud."
Just like the Los Angeles Kings circa 1993? I'm sure you remember after that run they missed the playoffs the next few years straight after that. With Gretzky in the lineup too, I might add. (That Gretzky: yet another "not good" player by your standards because he wasn't in the post-season...)
At least the 2006-07 Oilers had an excuse after losing Chris Pronger et al, and even so it wasn't until the injuries started to mount that things began to fall apart. (We should all have Buffalo's farm system!)
"Watch [Smyth's] numbers drop next season like a ton of bricks."
How do you make that assessment at this point? He was still a point-a-game player on the Island, so he wasn't being carried by the Edmonton lineup. Don't you need to wait and see where he signs first before handicapping his "stat sheet" accomplishments?
"There is a Reason why he and every other Oiler wants the hell out of there, Guerin included."
Look up the Edmonton Journal online today, TKF. Their Hockey Hall of Fame columnist Jim Matheson has a write-up on how today's NHLers want warm weather, limited travel and no pressure to win. If that's the case, the Panthers and your Kings should have the pick of the free agent litter!
Last edited by Matt_McCallum on April 11th at 12:20 PM.
Matt,
Corvo has turned it on off late and I think he'll be retained. Gerber will be dealt this off-season. He signed only a 3 year deal, and now there are only 2 season left on it. (not a 4 year deal as your math suggests) The goalie market is weak enough this off-season that Gerber will be dealt.
If they can deal schaefer, they should. He's a floater and at 2+ million, he is barely worth a roster spot let alone that kind of money. If you find a taker, please forward his name and number to Muckler.
Comrie seems to be happy in Ottawa for the first time in a long time. As much as I have boo'ed him from the cheapseats in Rexall over the last couple of years, he is looking great in Ottawa and if he expresses an interest in staying there, Muck ought to try to find a way to do it. If he can dump Schaef while he's at it, all the better. It's interestng that Spector is not talking about a raise for Comrie bus a possbility of a pay-cut.
t
he sens have Kelly, Schubert, Emery, and Saprykin as RFA's and McAmmond, Comrie, and Preissing as UFA's.
Warm Weather cities with no travel. Dude back to Geography class for you. The Ducks Kings Sharks Coyotes and Nucks logg more airtime then any other teams in the NHL. The poor Stars need to change timezones to play division games.
Edmonton has short trips to Minnesota and Calgary. and most division flights are less then 2 hours.
Dallas is 3 and a half. Detroit 4 Nashville is 4 as is Columbus Chicago is 3 for any of the so mentioned teams on the west coast.
Its not like the Devils who can take short bus trips to all but one division rival and sleep in there own beds most of the season.
Lets see the 93 kings. The Kings were on a fantastic run from 88 to 93, And finally got to the finals at the end of the run.. If they would have won 2 cups in that time it would have been close to a Dynasty. The days of winning 4 cups in a row or 5 in 8 years is over,
What have the Oilers done in the last 10 years. How many division titles 0
last year was a fluke period.
You guys can blame injurys and Pronger all you want. But in the real world. What you replace Pronger Spacek and Peca's minutes. What you replaced them with was potential not talent. and the potential stunk up the joint. You overpaied for a career backup/minorleague goaltender and threw him in the net as a starter. His numbers were great in Minnesota because of the System they play not his talent. Then you losr you top 2 defencemen. Your # 1 d-man would barly be a # 4 on most playoff teams.
Let me throw out a few names
Jaroslav Spacek
Mike Comrie
Cujo
Doug Weight
Bill Guerin
R
All players that got the hell out of Edmonton as soon as they could either via trade or free agency. If Edmonton was such a great place to play why did they not stay.
Edmonton is a great Minor Leagu franchise now. Players get drafted to develope then move on to real nhl teams. Or get traded there because they know the UFA status is comming. Or where old players go to Die because they know thegood teams in the leagu would not give them a contract like Petr Sykora.
"Dude", I don't need geography class, thank you, but you might want to check your atlas and your math.
The Kings' divisional play has them up against Anaheim, San Jose, Phoenix and Dallas. That's 16 road games out of 41 that are reasonably short flights for Los Angeles. Not as good as the most of the Eastern Conference clubs, but that's a lot better than Edmonton's 16 games in Calgary, Vancouver, Denver and Minnesota.
