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"What do you get when you have an owner that insists on doing everything by committee but then decides to negotiate the largest contract on the table all by himself?
You get the New York Islanders my friend.
You get $67.5 million leaving the bank over the next 15 years. You get Rick DiPietro signed to the longest term contract in NHL history excluding the Wayne Gretzky 21-year personal service deal with Peter Pocklington."
He also sites that were he to play out this contact he'll have played 19 years; something only eight other players in the history of the NHL have done.
The mind truly boggles... think back over how much has changed in the past fifteen years and just try to imagine what things will look like another 15 down the road.
All I can say is that it is definitely senfantabulastic day to be Rick DiPietro; and should he go to training camp and somehow shatter an ankle or tear a groin causing him a career ending injury? No worries, mate there's a clause that guarantees he gets the full $67.5mil contracted to him.
No goalie is worth that Surely you're destroying your franchise by guaranteeing someone that much money for that long?! He's not necessarily going to be the number one goalie in a few years time let alone in 15 years. I don't understand what the Isles are getting out of this. No one is ever gonna make a trade for him so they're stuck with him for the rest of his career.
He doesn't need to worry about how he plays from now on. He can just turn up to training and sit on the bench for the next 15 years!
flea wrote:Just remember the same team signing a 10 year - $ 87.5 Million deal to Alexei Yashin.....
Those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it.
The real staggering part of this is that they in no way had to sign him to a 5 year deal let alone a 15 year at this time. Truly he hasn't done anything as a goaltender beside be picked 1st overall. Adding to the complete non-pressure of this contract signing is that it'd be two years before they'd even have to take possible free-agency into account with regrds to contract size/length. So, why not sign him for a year and say "You impress us this year we'll give you the keys to the franchise and extend this contract through the mind-imploding far away date of 2021. If not we'll still give you the deal but re-up it for only two more years." I mean there are just a billion other ways that this could and should have been handled.
Sometimes i really wonder if GMs,or owners like in this case,really know their job...
When i hear Minstrel talking about Hawks' owner,and when i hear about that so stupid deal with DiPietro,i'm forced to say that i'll never be able to do worse...
Even the AI of EHM makes less mistakes! And it's just a machine!
And the guarantee for DiPietro to have all of his 67.5M$,whatever might happen...that's stupid! If i were DiPietro,i would retire at once,and have 4.5M$ a year to have fun (and play EHM? lol)... Nice life,isn't it?
Charles Wang is making Bill Wirtz look like a new generation genius. ANd I believe there might be a televised Hawks home game in Chicago this season. Wow,what next?
Actually they have it set to 10 years right now based upon the last outrageous Wang contract that one to Yashin... I think Riz may decide that it's just too crazy to put into the game for it's own good though
Wang is definitely the Anti-Wirtz though; Dollar Bill still feels that players should pay him for the priviledge of being Blackhawks and I really wish I was kidding about that or saying it for effect. Honestly though he really does feel that way, and will say so every time he's asked about contracts.
On the bright side a solid number goaltender in the year 2021 for $6.75 Million will most likely be a bargain. However the reality of paying that goaltender who actualy left the league 8 years prior $6.75 Mill a year will have the next 10 GM's in NY paying the price. How would you like to take that kind of hit on the cap for a player not on the roster. Who will they even get to be the GM with that kind of and who knows how many more(Yashin) handicaps in place.
Did some one from the front office call Al Davis of the NFL for advice on how to run a professional sports franchise?
It's pretty much become a certainty that Wang taking this negotiation on personally was the straw that broke the camel's back as to what Neil Smith could handle and still allow himself to be affiliated with the team. So it has already cost them an excellent GM candidate as well as whatever money they with owe Smith in his settlement package.
It also explains why the current "GM" was in goal for the team last year and in the front office now... I'm sure not many people were battling to get themselves involved in Wang's "by committee" approach especially when what it really means is you as GM have to let Wang do whatever he wants to and you get to do the rest... sounds like being a GM under Witz and Pully. They had the same basic "agreement" with Mike Smith when he was GM here, that kind of "You have 100% control over all GM matters that we don't have an interest in but 0% control over all matter that we chose to take an interest in" thing is why he finally got fired.
ironcity57 wrote:On the bright side a solid number goaltender in the year 2021 for $6.75 Million will most likely be a bargain. However the reality of paying that goaltender who actualy left the league 8 years prior $6.75 Mill a year will have the next 10 GM's in NY paying the price. How would you like to take that kind of hit on the cap for a player not on the roster. Who will they even get to be the GM with that kind of and who knows how many more(Yashin) handicaps in place.
Did some one from the front office call Al Davis of the NFL for advice on how to run a professional sports franchise?
Unbelievable!
Sorry I meant $4.5 Mil a year will be a bargain in year 2021
I found this post on Canucks.com Message board. It brings a whole new perspective on this Dipietro contract.
Here Goes:
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I caught 2 minutes of a sports show tonight and I thought I heard the commentator say something about amortizing a contract before they cut to a commercial.
So I got to thinking in the context of the DiPietro contract of $67.5M over 15 years ($4.5 per year) and maybe Wang isn't quite that dumb. Well he is but maybe he found a loop-hole or a way around the cap.
Follow me:
You have a player that you want to pay a large amount of cash and this is probably going to be his last major contract before retirement (has to be the last, big contract to work). You can afford the bucks but not the cap hit so you agree to pay him a lower amount of money for a longer time knowing that he will retire before the end of the contract. The player makes a smaller amount of money while he's playing but retires and still gets paid but doesn't have to work. I know normally if a player retires he doesn't get paid but they work out the contract in such a way as to guarantee the payments whether he retires or not. Maybe he gets a head office job or is the highest paid assistant coach in the organization. Anything but a player that counts against the cap.
An example:
Let's say Wang wanted to pay DiPietro $6M per year for 10 years (god only knows why) but didn't want to take the cap hit of $6M per year. So he agrees to pay DiPietro the same $60 M ($6M * 10 years) but gives him a 15 year contract which equates to $4M per year. He knows DiPietro will only play for 10 years but will collect for 15. So in essence he has paid his goalie the $60M for only 10 years worth of work but the cap hit is only $4M.
Another example:
Sutter thinks the next contract Iggy signs will be his last. He knows he has to shell out at least $7M a year to keep him around but doesn't want to handcuff himself because he also has to sign Kipper with a large raise so he says to Iggy "I'll give you $70M to play for the flames. You play for 10 years and retire which means you'll be earning $7M per year but we'll do up the contract for 20 years so I only have to claim $3.5M on the cap." Everyone knows he won't play for 20 years but Iggy still gets his $70M.
Could this be a loop hole? Will the NHL have to put a restriction on contract length in some form or another to prevent a team from amortizing a contract to get around the cap? Or do they look at voiding some contracts because the wording is too vague as to what the payments are for?
I remember some of the old CFL signings and they used to get around the cap by calling it a "Personal Services Contract". If I remember right it's how Calgary first signed Flutie. The contract was paid to Flutie for personal services to the owner; it just so happens the owner wanted him to play football.
Maybe they've already taken care of this or maybe its too late at night and I'm thinking of something that isn't really there.
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Interesting, but I'm sure this kind of thing has been throroughly sniffed out by the legal team that put together the several hundred pages of text in the new CBA and they'd have thoroughly hammered closed this "You can retire and still get paid" concept... now if Rick wants to agree to saw off a hand or foot or intentionally destroy his knee, maybe poke out an eye to envoke his guarantee for career ending injury more power to him, but I doubt anyone would let him get away with a "retire with 5 years left on my deal and still get paid for it" plan.
