GM's taking us backwards by investing in potential rather than productivity

[REV-G]

One of the big problems the NHL faced prior to the lockout was out of control salaries that resulted in higher ticket prices which resulted in it becoming very difficult for familes to attend an NHL game just because of the cost. And the main culprit for such high ticket prices was the players salaries. I believe the problem is re-emerging and it is all because of the GM's. I read this morning that there's a shift happening in how the NHL does business. It's how the GM's are investing heavily in the potential of a player versus the productivity of a player. These are some of the signings that appear to be the way GM's are going so as not to lose younger players to an offer sheet. To avoid being raided by rival teams GM's are signing younger players to huge long term contracts. For example Sidney Crosby, 20, (five years for $43.5 million), Thomas Vanek, 23, (seven years for $50 million), Ryan Getzlaf, 22, (five years for $26.6 million), Milan Michalek, 23, (six years for $26 million), Dustin Penner, 25, (five years for $21.25 million), Derek Roy, 24, (six years for $24 million), Ryan Whitney, 24, (six years for $24 million), Zach Parise, 23, (four years for $12.5 million) and Stephen Weiss, 24, (six years for $18.6 million). From what I read only three of these players have more than 20 points this year and the rest are all below. That's a huge investment for low return. I think the result is that we will see some weaker teams because they will have locked themselves in by signing players who will not give them a proper return and that will handcuff teams for years because they are locked in to long term expensive contracts, which will limit who else they can sign. You can see a little of that happening with Toronto right now and that wil stay with them for a few years. I think the choice teams will have will be to continue doing what they're doing by signing younger players to huge contracts or be willing to lose a player when an offer sheet is given. The other choice is for the NHL to eliminate the offer sheet, but I don't know if the PA will go for that.

[saskhab]

Fans paying for higher ticket prices is the reason there are higher salaries. If there are fans out there buying up all these tickets at ridiculous prices, why are we complaining about the end result? Complain about the fans that would rather waste their money on something as frivelous as a hockey team.

BTW, at first this wasn't about "avoiding being raiding other teams' young players". It was about locking them up before they became arbitration eligible. Guys like Nash, Kovalchuk, Gaborik, DiPietro and Zherdev were all locked up long term for big money before offer sheets were part of the game (Philly tendering a 1 year, $1.9m offer sheet to a largely unproven Ryan Kesler, who has since become a top shutdown player this year). It's guess work, but some of the contracts will look good at times, others won't.

In a cap system, it's about prioritizing where you want your money spent. If that's where you want it to go, to somewhat unproven commodities, than that's the team's choice. It means someone else on your team is going to get less money as a result.

[bluesgm]

I really dont see the point in this thread! GM's do not want to lose guys when they become UFA's, therefore they lock them up Long-Term, Price will likely be the same!

[Habsfan]

Hell yeah! If I were Bob i'd sign both Komisarek and Hggins to 8 year contracts. Give them between 3 and 4 million per year(each) and lock them up for a long period of time. At the end of the Contract Komisarek would be 33 and higgins 32.

[Neech]

Hell yeah! If I were Bob i'd sign both Komisarek and Hggins to 8 year contracts. Give them between 3 and 4 million per year(each) and lock them up for a long period of time. At the end of the Contract Komisarek would be 33 and higgins 32.

It would be nice to get them for that price, but I'm not too confident. I hope we don't end up paying them 5 million each.

[brobin]

At the end of the day, GMs that do this will either be geniuses or idiots that screwed their teams for the long haul.

The biggest issue I see if that when they make a mistake, they are screwed. There are always bad signings, but they typically only hurt for a year or two, then you buy them out. How do you buy out a 12 year contract in year 2?

In any case, I do not want to see Gainey follow suit. All he has to do is give 4 year deals at least a year before the last one is over, if he really wants to keep the player. While you might pay more down the road, you will only pay for the guys you want. Some of these GMs are going to end up playing for marginal players for a decade with no way out of it. In the age of parity, that might be all it takes to amount to a decade of mediocrity...