In pure air miles, it's the Northwest Division teams that have the worst travel schedule. I believe Vancouver edges out Edmonton, but not by too much.
I'll respond to your other comments later tonight when I get home.
My friend, 40 percent of everybody's road games are within the Division. That's a big chunk of the travel schedule right there; I'll deal with the Conference and the inter-Conference games (which are the wild card each year) afterward.
With Anaheim right next door to Los Angeles, the Kings essentially have 45 home games and 37 road games. Not as good as the Rangers who essentially have home games on Long Island and at the Meadowlands, but better than any other Western Conference team.
Here's the air distances from Los Angeles to its other division rivals (Source: http://www.laalmanac.com/transport/ tr53.htm):
San Jose 293 miles
Phoenix 367 miles
Dallas 1,251 miles
I think Vancouver has the worst travel of anybody, but let's compare Los Angeles' intra-Division travel with Edmonton's (Source: http://www.indianindustry.com/trave l-tools/air-distance-calculator.htm l):
Calgary 163 miles
Vancouver 512 miles
Denver 1,045 miles
St. Paul/Minneapolis 1,166 miles
In your earlier note you wrote about how Edmonton has "short trips to Minnesota". That's just 85 miles shorter than the bloody LA / Dallas haul you complain about! A short trip, indeed!
For a proper comparison, we need to pull out last year's schedules and run the various distances for each team's road trips. Should take us each half an hour or so using that website above. It'll be good Saturday afternoon project while watching the Pittsburgh / Ottawa tilt, if you're game.
I'd rather debate using facts rather than rely upon supposition and conjecture.
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Last edited by Matt_McCallum on April 12th at 10:49 AM.
For computing those road trips, here's an example of what I'm talking about. Let's look at a three-game road trip for Edmonton last year that took place on March 9-12:
Edmonton to Los Angeles (Anaheim) 1,357 miles
Los Angeles (Anaheim) to San Jose 293 miles
San Jose to Los Angeles 293 miles
Los Angeles to Edmonton 1,357 miles
That's a total of 3,300 air miles in five days (assuming the Oilers flew out the day after the Anaheim game). Note the short hop to San Jose and back in the middle of that trip. If the Oilers had played both games in Los Angeles, then gone to San Jose, and then home (or vice versa), that would have cut 466 miles from that trip!
Instead, between playing Anaheim Friday and Los Angeles on Monday, the Oilers put on another 586 road miles.
Swine schedule makers!
By the way, we're focusing on travel, but there were other two criteria: warm weather cities and no pressure to win. Los Angeles nails the dismount on both.
Haven't forgotten about your Oilers comments. I'll be responding to those in a bit, but let's get one big issue settled at a time.
Last edited by Matt_McCallum on April 12th at 12:40 PM.
Thanks for the correction on term of the Gerber contract! Ottawa may have better luck moving him this summer after all.
I've always been a Corvo fan -- the guy was on my first place Yahoo Fantasy Team! -- and from what I saw of Ottawa I thought he wasn't playing that badly this season. I believe it was a mixture of living up to a big contract and trying to do too much when the Ottawa defense got hammered with injuries. I hope he has a great playoffs and the Ottawa fans embrace him.
Comrie... That's a guy with a tonne of talent and an ounce of maturity. I hope after moving through four organizations this early in his career he's got his wake-up call that he needs to apply himself or he'll be playing in Europe next. Ottawa is a good fit for him; he's on the second line and he's not the big dog. I hope the kid has a good playoffs.
As for a Comrie paycut, the Sens were only on the hook for slightly more than half of Mighty Mike's salary -- $1.54 million of the $3 million contract. If Mike would take the adopted hometown discount, he could likely fit into the Senators' plans. Frankly, is it likely anyone else in the league would re-up Comrie at $3 million?
And by your Rexall cheap-seats comment, I didn't realize you were an Edmonton native (or at least from Northern Alberta; I don't want to jump to any conclusions). Always good to chat with someone from back home!
Last edited by Matt_McCallum on April 12th at 10:53 AM.
You wrote: "The Kings were on a fantastic run from 88 to 93, And finally got to the finals at the end of the run. If they would have won 2 cups in that time it would have been close to a Dynasty."
