1473 replies to this topic

[devils102]

From what I heard Columbus is a pretty good place to play. I remember reading an article a few years back that said their owner flies them from city to city in a private jet. And Colombus is a team desperate for a veteran presence. Good deal for both of them. Kinda surprised at the price though. 4.5 is a lot of money. More than I thought Foote would be worth under the new system.

[sammyk]

Yah, Columbus is a nice city. My sister used to live there some ten years ago.

[bruins4777]

What ever happened with Pascal Leclaire, their goalie prospect?

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he has dissapoitned people mainly...I still think he's special and will be good down the road, but right now he is
1)stuck behind a young great goaltender in denis. who is criminally underrated
2)dealing with a HUGE groin injury.
3)having a hard time with the AHL.
He is playing on a HORRID syracuse team the past 2 years and he hasn't been as good as expected. He played fairly well in the NHL in his 3 or so games. Nothing special, but not awful. However in the AHL a lot of people thought he would be better. The recent injury put him out for the whole season i think...he only played 10 or 20 games at the begining. I thought he was really good his save percentage was 92 or something.

I think foote could be HUGE for klesla's development. I've always liked klesla, guess now he'll have that mentor he's always needed....I was dissapoitned columbus didn't draft a dman, but with this pickup it help them out in their biggest spot...however 4.5 WOW. Thats gonna be bad for other dmen wanting to sign...i have a feeling this will be one that we look back on down the road as a "salary killer".

[sammyk]

Not sure if all these so called high salaries will be a problem. I mean it's not like teams can just decide to pay them, they have to fit into the payroll. Only the guys that get signed early will get the bigger bucks because cap space is still available. What are the Neidermayers, Forsbergs, etc. gonna do when every one is only say $4M away from $39M?

[Don]

Exactly my thoughts too Sammy. The higher the first few contracts, the faster that cap space gets eaten away, the cheaper the the UFA will have to be.

The other thing I notice is that the big contracts seem to be coming from non-playoff markets. Basically, teams with few good players. League parity is on it's way.

BTW - according to one hockey analyst on TSN, Toronto was offering Nieuwendyk and Roberts both $1.4M to return. So when Florida offered $2.25M they took it and ran.

[Don]

RDS believes that Modano is about to sign with Boston. Also Aucoin talked with Gainey yesterday and Bob basically laughed at what Adrian was looking for in terms of compensation.

I really get the feeling that these guys are crazy. They just signed a deal that says that salaries are dropped 24% and then have to fit into a $39M/team structure and yet they expect huge raises.

[NJDevs4978]

RDS believes that Modano is about to sign with Boston. Also Aucoin talked with Gainey yesterday and Bob basically laughed at what Adrian was looking for in terms of compensation.

I really get the feeling that these guys are crazy. They just signed a deal that says that salaries are dropped 24% and then have to fit into a $39M/team structure and yet they expect huge raises.

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Don what do you expect when A) they thought for a whole year the owners were hiding money and B) Columbus just overpaid ridiculously for Foote, sheesh I know they needed vet leadership too but that's an insane amount for a guy that's like 36 and has taken a beating over his career.

The market's kinda been set now, and it just got that much harder to keep Raf and Nieds

[BlueSkirt]

The market's kinda been set now, and it just got that much harder to keep Raf and Nieds

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Sad but True.

[Triumph]

[quote name='Hasan4978' date='Aug 2 2005, 07:12 AM'][quote name='Don' date='Aug 2 2005, 07:05 AM']
The market's kinda been set now, and it just got that much harder to keep Raf and Nieds

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[/quote]

No, the market is in terms of cap space remaining divided amongst the 30 teams. Only teams like Columbus and Florida can afford to make these signings, and with the salary floor, it makes much more sense for them to overpay one player than to sign a bunch of veterans who will just take time away from Nash, Zherdev, Klesla, etc. Now if Columbus is smart, they front-loaded this deal so when those guys begin to get really good, they will have cap space to sign more proven guys.

Rafalski will be hard pressed to find a team who will offer him 4.5 million. Remember, there's a lot of teams with only 8 M in cap space who have 6 or 7 positions to fill. Someone like Washington could toss 4.5 at him, but would he want to play there? With several top end defensemen still on the market, and the cap space remaining dwindling, the price of defensemen is going down. The Foote and Zubov signings are a good thing for New Jersey.

Edited by Triumph, 02 August 2005 - 06:28 AM.

