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With all of the current discussion about 20-year-old Connor McDavid's contract negotiations and the rumor that it would raise the bar for all high-end players in the NHL, it is worth revisiting the contract signed by Wayne Gretzky at the same age. This contract, worth $20 million over 15 seasons, was the result of re-negotiations of his original 21-year contract signed when he was 18 years old.
It made him the most expensive player in hockey.
Gretzky potentially had eyes on once again being the most expensive player in the NHL, and the Oilers knew they could not compete.
It made him the most expensive player in hockey.
Gretzky signs record contract
The Globe and Mail; Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]27 Jan 1979: S.4.
Edmonton AB -- EDMONTON (CP) - Underage centre Wayne Gretzky of Edmonton Oilers celebrated his 18th birthday yesterday by signing the longest contract ever by a professional athlete in North America.
Gretzky signed an agreement with the World Hockey Association team extending his current seven-year contract to 21 years, which means the centre will be an Oiler employee until 1999.
The longest previous contract to a professional athlete was 20 years, signed by Atlanta Braves baseball star Hank Aaron.
Terms and conditions of the new contract were not disclosed, although Gretzky's seven-year contract was reportedly signed for $1.75-million. Speculation has it that the new contract is worth $5-million. The contract was signed at centre ice before the Oilers met Cincinnati Stingers, and was witnessed by Gretzky's mother, father and three younger brothers. ''Wayne Gretzky is the greatest young player in the world right now,'' said Peter Pocklington, Oilers owner. ''One day he'll likely be the oldest. ''Edmonton fans deserve the best and in Wayne Gretzky I feel that's what they're getting.'' Gretzky, acquired from the defunct Indianapolis Racers, entered the game with 23 goals and 23 assists for 46 points in his first season as a pro hockey player.
Oilers' future hinges on Gretzky Young superstar chases scoring title as struggling team bids for playoffs
Goodman, Jeffrey. The Globe and Mail; Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]28 Mar 1980: P.33.
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"Sure, I think about the scoring championship. I'd be crazy, if I didn't. Who knows if I'll get this close to winning it again?" If Wayne Gretzky were to pose such a question to a classroom filled with National Hockey League general managers and coaches, their hands would shoot up and each would reply: "I do." That is, if they could believe he would even doubt his capabilities in the first place.
After all, Gretzky is 19 and in only his first NHL season, but has scored 47 goals, earned 80 assists and is only four points behind Marcel Dionne of Los Angeles Kings in the scoring race.
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Even before he had signed a 21-year, multi-million-dollar contract with the Oilers to celebrate his 18th birthday, Gretzky was being touted as the next Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull or Maurice (Rocket) Richard by those who had seen him play. He has long, smooth strides, a keen puck sense and is dangerous around opposing goals. "I guess the best way to put in perspective what he is accomplishing this season is to look at our team," Oilers coach Glen Sather said. "There hasn't been a whole lot of change or improvement in his play since the beginning of the season. He's Wayne Gretzky, and that's that. "What's amazing is that he is doing this with basically a brand-new club, guys he has never played with before and guys who nobody else in the NHL wanted. And he's a 19-year-old kid." Gretzky prefers not to make a big deal about it. In fact, his immediate success in a league he viewed with awe until this season hasn't surprised too many. As Sather explained, Gretzky is keen on making his mark as an individual, but is more concerned about the Oilers, a team fighting to earn one of the last playoff spots available this season, something that disappoints the young player immensely. "I wasn't prepared for the fact that we'd lose this often," he said. "I thought we'd be four places higher than we are now. It's frustrating. At one point, we lost 12 consecutive games. It was miserable." There are many reasons why the Oilers, who play Toronto Maple Leafs at the Gardens tomorrow night, haven't met Gretzky's expectations. One is a lack of talent, especially on defence. The Oilers have allowed 309 goals, the most in the league.
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Gretzky doesn't think they will have long to wait. "It will take about three years for us to build a championship team. Look at the improvement already. We have won our last five. The (New York) Rangers won nine in a row last year and look what happened to them. We're moving now. Who knows what can happen to us?" If the Oilers continue to improve, their fate will be better than many observers expected. For that to happen, however, Gretzky must maintain his amazing scoring pace, 12 goals and 12 assists in his past 12 games, something he credits to experience. "On the whole, we've been playing well because we're gaining more experience; I certainly am," he said. "Other teams haven't been keying on me alone all season. They've been keying on our line. Glen tries to avoid that by keeping us away from their checking lines, but he can't do it all the time, so you just learn to live with that and try to beat it."
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Insecure? No. A lack of confidence? No. Trying to say the right things so no one is offended? Not really. Gretzky concentrates on his play, ensuring that anyone assigned to check him must pay full attention to the chore. "They have to," Sather said. "You can turn to him in any situation, and he produces."
