Posts Tagged ‘Bill Daly’

Another bout with mass hysteria

August 12th, 2010 by Leigh Michael Dengis

It’s been a couple days since the ruling on Ilya Kovalchuk’s 17-year contract with the New Jersey Devils came down, which sided in favor of league’s grievance. Richard Bloch, the abattoir arbitrator, got it right. Kovalchuk’s contract was an obvious attempt to circumvent the salary cap. He would be 44 when his contract expires, and in the final five season’s of the deal he was slated to make $550,000, lowering his cap hit significantly. So, the league made an example of the Kovalchuk deal in an attempt to put the kybosh on deals such as these in the future.

Well, Bloch listed Marian Hossa’s 12-year contract he signed last year as one of four players – footnoted in the 20-page document – with contracts that resemble that of Kovalchuk’s. This, of course, had the natives clamoring that the sky is falling, once again – running around in a state of fear, much like chicken does when its head is cut off. They take to twitter to spread panic, and feed on articles written by fear mongers such as Larry Brooks (I hate myself for giving this guy some clicks). The natives do this before having one original, rational thought.

The league would be doing themselves a great disservice if they opted repeal Hossa’s contract. He already played one season on his deal. Just imaging the league-wide fallout it would create. It could potentially turn into a witch-hunt. The league had its chance to voice air and grievances regarding any contract before they approve it – like they did with Ilya Kovalchuk.

Bill Daly, the leagues deputy sheriff, already investigated the Hossa deal after it was approved last summer, but the story seemed to vanish into thin air. A month later, the league approved Luongo’s questionable long-term contract with the Canucks. Although some reports say contracts such as these are still under investigation, consider everything prior to Monday’s ruling grandfathered in to the new era.

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More On The Hossa Contract Investigation

August 4th, 2009 by Leigh Michael Dengis

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.

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Once Again, The ‘Hawks Are Under Investigation

July 31st, 2009 by Leigh Michael Dengis

Just when the dust settled and the Blackhawks were back to having a close to normal off-season, the NHL has decided to investigate into Marian Hossa‘s twelve-year $62.8M contract. What the league is trying to find out is whether the topic of retiring before the contract expires at the end of the 2020-21 season was discussed during negotiations. If that is the case, it is against the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), and the Blackhawks could be fined up to $5M and the loss of future draft picks.

Hossa’s twelve-year contract is broken down into this: First seven years he will make $7.9M; the next year it drops to $4M; then lowers again for the next two seasons to $1M; in the last two years of his Hossa is slated to earn $0.750M. The result is a cap friendly $5.233M contact. If Hossa were to retire before his contract expires, the Blackhawks would be off the hook for the years and money remaining on his contract.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly is quoted saying:

We’re trying to understand how it was negotiated and whether the intent and effect is to circumvent the cap. This was the first of the long-term contracts that took a player out past the age 40 and the value of the contract in its ‘out years’ was dramatically lower than its early years. We want to know if the possibility of player retirement was ever discussed or even contemplated.”

There are those around the league that frown upon the practice of signing players to contracts such as Hossa’s. The way his contract is structured is clever, and it’s the final four years of his contract – significantly lowering his cap hit – that has the league’s panties in a bunch. The Blackhawks used the current CBA to their advantage , or what the league is calling ‘circumventing the cap’, with Hossa’s contract.

It’s obvious that the league is out the make an example of the Chicago Blackhawks regarding long-term contracts such as these. Detroit and Philadelphia have signed players to similar structured contracts, but the ‘Hawks did take it a step further. The league will have a hard time proving what was talked about during negotiations, though.

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