The Better Life

by Bob Wage on Jul 13, 2007 2:22 AM EDT

Quite a few players signed up for "The Better Life" during the past couple of weeks. With all the recent talk about Matt Cullen's contract being too high, I thought we would compare his contract with some of the others that hit the books starting July 1st. We'll start with my previous listing of proposed targets for 3rd line center, since that is Matt's position.

My number one choice was Bryan Smolinski. Bryan is a consistent 40 to 50 point a year player who I thought could have been signed for about 2 million a year for 1 or 2 years. Well, if no one else agreed with me, at least Bob Gainey did. Montreal signed Smolinski for one year at 2 million dollars. The deal was announced on July 2nd.

The second center on my list was Todd White. Todd was sought after by a few teams and was signed the very first day of free agency by Atlanta for 9.5 million over 4 years. That's an average of about 2.4 per year, a bit more than the Canes wanted to spend on him. The length of this contract is also a concern since Todd has been injured a bit the past few years. If we compare the contracts between White and Cullen, obviously Cullen's is for 400K a year higher. But now let's compare stats. In the long term, White has had the better career, but during the past 2 years, White scored 32 goals and 84 points while Cullen has 41 goals and 90 points. On top of that Cullen had 18 points in the 2006 playoffs and helped to win the Cup. The old saying of "what have you done for me lately" applies perfectly here. If I had to make a choice between these two, I'd pick Cullen, higher salary or not.

Next on my list was Michal Handzus. Here's a real head scratcher. The dude signed a 2 million dollar, 1 year contract with Chicago last year and played just 8 games because of a season ending knee injury. Last week the Kings gave him a 4 year deal worth 4 million per year. How is he possibly worth that much more money after the worthless year he just put in? In my opinion, this deal has disaster written all over it. If we look at Michal's last 2 years, he scored 14 goals and 52 points compared to Matt's 41 and 90. Again, I'll take Cullen and his deal all day long over this one.

Dainius Zubrus was also on my list and here's another beaut of a contract. He was signed by the Devils for over 20 million for 6 years! That's an average of about 3.4 million per year. While his production was higher than Matt's, it wasn't that much higher. Zubrus scored 47 goals and had 117 points over the past 2 years. A six year contract for a 3rd line center is a long time though. Again, I think Cullen might be the better bargain.

Other players on my list were Yanic Perreault and Mike Peca. Perreault signed for 1.5 million and Peca is still unsigned. Neither of these players really compare with Matt. Some Caniacs were hopng for Robert Lang since he wasn't wanted by the Wings this year. Lang got 8 million for two years and only scored 39 goals the past two years. (2 fewer than Cullen). Am I making my point yet? If you compare Cullen's salary with other contracts signed so far this year, it's not that far out of whack. As a matter of fact, it's preferable to most of them. Even Rusty Fedotenko got 2.9 million from the Islanders and Torts almost ran him out of Tampa on a rail after last season. He only had 12 goals and 20 assists last year and his 2 year production is 38 goals and 73 points.

I'm not going to even discuss the other crazy contracts which were signed. Briere is not worth almost 7 million dollars a year. Drury might be worth his 7, but is Gomez, and for 7 years? Even Captain Canada, Ryan Smyth himself isn't worth the 6 million plus he'll get over the next 5 years. Crazy stuff. Rod Brind'Amour's contract sure seems cheap now, doesn't it? He's done a lot more in his career than any of these guys. Speaking of bloated contracts, Souray is getting over 5 million per year for 5 years from the Oilers. The dude has a monster of a slap shot, but is a bit slow in his own end. But Kevin Lowe is probably hoping that he will be the replacement for Chris Pronger. Before Oiler fans celebrate too much, I wonder if Souray will change his mind and sign yet another contract with someone else? Ooops, sorry...that was Nylander.

Question of the day: Will the Canes ever announce this "pending" trade the media keeps yapping about? Inquiring minds want to know! TGIF and happy Friday the 13th!

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Bubba and gang,

Lets take a trip down memory lane…. Lets go back to the year before the lockout….

We were lead to belive through the media spin machines of the owners, and the general NHL media pool, that the NHL need a contract with salary caps. This was because the PLAYERS were demanding oooohhh sooooo much in salaries and other compensation. We were lead to believe that the ticket price increases were due to the owners passing on enormous salaries to us, because we the little people were the victims of these over priced demi-gods we called NHL players. The owners demanded a salary cap to show the players that ther was a limit to the bottom of the pocket book. A salary cap would bring ticket prices down, and in the end, show these greedy players whats what when it comes to saleries. It was so neccesary, that everyone lost out a whole season. I remember that Bettman spoke of all these issues when he finally announced that there would be no season in 04/05. And I think it is safe to say that most of us believed him and the owners. Those poor billionaire owners.