Another agent looks south
Strachan, Al. The Globe and Mail; Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]15 Jan 1982: P.39.
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Gus Badali, the agent for Canada's greatest hockey treasure, Wayne Gretzky, has broken his silence concerning the new tax laws as prescribed in the Nov. 12 federal budget.
Badali, who had refrained from joining such outspoken player agents as Alan Eagleson and Bill Watters in condemning the budget, said yesterday, "When the time comes for the (player's) option year, my advice certainly has to be, 'You play out your option and I'm going to do my best to get you to a U.S. hockey club.' " Fortunately for Edmonton Oilers, there is no immediate danger of Gretzky's being driven out of Canada by Finance Minister Allan MacEachen. (Unfortunately for hockey players, there's not much chance of MacEachen's being driven out of Canada, either.) Gretzky is in the third year of a 21-year contract that has a nine-year initial period and two six-year option periods.
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A renegotiation occurred in 1982 to increase his yearly salary from $150,000 with bonuses to $900,000 with bonuses.HOCKEY NHL's next woe: free agency
Houston, William. The Globe and Mail; Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]11 Apr 1981: S.8.
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THE NEXT labor problem facing the National Hockey League is free agency.
The players want free movement; the owners say that some sort of compensation is needed.
The two parties probably will agree to compensation by draft choices - an equalization system that would be determined by the size of a player's new contract.
For example, if a player signed for more than $300,000, compensation might be a first-round player. If a player signed for less than $100,000, the compensation might only be a fifth-round player.
However, the owners will demand one other clause in that kind of agreement - first refusal rights. That would mean clubs would be given the chance to match offers made to their players.
New York Islander general manager Bill Torrey explains why this is necessary: "I look at it as full disclosure. When you go into a compensation factor based on salaries, who is to say that the signing bonus isn't $500,000 and the salary 50 cents? So, instead of giving up a first-round draft choice, you give up a 10th. With first refusal, the team that has developed the player knows what the real offer is and gets a chance to retain him."
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Not only is Wayne Gretzky, 20, the youngest player to win the NHL's points championship, but the Edmonton Oiler centre, who finished with 164 points, finished 29 points ahead of runnerup Marcel Dionne. That's the widest margin for a winner in NHL history.
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Loose ends stall new Gretzky contract
The Globe and Mail; Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]16 Jan 1982: S.3.
Edmonton Oiler owner Peter Pocklington was certain that yesterday would be the day Wayne Gretzky agreed to a deal which would make him ''the highest paid hockey player in the history of the game,'' but the 20-year-old's agent wasn't quite as optimistic.
Pocklington, speaking after a news conference to herald Gretzky's first and only appearance against the Maple Leafs in Toronto during the 1981-82 National Hockey League campaign, said a new agreement would soon be sealed. ''It will be signed today (yesterday),'' said the Edmonton millionaire. ''If not by Wayne, then by his agent on behalf of Wayne.'' But Gus Badali, the agent for the league's most prolific scorer, wasn't inclined to agree. "We're going over to my lawyer's office to tie up some loose ends,'' Badali said. ''He feels it can be done. I'm not quite as optimistic because it's got to be exactly the way we want it. I just don't know.'' The agent for the high-flying centre was glad, though, to hear of Pocklington's certainty. ''If he's going over there with the intention it's going to be done, great, because that means he's going to be responsive in our way,'' he said.
Last season, Gretzky's base salary was a reported $150,000. Published reports last June said he would receive a cash bonus of $100,000 at the end of the current season and his salary would escalate to $280,000.
After the first seven years of his contract, signed three years ago and valid to 1999, Gretzky was to get another $100,000 and the deal was to be open for renegotiation. Seven years after that, it was to be reopened for further bartering.
Both Pocklington and Badali refused to disclose the exact figures involved, but, in the past, both have mentioned $1-million a season, and the player agent conceded the new arrangement would put his client ''in that range.'' ''It's a lot of money,'' Pocklington said. ''I don't believe we want to comment on the actual dollar amounts. He'll end up being the highest paid hockey player, as he should be, in the history of the game. The contract hasn't changed. It's just an addendum paying a few more dollars.'' Pocklington added that the agreement included incentive clauses. ''He gets a lot of bonuses. If the team does well, he does well.''
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Gretzky pact bad for hockey, Snider says
The Globe and Mail; Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]22 Jan 1982: P.33.
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Philadelphia Flyer owner Ed Snider said yesterday that Wayne Gretzky's multi-million dollar contract with Edmonton Oilers is bad for hockey and will hurt the Oilers and Gretzky in the long run.
Snider said that the trend toward million-dollar contracts was non- productive for all sporting leagues and said it was especially alarming to see it happen in hockey.
Although Snider said Gretzky, 20, is without equal in the National Hockey League, the fact that he's getting such a huge contract will escalate the over-all salary base in the NHL and most owners simply can't afford to get into that situation.