"If." A lovely word. Roll it over on your tongue and savour it. "If they would have won..." It's like a fuzzy blanket to keep you warm at night. Very comforting.
We've all got our "ifs". One of my classics is if Wayne Gretzky hadn't been sold off by Peter Pocklington, what might have been. One of my current ones is if Lauren Pronger hadn't been so dead set against leaving the United States and had actually given Edmonton a chance.
There's an old joke: How do they spell "Dynasty" in Calgary? O-N-E.
You've created a new one: How do the LA Kings spell "Dynasty"? I-F.
Next, never confuse Regular Season success with Post-Season success. Winning the Presidents Trophy is nice and leading your Division is fine -- both give you a chance to put a banner up in the building -- but it's about what you do in the playoffs that matters.
That said, let's put regular season success into the mixture and give credit where credit is due. Let's look at this "fantastic run" by the Los Angeles Kings after they picked up Wayne Gretzky and see what they accomplished.
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Last edited by Matt_McCallum on April 12th at 1:05 PM.
1988-89
- Regular Season: 91 points, 2nd in Smythe Division
- Playoffs: Beat Oilers 4-3, Lost to Flames 0-4
1989-90
- Regular Season: 75 points, 4th in Smythe Division
- Playoffs: Beat Flames 4-2; Lost to Oilers 0-4
1990-91
- Regular Season: 102 points; 1st in Smythe Division
- Playoffs: Beat Canucks 4-2; Lost to Oilers 2-4
1991-92
- Regular Season: 84 points, 2nd in Smyth Division
- Playoffs: Lost to Oilers 2-4
1992-93
- Regular Season: 88 points, 3rd in Smyth Division
- Playoffs: Beat Flames 4-2; Beat Canucks 4-2; Beat Maple Leafs 4-3; Lost to Canadiens 1-4
1993-94
- Regular Season: 66 points, 5th in Pacific
- Playoffs: Did not qualify
1994-95
- Regular Season: 41 points, 4th in Pacific
- Playoffs: Did not qualify
1995-96 (Gretzky moved at the trade deadline)
- Regular Season: 66 points, 5th in Pacific
- Playoffs: Did not qualify
Five straight years in the playoffs, followed by three DNQs. Not bad. One first round exit, three second round exits and one Cup appearance. Don't know if that qualifies as "fantastic", but I'd say that's pretty good.
And hey, one Regular Season Division Title! Put up that banner, baby!
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Last edited by Matt_McCallum on April 12th at 12:46 PM.
Now, I could compare what the Oilers did in that same period -- four staright playoff appearances, four straight DNQs, one first round exit, two third round exits and one Stanley Cup -- and argue that at least the first four years of that effort are a bit closer to the definition of "fantastic" but I've got a better idea: Let's look at that 1992-93 Los Angeles Cup Finals team.
That LA squad finished 3rd in the Smyth Division, one point ahead of the Winnipeg Jets. (Both teams were essentially guaranteed a playoff spot with expansion San Jose in the Division and with the Oilers having shipped off much of their talent between 1991 and 1992 like Messier, Kurri, Anderson, Fuhr, and Lowe.)
Anyway, Los Angeles was 39-35-10 on the season with 88 points. That ranked them 6th in an 11 team Western Conference (only 3 points ahead of 8th place St. Louis), and 11th in a 22 team NHL (only 3 points ahead of 16th place St. Louis). They were also a minus 2 on goals-for versus goals-against (338-340).
In short, as far as Regular Season accomplishments go, the Kings were not a powerhouse club. They never had home ice on any of their playoff series and faced superior competition all the way through to the Western Conference Finals. They beat Calgary (97 points) in six games, Vancouver (101 points) in six games, and Toronto (99 points) in seven games.
That's excellent work. But there's something else that needs to be considered...
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Last edited by Matt_McCallum on April 12th at 1:08 PM.
The two strongest teams in the Norris -- Chicago (106 points) and Detroit (103 points) -- got knocked out along the way. Toronto was not the most powerful team that could have come out of the Norris (according to the Regular Season) and they took the Kings to seven games. Would the Kings have faired as well against Detroit or Chicago? We'll never know...