Now lets go forward to July 1st, 2007…..

The players are certainly willing to live within the salary caps, but as any one of us would do, we would work for the company that pays us best. We have now seen some of the same owners that screamed the company line for salary caps, blow that cap out of the water. The Rangers are already 4 million over the cap! Look at the salaries and lengths of the contracts that will strap teams for years to come. Look at the players that are not producing, yet get these huge paydays. Is it the players fault? NO! It is the owners that are making the offers, and they are showing themselves to be the hypocrites that they are.

The next time I hear an owner complain about salaries, I will seek out a player, and apologize for being mis-lead. Then I will thank him for giving me the greatest game on Earth!

The real wolf has lost his sheeps clothing, and the wolf isn’t wearing a helmet and jersey. He’s wearing a three peice Armani, and is off to the bank! I predict another lockout at the end of this agreement, and when it is finally settled, I predict that we will see a return to the pre-lockout mentality of those with the biggest pocket book will flourish, dynasties will be re-born, and the market will shrink with teams folding where they should have never been set up!

Thanks for letting me be long winded!

Sean

by CaniacSean on Jul 13, 2007 3:57 AM EDT reply actions

wow, Sean, that’s a mouthful! I’m not blaming the players for the high salaries. It’s certainly all in the owner’s hands. I’m still happy about the salary cap because if there was none, things would even be worse. Can you imagine what the salaries would be if the Rangers and Flyers of the world were spending 80 to 100 million a year instead of 50? Plus, it would be tougher for the small market teams to sign anyone decent. At least with the cap, there is a limit to the madness.

I agree with you that fans will end up footing the bill for the high salaries!

by Bubba on Jul 13, 2007 10:05 AM EDT reply actions

Chris Drury turned down more lucrative offers from other teams to sign with the Rangers. Shanahan and Lundqvist could have gotten more money elsewhere, but they elected to stay in New York. Just sayin’.

We know how well spending ridiculous amounts of money on big names worked for the Rangers in the 90’s. Gretzky, Kurri, Robitaille, Bure, Lafontaine, Lindros, and pre-lockout Jagr come to mind.

by John on Jul 13, 2007 12:36 PM EDT reply actions

And don’t forget that Raliegh is one of those afore mentioned small markets. I think I would rather foot the bill for a competitve team than watch them wallow in the muck of the bottom rung teams and save some money. Salary caps are going to stay in the NHL for a long time. It just makes sense for the shield.

by wilmnoca on Jul 13, 2007 3:14 PM EDT reply actions

Don’t get me wrong guys… I want a cap. But I do believe that we will se it go away, and be back to the pre-lockout situation. And yes, Carolina is one of those small market cities. But remember, Carolina has won a Cup, been to the Cup twice in fact, and has built a steady fanbase. I don’t see the Canes ever folding. I never believed the pre-lockout hype about Carolina moving.

John, you are right, Drury did turn down more lucrative offers. My point made exactly. Other teams were willing to pay him so much more! Yes he took less to play in one of the top three markets, but look at what was being offered outside of that market! It was huge! The owners are their own worst enemies.

Nashville is an example of a city where hockey does not belong. It was a nice idea, but the money and the fanbase has not been what it should be. Columbus may be another example.

My point is in my long and winded original post was that the owners are doing everything they blamed the players for in the past, and they will be their own demise.

by CaniacSean on Jul 13, 2007 4:52 PM EDT reply actions

My apologies, CaniacSean. I was just defensive after hearing so much “omg the Rangers are ruining hockey!!!” stuff, even though that wasn’t what you were saying.

Good management (through signing under-the-radar players, scouting and drafting, and stealing players in trades) will always trump big spending—the Hurricanes are proof of that. I didn’t know much about Ray Whitney or Cory Stillman before they came to Carolina, but they were proven performers throughout their careers. The trades for Brind’Amour, Justin Williams, and Scott Walker were steals. That’s what makes teams successful, and maybe GMs will take notice of that and they’ll mellow out on these spending sprees.

by John on Jul 14, 2007 12:32 PM EDT reply actions

No problem John, no bad feelings toward you at all! We all have opinions. But I really fear for the way that things are going with the salaries. Call me “Chicken Little”, but it seems to be heading in the wrong direction.

Eagerly awaiting what looks to be a good, hard, and exciting schedule…..

Sean

by CaniacSean on Jul 16, 2007 12:56 AM EDT reply actions