Around the NHL — Episode XLXVI

[Nac Mac Feegle]

If that was the way it works... Thomas Chabot would only have 4 years left... Tkachuk would have 5 years left... It would create very short contending windows and a vast disparity between attractive cities and less attractive ones...

3 years ELC + 8 years gives Ottawa 11 years of Chabot vs 9. Considering we've been rebuilding in his first 5 years and we're not even sure to make the playoffs this year, we could be only looking at 3 playoffs seasons

This could be a disaster for some teams.

In the short term, yes. But in the longer term it would mean more stability around the league overall. Hell, I would even give the NHLPA a big bone by lowing the UFA age by a year.

Basically, I want to do everything possible to stop all those stupid big money contracts for guys 30 and over. Seems most UFA contracts never end well for teams. My proposal might not be the best way to do it...but there has to be a way. Somehow.

 

[Ice-Tray]

In the short term, yes. But in the longer term it would mean more stability around the league overall. Hell, I would even give the NHLPA a big bone by lowing the UFA age by a year.

Basically, I want to do everything possible to stop all those stupid big money contracts for guys 30 and over. Seems most UFA contracts never end well for teams. My proposal might not be the best way to do it...but there has to be a way. Somehow.

That’s the opposite of stability. It would move the NHL towards being like the NBA.

A big hell no on all fronts. GMs need to manage their cap better or suffer.

Pay your young players during their primes and we won’t see the massive overpays for players in the downswing as much.

It’s always been make less until UFA and then go for gold, which has been the opposite of when players are at their best. That is starting to change as the cap casualties are too great to bear and GMs are wizening up.

 

[playasRus]

In the short term, yes. But in the longer term it would mean more stability around the league overall. Hell, I would even give the NHLPA a big bone by lowing the UFA age by a year.

Basically, I want to do everything possible to stop all those stupid big money contracts for guys 30 and over. Seems most UFA contracts never end well for teams. My proposal might not be the best way to do it...but there has to be a way. Somehow.

Could do 6 years capped contract for non drafting team and keep drafting team benefit to 8 years. The albatross contracts by eye test seem to generally be UFA.

 

[RAFI BOMB]

 

[Xspyrit]

In the short term, yes. But in the longer term it would mean more stability around the league overall. Hell, I would even give the NHLPA a big bone by lowing the UFA age by a year.

Basically, I want to do everything possible to stop all those stupid big money contracts for guys 30 and over. Seems most UFA contracts never end well for teams. My proposal might not be the best way to do it...but there has to be a way. Somehow.

Like Ice-Tray said, it's the GM responsibility to manage their cap better. Just stop giving too much term to older players. I think the lesson has been understood for Ottawa with the Bobby Ryan deal. Players in their 30's are likely to suffer diminishing injuries so if you look at our current contracts and the age of the players when they expire :

Tkachuk : 28 y/o
Norris : 30 y/o
Batherson : 29 y/o
Chabot : 31 y/o
Joseph : 29 y/o

There will be opportunities to extend them for a reasonable term after that, based on their injury history, skating, etc. This is one of the things Dorion has done very well IMO, manage the salary cap going forward. He made a mistake with Colin White's contract at first but the cost of the buyout was cheap and it was contextual in the sense that we had to convince Chabot to sign long term in Ottawa

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Like Ice-Tray said, it's the GM responsibility to manage their cap better. Just stop giving too much term to older players. I think the lesson has been understood for Ottawa with the Bobby Ryan deal. Players in their 30's are likely to suffer diminishing injuries so if you look at our current contracts and the age of the players when they expire :

Tkachuk : 28 y/o
Norris : 30 y/o
Batherson : 29 y/o
Chabot : 31 y/o
Joseph : 29 y/o

There will be opportunities to extend them for a reasonable term after that, based on their injury history, skating, etc. This is one of the things Dorion has done very well IMO, manage the salary cap going forward. He made a mistake with Colin White's contract at first but the cost of the buyout was cheap and it was contextual in the sense that we had to convince Chabot to sign long term in Ottawa

Yeah, but we know GMs aren't going to do that.

The way it's going, players will be getting a big payday at 21-24 or so, and then another big payday at 26-29. That's my big fear with these "pay 'em in their primes" trend. They want to be paid as much as they can, for as long as they can.

And unless the cap increases max out every year, it will be hard to keep a core together that way. And if the cap increases a lot every year, that also outpaces what Ottawa will be able to pay long-term. We're still a small market team.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Yeah, but we know GMs aren't going to do that.

