Over the weekend it was reported that the NHL will hire an outside firm to investigate the contract Marian Hossa singed with the Blackhawks. The ‘Hawks aren’t in this alone. The Philadelphia Flyers are also being investigated by the league because of the contract extension they gave Chris Pronger after receiving him via trade from Anaheim early this summer. Hossa and Pronger will be forty-two when their respective contracts are slated to expire.
Each deal had to be approved by the league before each contract was filed, so it doesn’t make too much sense as to why they are wasting their time with an investigation. The Blackhawks and the Flyers used the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to their advantage, but the league is arguing that they are attempting to circumvent – buzz word of the matter – the salary cap.
To reiterate what I wrote in my post on Friday, Hossa’s salary cap-hit is $5.233M. That number is derived from averaging the salary that is owed to him over the course of his twelve-year contract. The last four years of his contract are at $1M and lower, which resulted in the lowering of the cap-hit the Blackhawks take on. The practice of front-loading the contract is a tool that any organization in the league can exercise, and most have to some extent.
When Hossa is in the ninth year of his contract at the ripe age of thirty-nine, he will be making $1M and according to the current CBA the Blackhawks will still have the $5.233M cap-hit against them. The league’s concern is that retirement was discussed between the two parties and that Hossa has already decided whether or not he will finish out his contract.
As they should, the Blackhawks deny any wrong doing when they negotiated Hossa’s contract last month. The NHLPA also claims that the Hossa and Pronger deals are legit. The league doesn’t have much of an argument here since they did have a previous chance to act on these contracts when they were initially signed. Gary Bettman, Bill Daly and the NHL are resorting to scare tactics because teams such as Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit are acting within the parameters of the CBA to their advantage.
Loading ...