The reported terms of Gretzky's 21-year contract, revealed Wednesday, will give the superstar centre $20-million over the next 15 years. A final version of the contract, a 50-page document, was drawn up by Gretzky's agent, Gus Badali, and his lawyers on Monday and sent to Edmonton.
The new deal replaces one signed on Gretzky's 18th birthday, which would have paid him between $150,000 and $280,000 annually. Those figures are obsolete by today's NHL standards. Marcel Dionne of Los Angeles Kings is paid about $600,000 a year; two months ago, New York Islanders signed Mike Bossy to a deal worth about $800,000 a season.
Negotiations on Gretzky's new contract began last spring after the Stanley Cup playoffs and continued through the summer, as Badali worked out contract terms in consultation with Gretzky and his father, Walter Gretzky of Brantford, Ont.
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Pocklington said that the contract will be executed in three terms, one of nine years and two of six years. "Wayne did say to me that if the negotiations weren't finished by last Friday, he didn't want to hear any more about it for the rest of the season. We work as a 'family,' " Badali said yesterday, quashing rumors that there was a rift between the senior Gretzky and himself. Walter Gretzky attended Wednesday's press conference in Edmonton, but Badali did not. The agent explained that he must serve other clients as well and this week's itinerary takes him to Windsor, Cincinnati and St. Louis. His absence was due to his timetable, not any difficulties with Wayne or Walter Gretzky, he said.
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The Gretzky deal: $20 million in 15 years
The Globe and Mail; Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]21 Jan 1982: P.1.
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Wayne Gretzky, hockey's reigning superstar, has agreed to a 21-year contract that will pay him more than $20-million in 15 years, Edmonton Oiler owner Peter Pocklington said last night.
Pocklington told a news conference that the contract also includes "a large piece of real estate that will be his (Gretzky's) in six years." He said the real estate was a shopping centre in Western Canada.
The announcement followed months of speculation that Gretzky would become hockey's highest paid player. The matter was brought to the fore several weeks ago, when Pocklington heard about the lucrative contract signed by Mike Bossy of New York Islanders. "Gretzky has agreed to a contract that will make Bossy and his money look like a piker," Pocklington said then.
In fact, Pocklington and Gretzky's agent, Gus Badali, were routinely negotiating at that time, recognizing that the 21-year deal Gretzky signed on his 18th birthday - paying him between $150,000 and $280,000 annually - had been made obsolete by current economic standards.
Gretzky, 20, was earning more from commercial endorsements with nine major firms than he was from his salary.
Pocklington said negotiations began last spring after the Stanley Cup playoffs and "got hot and heavy during the summer." Basically, the contract was settled by September and the final touches were added during a meeting last week in Toronto.
As defined by Pocklington, the contract will be executed in three terms, one of nine years and two of six. He did not specify the financial details or on what basis negotiations might be reintroduced.
He did say, however, that Badali was not involved in the most recent discussions. Bill Tuele, Oiler public relations director, said the actual signing will be done by mail.
Asked why Badali was not involved, Pocklington replied: "In this case, Wayne got most of his advice from his father, Walter." Walter Gretzky, a Bell Canada technician from Brantford, Ont., attended the news conference and said his son told Badali that if the negotiations weren't finished by last Friday, Wayne did not want to hear about the matter until the end of the hockey season. "I believe this is one of the most innovative contracts ever awarded to a professional fellow in sport," Pocklington said.
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The terms were once again re-negotiated when Gretzky left Edmonton to join the Los Angeles Kings; the salary was increased to $3 million per year, and the term of the deal extended until 1993.Fans furious as Gretzky traded; Blockbuster deal to cost L.A. Kings $12 million: [EARLY Edition 1]
The Gazette; Montreal, Que. [Montreal, Que]10 Aug 1988: A1/ FRONT.
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EDMONTON - Hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky has been traded to the Los Angeles Kings in one of the biggest trades in the history of professional sports.
The National Hockey League deal involving the player widely acclaimed as the best of his generation - if not all time - also includes four other players, three first-round draft choices and more than $12 million.
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The smooth-skating centre is generally regarded as the greatest hockey player of the modern era, if not all time. And at age 27, he should have several good years ahead of him.
Gretzky's contract, which pays him a reported $900,000 a year, has four years remaining.
He holds dozens of NHL scoring records, has won more trophies than anyone else and has led the Oilers to four Stanley Cup championships in the past five years.
Oilers' owner Peter Pocklington said, "Wayne has given so much to this city and to hockey in the past decade that I believe he has the right to set his own destiny."
A new contract was signed at the end of the first term of the contract, thus putting an end to the original 21-year contract signed in 1979.Gretzky settles on Kings' deal: [4* Edition 1]
The Vancouver Sun; Vancouver, B.C. [Vancouver, B.C]02 Sep 1988: F1.