The way it's going, players will be getting a big payday at 21-24 or so, and then another big payday at 26-29. That's my big fear with these "pay 'em in their primes" trend. They want to be paid as much as they can, for as long as they can.

And unless the cap increases max out every year, it will be hard to keep a core together that way. And if the cap increases a lot every year, that also outpaces what Ottawa will be able to pay long-term. We're still a small market team.

Yeah but who cares though?

If a GM botched the team’s ability to compete due to too many bad contracts, then they will get fired. New GM will do a better job or be fired as well. The cap isn’t new, and managing it isn’t a mystery either.

Generally GMs are doing fine managing the cap, it really isn’t an issue that needs to be addressed by the CBA. Players often looked to the UFA contract as the big payday because players were generally underpaid during their primes. Pay them during their primes and you won’t have to over pay during their UFA years, if the player even wants to go that route. If they do you just let them walk, or trade them if they aren’t willing to extend.

The cap keeps teams like us in the mix to be competitive, but it also keeps player salaries down because most guys understand that the team needs cash to be competitive.

Again, it’s not an issue for the vast majority of teams as anything special. Teams like SJ are a bit screwed, but there are always teams like Arizona to bail them out in return for free draft picks.

I really don’t think this is an issue that needs to be worried about. Teams can always trade away guys that insist on pricing themselves out.

 

[Xspyrit]

Yeah, but we know GMs aren't going to do that.

The way it's going, players will be getting a big payday at 21-24 or so, and then another big payday at 26-29. That's my big fear with these "pay 'em in their primes" trend. They want to be paid as much as they can, for as long as they can.

And unless the cap increases max out every year, it will be hard to keep a core together that way. And if the cap increases a lot every year, that also outpaces what Ottawa will be able to pay long-term. We're still a small market team.

Yes the risk will still be there, as bigger as ever. Most players in their late 20's will look healthy and "ready to go" for another 7 years... but then a guy like Bobby Ryan or Erik Karlsson runs into injuries and then boom, bad contract.

You're right that it sucks that the "cheap RFA years" don't seem to exist anymore, at least not for significant players. Crazy that we had Erik Karlsson for 7 years at 6.5 AAV after his ELC. What would it be today? At least 9 M$ like Makar

I don't see any reasonable solution seriously. But $16.3 million for maximum salary seems too high. Thankfully, no one makes more than 12.5. I don't know, the market obeys to the regular market laws, maybe it should be more "regulated" to avoid problems, but how?

Maybe make buyouts a bit easier? Not too much though because if the buyouts would all be like Colin White's, no one would ever really be in trouble for their mistakes.

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

This is awesome to see!

Senators see 'significant' surge in ticket sales after busy off-season

Fan excitement over the Ottawa Senators' summer moves has translated to a big boost at the box office. Plus, the latest on a new arena and the ownership situation after the passing of Eugene Melnyk.

www.sportsnet.ca

 

[Ice-Tray]

This is awesome to see!

Senators see 'significant' surge in ticket sales after busy off-season

Fan excitement over the Ottawa Senators' summer moves has translated to a big boost at the box office. Plus, the latest on a new arena and the ownership situation after the passing of Eugene Melnyk.

www.sportsnet.ca

Nice little article.

I personally found the part about Anna and Olivia interesting. I had always though that their mom Laura could be involved with them again now that Eugene was gone, and it looks like that’s the case.

The financial picture of the Sens ownership is potentially a lot different than it was under just Eugene. Sounds like the entire Melnyk fortune may be at play here to see what’s viable.

Nice to see that they are taking their time to figure out what they want to do, that their making a positive impact on the social media relations front already, and are immersed in learning everything about the business they own.

Now we know that the team is not in fact for sale at the moment.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Nice little article.

I personally found the part about Anna and Olivia interesting. I had always though that their mom Laura could be involved with them again now that Eugene was gone, and it looks like that’s the case.

The financial picture of the Sens ownership is potentially a lot different than it was under just Eugene. Sounds like the entire Melnyk fortune may be at play here to see what’s viable.

Nice to see that they are taking their time to figure out what they want to do, that their making a positive impact on the social media relations front already, and are immersed in learning everything about the business they own.

Now we know that the team is not in fact for sale at the moment.

I found the article encouraging in general. Looks like they will be starting off with the 30th anniversary stuff and Alfredsson's HOF promotion, so that should be fun. I'm hoping for a new line of swag with the anniversary as an opportunity.

 

[HSF]

This is awesome to see!