[NJDevs4978]

Not sure if all these so called high salaries will be a problem.  I mean it's not like teams can just decide to pay them, they have to fit into the payroll.  Only the guys that get signed early will get the bigger bucks because cap space is still available.  What are the Neidermayers, Forsbergs, etc. gonna do when every one is only say $4M away from $39M?

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They'll sign sooner rather than later? I can't imagine any big-name player being stupid enough to wait around for a month when teams have shot their cap room.

[NJDevs4978]

Now if Columbus is smart, they front-loaded this deal so when those guys begin to get really good, they will have cap space to sign more proven guys.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You can't do that in the NHL the way you can in the NFL. Well you probably can front-load the deal, but the cap number is the average salary over the life of the contract. So if a guy's getting paid $1 million one year and $7 million the next their cap number will be at $4 million both years, as I understand it. The NHL didn't want the frontloading and backloading the NFL gets.

[SueNJ97]

In terms of what he brings he's a good fit for the Jackets, it's just that they did really overpay for someone his age and with his mileage. But then they probably had to to get him to that team, because that's a huge responsibility he's taking on and as good as the young talent is, they are probably a few years away from meaningful contention and these may be Foote's last few useful years. They really just have to hope like hell his body doesn't do an Uwe Krupp on them.

I hope it works out for them, I have nothing against the team. I just hoped salaries were going to make more SENSE. My mistake I guess.

[Don]

Trust me. Give it a week. When every team is knocking on the cap and there are 100 guys left to be signed, THEN salaries will be reasonable.

If I were a GM, I'd have qualified NOBODY and waited until September and get all the specials. I get the feeling that is what Chicago is doing. They are going to be hard to beat with Markus Naslund playing for $1.5M.

Edited by Don, 02 August 2005 - 07:32 AM.

[BlueSkirt]

Flyers pull a 'Hatcher' job

The Broadstreet Bullies look to return to their bruising ways, as they sign three wide bodies on defence.

Sportsnet.ca -- The Philadelphia Flyers weren't able to lure Adam Foote into the fold, but Bob Clarke has still managed to beef up his blueline.

Sportsnet has learned the Flyers have agreed to multi year deals with big defensemen, Derian Hatcher and Mike Rathje.

Both men are listed at 6'5, 235 lbs, so clearly it's the Flyers intent to get bigger.

But Philadelphia didn't stop there, adding a third towering defensemen in re-acquiring 6'5 Ottawa native, Chris Therien, the Flyers seventh choice in the 1990 NHL draft.

The Flyers have called a 1pm ET media conference to unveil their additions, with sources telling Sportsnet it will include a fourth player in forward Jon Sim.

Hatcher is 33 and very recently became available after becoming a casualty to the buy-out process at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings, along with former teammates Darren McCarty and Ray Whitney.

31-year-old Mike Rathje was drafted 3rd overall by the San Jose Sharks in 1992 and has played his entire career in San Jose.

Hatcher was injured for most of 2003-04 season, playing in just 15 games for Detroit and amassing four assists.

[Don]

That'll be fun. Watching Colin White take his buddy Jon hard into the boards every fifth game or so.

[insanity_gallops]

If the Flyers really have signed Hatcher and Rathje, that should effectively remove them from the Niedermayer sweepstakes.

[SueNJ97]

This is not good news, though. I don't really care about Therian. I'm not even sure I care about Hatcher - who knows if he'll be healthy for long enough to matter. But Rathje is quite another matter. You realize this is disaster unless we get some size up front. Lou has to re-sign Holik now, I don't think he has any choice. Yuck. I'd determine whether Kozlov is coming back and then, if he's absolutely not coming back, draft the contract and ask Bobby to wait until the 15th when Kozlov's qualifier expires, or say to the league, he says he's not coming back, can we pull it now to free up cap room.

Damn. I hate Holik. But this means he's necessary.

[CMONPETEYD]

Do the flyers have the money to sign hatcher and rathje?

What is there cap situation

[BlueSkirt]

Here is Rathje's scouting report from TSN:

Scouting Report
Assets
Uses his size and reach to ward off opponents very effectively. Knows how to control the hot spots in his own zone due to excellent positioning.

Flaws
Plays a passive game in the defensive zone for someone 6-5, 240 pounds. Lateral mobility can be problem for a man his size. His offensive game is limited.

Career potential
Defensive defenseman.


He's still a big guy and I always thought he'd fit well on the Devs.

[brodeurfanatic]

Do the flyers have the money to sign hatcher and rathje?

What is there cap situation

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Well they bought out Leclair and Amonte.