Los Angeles Kings have agreed to pay Wayne Gretzky more money to account for the increased cost of living he will face living in Southern California, the club's owner announced Thursday.
The NHL club has also extended his current contract beyond the four years that were remaining, Bruce McNall said.
He had said gate receipts would be reflected in Gretzky's base salary but would not be tied to specific attendance figures.
Gretzky's financial adviser, Ian Barrigan, and McNall agreed over the telephone to the contract that allows Gretzky to retire from hockey after the 1991-92 season.
"Easiest contract I've ever done," McNall said. "(Gretzky) never asked for a thing. He said, 'Pay me what you think I'm worth, I trust your judgment."'
But while bonuses figure prominently in the total value of the deal, Gretzky's salary figures are heavily weighted to the last four seasons - he could earn close to $3 million in each of them, if he plays.
At a time when the salary cap did not exist, such an owner as Peter Pocklington was proud to offer such a contract to the game's brightest star, whereas others were cognizant of the ramifications. Such pride would be made to look foolish within a few years.Gretzky okays deal worth $25.5 million: [AM Edition]
AP. Toronto Star; Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]22 Sep 1993: E1.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Wayne Gretzky has agreed to sign a new three- year $25.5 million contract with the Los Angeles Kings, making him the highest paid player in the National Hockey League, team officials said yesterday.
Gretzky, 32, the all-time leading scorer in the NHL, will earn $8.5 million per season, Kings owner Bruce McNall said. That is more than double his current $3 million annual salary.
The new three-year deal supersedes his previous 10-year contract signed when he joined the team in August, 1988.
"With the contract, Wayne has made a commitment to dedicate the next three years toward bringing the Stanley Cup to the fans of Los Angeles," McNall said.
Team spokesperson Scott Carmichael said the deal was finalized yesterday afternoon, and Gretzky is expected to sign in the next few days.
Carmichael said Gretzky will be paid $4 million this year, and receive another $4.5 million in a deferred payment at a later date.
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Gretzky potentially had eyes on once again being the most expensive player in the NHL, and the Oilers knew they could not compete.
Meanwhile, in 2017, we appear to have a changing of the guard of sorts from one former Oiler to another.Oilers traded Gretzky out of fear of his free agency: [3* Edition]
The Vancouver Sun; Vancouver, B.C. [Vancouver, B.C]14 Sep 1988: D1.
VICTORIA - Wayne Gretzky said he had no interest in going to court to find out, but there was a chance that he could have become a free agent - at liberty to sign with the team of his choice - before he was traded in August to the Los Angeles Kings.
In a situation reminiscent of the Pat Quinn affair, in which the Kings lost their coach to the Vancouver Canucks 18 months ago, Gretzky could have challenged his contractual obligations to the Edmonton Oilers because the contract was never registered with the National Hockey League.
Had he made that challenge, his legal advisers said, Gretzky could have skated freely away from the Oilers. That also was the opinion, according to the Toronto Globe and Mail, of a special five-man committee appointed by the NHL's board of governors to investigate the situation.
Instead, Gretzky made an oral agreement, before a league deadline of June 30, to sign a contract that would bind him to the Oilers. Less than two months later, on Aug. 9, Gretzky was traded to the Kings by Edmonton owner Peter Pocklington, who had feared losing Gretzky as a free agent without compensation when his contract expired in 1992.
"I think it was a situation where whether or not I would have become a total free agent, nobody knows for sure, but it didn't go that far," Gretzky said Tuesday at the Kings' training camp.
"There were some people who advised me that I would be and others who said maybe I wouldn't be, but I really had no interest in trying it, anyway."
Gretzky said Tuesday that it wasn't until after Kings owner Bruce McNall, with the permission of Pocklington, had telephoned him while he was on his honeymoon with actress Janet Jones on July 22 that he asked Pocklington to trade him.
That phone call from McNall, Gretzky reiterated Tuesday, came with no advance warning from Pocklington. But Gretzky stressed that a trade was not really a shock, either. He said he had predicted a year ago, after he refused to extend his four-year contract with the Oilers for two more years, or drop his right to become a free agent, that he would be traded.
"The free agent without compensation clause was the turning point," Gretzky said.
The day after the Oilers won the Stanley Cup, beating Boston in four games, Gretzky said he learned that Pocklington had been talking about trading him to Vancouver. Pocklington has said that the Canucks offered $22.5 million, through an intermediary, for Gretzky.
"My father and Jim Taylor (a Vancouver columnist and family friend) knew about it, but they didn't want to tell me during the playoffs," Gretzky said.
Gretzky said he was adamant about retaining his right of testing the free-agent market in four years. Pocklington said he couldn't take that risk and sold Gretzky to the Kings for $15 million, plus centre Jimmy Carson, first-round draft pick Martin Gelinas and three more first-round picks.
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