Senators see 'significant' surge in ticket sales after busy off-season

Fan excitement over the Ottawa Senators' summer moves has translated to a big boost at the box office. Plus, the latest on a new arena and the ownership situation after the passing of Eugene Melnyk.

www.sportsnet.ca

owners spending money on the team will attract more fans to spend money

who would have thought eh ?

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

owners spending money on the team will attract more fans to spend money

who would have thought eh ?

Shocking!

The turnaround of this franchise has been something to see for sure.

 

[GCK]

Now we know that the team is not in fact for sale at the moment.

The team is on the market. From day 1 of the new regime it’s only been a matter of full sale/majority partner/minority partners.

I would personally like to see the sisters maintain a strong minority position since I like the different perspective they bring, not only to the org but the league.

 

[UglyPuckling]

As far as timing of some of the events, there was this: "The NCC and the Senators group plan to work out the details of a lease agreement by the fall of 2023."

I could get into speculation on whether the team will be sold even though info to the contrary was presented in this article, but I won't. Its just so speculative that it seems futile.

 

[Ice-Tray]

I found the article encouraging in general. Looks like they will be starting off with the 30th anniversary stuff and Alfredsson's HOF promotion, so that should be fun. I'm hoping for a new line of swag with the anniversary as an opportunity.

It’s so great that we’re finally embracing the legacy players, supporting Alfie for the Hall, etc… looks like players want to be around the organization as well.

Awesome to see/feel

The team is on the market. From day 1 of the new regime it’s only been a matter of full sale/majority partner/minority partners.

I would personally like to see the sisters maintain a strong minority position since I like the different perspective they bring, not only to the org but the league.

Nope.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

It’s so great that we’re finally embracing the legacy players, supporting Alfie for the Hall, etc… looks like players want to be around the organization as well.

Awesome to see/feel

It's a slam dunk move on the organization's part, so good on them for repairing some of those relationships, particularly with Alfie.

And most importantly from that article imo is that the ticket sales are doing well according to them.

 

[Micklebot]

Nope

Its interesting because on the one had, he says the team isn't for sale, but the says they are working with their mother and financial advisors to figure out what they do next. I suspect that's basically them trying to forcast whether they can operate the team without bringing in more money. Perhaps that "more money" is achieved by selling a stake to their mother and essentially getting a chunk of their inheritance early, lol.

 

[GCK]

Its interesting because on the one had, he says the team isn't for sale, but the says they are working with their mother and financial advisors to figure out what they do next. I suspect that's basically them trying to forcast whether they can operate the team without bringing in more money. Perhaps that "more money" is achieved by selling a stake to their mother and essentially getting a chunk of their inheritance early, lol.

There have been “talks” with multiple groups. Just finding out what different groups are interested in doing, It’s not negotiation yet, let’s just call it expressions of interest.

 

[Ice-Tray]

I wouldn’t be surprised if they are doing their due diligence by listening to all of the interesting suitors that have come out of the woodwork after Eugene’s passing, that seems like the smart thing to do regardless.

They also seem to be evaluating their own ownership situation now that they may have the entire fortune to consider. If they can run a profitable team without outside interests, that’s a solid option as well you’d have to think. The entire group from owner to management have the team on a rocket trajectory since the new owners took over, so that has to feel good regardless.

Anyways, all of this is a far cry from the team ‘being for sale’ though. In fact, all we have heard is that the team is not actively for sale at this time.

 

[Oscar The Grouch]

Sports franchises don't get posted on FB Marketplace.

The team is for sale.

 

[Xspyrit]

Sports franchises don't get posted on FB Marketplace.

The team is for sale.

Even daycares aren't on Marketplace so yeah the team is for sale

Unless they want to start spilling their inheritance on the team? Because it won't ever be profitable in Kanata (unless round 2 or 3 in the playoffs?)

A new ownership group would be able to get an arena downtown underway, which would be crazy good for the development of the team and even the city

 

[GCK]

Even daycares aren't on Marketplace so yeah the team is for sale

Unless they want to start spilling their inheritance on the team? Because it won't ever be profitable in Kanata (unless round 2 or 3 in the playoffs?)

A new ownership group would be able to get an arena downtown underway, which would be crazy good for the development of the team and even the city

The team is a good investment just based on increasing valuations regardless of yearly OI.

 

[Xspyrit]

The team is a good investment just based on increasing valuations regardless of yearly OI.

Melnyk still cared about the bottom line more than everything. Maybe his daughters will see things differently but their financial advisors must be the same as their dad...

And no guarantee that the franchise will further increase in value in the next few years, particularly with the current arena location.