RDS.ca reports the San Jose Sharks re-signed defenseman Craig Rivet Wednesday to a four-year, $14 million contract.
The Sharks acquired Rivet from the Montreal Canadiens days before the February trade deadline and he quickly became an invaluable member of their blueline corps.
It’s not surprising the Sharks retained him, although the contract is a bit of an eyebrow-raiser.
Rivet turns 33 in September and while he’s been a steady, reliable blueliner throughout his career he’s never posted up the kind of career numbers that one would deem worthy of $3.5 million per season. Still, if the Sharks didn’t sign him to that amount, another club would’ve had he hit the open market.
The length of the deal – four years – is also a bit of a risk given Rivet’s age and injury history, although to be fair he’d had four straight seasons of 80-plus games prior to last season.
It’s a bit o####amble but with Rivet playing on a much better team now than he did in his years in Montreal he won’t be forced into playing beyond his skill level, thus it could prove a worthwhile deal for the Sharks.
Regardless of Rivet’s true worth, it’s clear that his contract will likely drive up the market value of comparable free agent blueliners like Danny Markov and Cory Sarich this summer. Once again, the salary cap is doing little to prevent teams from overspending on free agents.
good move by the sharks. Rivet is a good dman and I'm surprised they got him at that price after what timo got. I just hope the flames can keep hammer without paying him too much.
Rivet was going to get at least $3 million per season, so $3.4 is not insane. If Rivet had not been traded to San Jose I wonder what kind of hometown discount he would have offered the Habs.
It worked out great for him he got a 40% raise, lower tax rate and the chance to play for a serious contender.
Gainey was smart to sign Markov early. The price of defensemen only rises.
I have to say this is a good thing, they might have paid a little much but he will hopefully bring the youngsters along. He played well in San Jose most of the time, but San Jose doesn't have a killer D.
Souray will get a lot, he will probably be a teams only offseason move. At least only big move
I'm sure it won't be any surprise to anyone who's been paying attention that you'll be able to add "that sounds like too much money" to pretty much any signing for any player you've ever heard of who wasn't previously bought out. (And, actually, whatever Yashin gets this year is too much anyway, really.) This is what happens when GMs get what they want, fairly odd considering they didn't want this anyway when the evil players were forcing them to spend nearly four million on an average blueliner. I am already looking forward to hearing all of these salaries used as examples when the next CBA needs to be done. Not.
EtienneG, you are saying that the other dmen for the sharks are bad? Just because there are no all-star dmen for the sharks doesn't mean they are all bad...i think that they have a pretty talented lineup and maybe rivet played well there because he HAD good players to play with. I am guessing by your comments that you are a Canadiens fan and looking at the dmen on that team, I wouldn't be cutting down other teams!
The sharks had a strong 6 just not a stand out top pairing. I think signing rivet is a good idea for the sharks it gives some much needed experience and a stay at home type of #3 defenseman to help keep the puck out of the net. I think he will make an excellent teacher to the younger defenseman on the sharks.
This will drive the prices up but it is much more difficult to find a good defenseman then it is to find a good forward.
It will be interesting to see the contracts offered to sourey and mathieu schedier(sp?)
They should have signed him to a one year contract at best, that would have made more sense for the money. The Sharks have a solid young bunch of D-Men and Rivet played well because of them. I think 20 or 30 games in to this season the Sharks will see what they are stuck with for the 4 years. They should call him POP-RIVET, evry time he takes the ice lately he pops something out of place and needs to go on the IR list and sit around popin open beers and watching his bank account grow while watching reruns of judge judy.
I'm a huge sharks fan and I think this is a good move. Rivet adds experience to the young guys like Vlasic, Carle, And Ehrhoff. Rivet added some grit and a strong look at things.
14 Million for 4 years. Is not a good move the Sharks for a 33 year old D-Man that for last few years has played bad Hockey. Now if you wanted to do something for the Sharks thay would have mabe done 1 or 2 years at 2.5 or 2.7 Million so that he would be a consideration in a package for the future at trade deadline if it does not work out. Now you have a D-Man that is close to 4M per season and not a real desireable
The money isn't bad I just don't like the term. I agree with boltsfan, he could be the next guy that is hurting a teams cap problem when he can't play.
I am nt sure I agree with the length, but Rivet really settled down the Sharks defense late last year. Rivet is also good in the locker room and that really counts in Doug Wilson's opinion.
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.