For the Cup, Los Angeles faced off against Montreal (102 points). Again, a statistically superior club. But Montreal was third in their Division, only the 4th best club in the East, behind Pittsburgh (119 points), Boston (109 points) and Quebec (104 points).
Montreal's path to the Cup was relatively easy. The took out Quebec in six games, Buffalo (86 points, who knocked off the Bruins) in four games and NY Islanders (87 points, who knocked off the Penguins) in five games.
You must remember that 1993 was the Year of the Fluke. All the best teams got knocked off, so Montreal faced weak competition all the way to the Final. And you must remember they were unbeatable in overtime, winning 10 games. A good accomplishment, but the fact that Montreal needed OT to get past inferior competition (as far as Regular Season standings are concerned) is rather telling.
What's the point of all this? The argument can be made (based on Regular Season performance) that the 1992-93 Los Angeles Kings were a middle of the pack team that got "lucky" and sneaked into a Stanley Cup Final.
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Last edited by Matt_McCallum on April 12th at 1:09 PM.
Moreover, what the Kings accomplished in 1993 was not much different from how the 2005-06 Oilers got "lucky" in the Playoffs.
The major difference is that in the Cup Finals the Oilers faced the 2nd best team in the Eastern Conference / 3rd best in the whole entire league (Carolina, 112 points) and they took that healthy Carolina team to seven games despite losing Dwayne Roloson.
Now, I don't think the Oilers "just got lucky" in 2006. They retooled at the trade deadline, picked up some key pieces and were a much different team than they were for most of the season.
Similarly, Los Angeles didn't "just get lucky" either. Remember, Gretzky was injured for much of the year, and that accounted for a few loses along the way. They were a better club than their Regular Season record, too.
The bottom line is in 1993 and in 2006 the Kings and the Oilers accomplished the same thing: an unexpected trip to the Stanley Cup Finals and a loss to the Eastern Conference representative.
Your talk that dynasties are dead has merit. Both the Hurricanes and the Oilers loaded up last year and made their runs. Neither got back to the post-season this go around. It will be interesting to see if which clubs that loaded up this year are successful, and what shape they are in next season.
Last edited by Matt_McCallum on April 12th at 1:00 PM.
I agree with what most you said, And I am glad you agree that Dynastys are dead. Thats why I am still in Aw about what New England did in the NFL.
Salary caps are desinged to kill Dynastys.
I would love to here from a pens fan 5 years from now when Malkin Crosby Finley Stall and alot of there other players are ready to test the free agent Market. Salary caps have made it impossable for teams to retain most of there young superstars. The kings face the same thing with Cammy Brown Kopitar and Johnson.
There needs to be a Franchise player rule like the NFL has and 2 transistion players like the NFL has. Yes true the NFL teams deal with 3 times the cash flow but only double the players. The problem is that the Cap max for a contract is to high.
Matt,
I am from Saskatchewan, but Edmonton has, at least for the last 11 years, been my closest NHL venue.
Comrie has only very recetnyl gotten second line minutes. He was a third liner here for awhile and spent 8 or 9 games playing with the fourth line as well. Schaerfer-Fisher-Comnrie isn't exactly a killer second line, and they still see a lot of time in a checking role.
Regarding Comrie's maturity level, prior to his being traded here, I would have agreed with you 100%. In fact when he got traded, I had mixed feelings precisely because of his experience in Edmonton. When Comrie arrived, he made a nice little splash ont he ice with a 2 point night and then was crucial for us during the Fisher and SPezza injuries. He played second line most nights and occasionally moonlighted on the 1st line. He played on the top PP unit and was a real impact player.
Then Spezza and Fish came back and Comrie got shuffled back to the third line and eventually all the way to the 4th line with Dean McAmmond and Christoph Schubert. He went through 8 games without a point and was really struggling on the ice.
But Mike's attitude has been awesome ever since he got here. Maybe he did some growing up in the desert. When he was struggling, he was open an honest about it. When he got shuffled back to the 4th line, he took responsibility saying things like "I've played a lot worse than a 4th line player" and "I need to be better and to find ways to contribute to such a talented line-up". Mike took it all in stride and when his pops was in town to receive the order of Canad
canada, he turned it around. Mike has beena great influence on and off the ice here. The boys are high-fiving each other left and right, something you never saw before comrie got here. I hope he does take a pay cut so we can keep him!
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
