12/21/24
July 02, 2011
New York Rangers ink Brad Richards to nine-year, $60-million contract : The most anticipated decision of this year’s NHL free-agent market came late Saturday morning, a day after Richards entertained pitches from several teams. The Rangers landed him with a 9-year contract for a total of $60-million. The deal, which works out to a salary-cap friendly $6.67-million per season was a surprisingly low total given the Friday’s frenzied activity on the first day of free-agent season. It appears Richards, 31, left at least some money on the table to rejoin coach John Tortorella, with whom he won a Stanley Cup in 2004 when they were both with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
posted by tommytrump to hockey at 05:23 PM - 6 comments
I will gladly take the $9.5M over two years for a guy who should put up 50 assists against nine years of a frontloaded contract for guy who most likely do the same. Toronto doesn't need goal scorers, it needs passers, and that's what Connolly will do.
The Rangers continued their fine tradition of overpaying for modest talent by 20-30%. Congrats to them.
posted by wfrazerjr at 09:57 AM on July 03, 2011
These long contracts are going to come back and bite teams hard if the cap doesn't keep going up the way it is now.
The long contracts are shams.
Richards will be paid $50million in the first 5 years of the contract, and $10million for the last 4 years. This is a three-way sham in the following:
1) The team can spread the damage over 9 years, thus reducing the salary cap hit at the beginning. The player gets paid what he wants, but the team can claim it over the long haul, even though he/they have no intention of playing all 9 years.
2) If the player retires after the 5 years, then the team is off the hook for the rest of the salary cap hit. He gets paid, they don't have to worry any more.
3) If the player DOESN'T retire, they can buy out the remainder of his contract (75%) for a much smaller hit on the salary cap afterwards (definitely not $6.67million/year).
When the next CBA comes out, they should have a clause that states the annual salary can not increase/decrease more than a certain percentage each season, over the length of the contract.
posted by grum@work at 02:42 PM on July 03, 2011
I believe they already have that clause, grum, but I think right now it's 50%. That should be changed to 25 or even 10% annual drop off.
I wouldn't go so far as to say the players have no intention of playing out their contracts, though. It seems that every lengthy contract that's signed ends around that player's 40th birthday. There's a reasonable chance that top-tier NHLers can play that long, and I think most, if not all, of these players expect to play until they're at least 40. The extra years tacked on the end are more for lowering cap hit than for lowering salary payouts, because the teams that are tossing all these long contracts around aren't exactly strapped for cash...
posted by MeatSaber at 04:53 PM on July 03, 2011
Yes, but they aren't structuring the deals because they expect the player to be playing for them at 40. The intention is obvious, it's front loaded and they can trade a declining player later based on the reduction in cap hit to a new team. The Rangers signed Richards here to a five year deal that becomes a trading asset thereafter.
The players have every intention of playing out the contract - they all think they'll last to 40. Of course, most change their mind or have their minds changed for them. Richards also has the option of leveraging the value of the remainder of the contract into another contract via hold-out or trade demand if the Rangers refuse to negotiate a new deal after five years.
It's a good deal for the Rangers. They are a team that has a few missing ingredients, a number one centre being the most glaring. I don't think Richards is a game-breaker anymore, but he is one of the more consistent performers in the league.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 05:44 PM on July 03, 2011
The intention is obvious, it's front loaded and they can trade a declining player later based on the reduction in cap hit to a new team. The Rangers signed Richards here to a five year deal that becomes a trading asset thereafter.
It is my understanding that the cap hit for a contract moves with the player if they are traded. So, Richards' $6.67 mill hit remains, even if he's traded in year 9, and is only getting paid $1 mill.
posted by MeatSaber at 06:32 PM on July 03, 2011
The Tim Connolly consolation prize is a real fly in the ointment for us Leafs fans, although in about 5 years I am not sure I will feel the same way. These long contracts are going to come back and bite teams hard if the cap doesn't keep going up the way it is now.