Would the NHL reject a max length contract for Crosby?

[SomeDude]

The question is why would the Pens want this when they can 1 year him til retirement?

Why would Crosby want that? The Pens can’t just tell him what to take.

No player in this era has left more money on the table than Crosby. Being signed for 8.7 forever is a ridiculous bargain. He should get a raise to end it. It doesn’t hurt the Pens at this point and he gets a little thank you.

 

[conFABulator]

Front loading the contract so the bulk of the money is paid out in the first 3 years would ring a few bells if Sid retires after those years. And the NHL is not a court of law, they don't need to outright prove intent to levy a punishment if they see fit ala NJ and Kovalchuk.

And yes they are still carrying the cap hit for those extra years but as you point out the cap likely keeps going higher and frankly once Sid is gone the Pens are likely in for some lean years when the cap space likely won't matter to them anymore.

I agree, but if Sid comes out and says he wants to play until he is 45 and he feels he is in great shape and he wants to take less so they can build a winner around him then I believe intent would be hard to prove.

Yes, the NHL does not require a court level burden of proof but this is Sid. They don't want to battle with him and the Pens over this. Maybe the front end loading would set off too many bells.

It's an interesting case though and the league would enforce the cap hit for years, that's a stiff penalty for most years...five x $4M on the cap.

 

[StreetHawk]

I agree, but if Sid comes out and says he wants to play until he is 45 and he feels he is in great shape and he wants to take less so they can build a winner around him then I believe intent would be hard to prove.

Yes, the NHL does not require a court level burden of proof but this is Sid. They don't want to battle with him and the Pens over this. Maybe the front end loading would set off too many bells.

It's an interesting case though and the league would enforce the cap hit for years, that's a stiff penalty for most years...five x $4M on the cap.

Once you front load the contract, it does become a 35+ contract by the new rules. So, the balance of the contract has to hit a team's cap, be it the Pens or they end up trading the contract like so many other LTIR deals have been done. Without front loading, Sid can retire at any point in time and the remaining term does not need to hit any team's cap.

Again, the only reason to give him a deal that isn't a 35+ deal is to basically allow him to collect money on LTIR.

Then you are hoping that insurance does cover it. But, insurance probably flags the deal and could very well say, no, we don't want to insure someone from 38 all the way to 45 at $9 mill per season.

 

[Imgoingtowork]

Crosby have three years left before magical forty years.

 

[WarriorofTime]

He was happy and able to manage his skin condition right up until his salary dropped from $4 million to $1 million. Could he have kept managing it with the same meds he had been using? Yes. Did he want to for a vastly reduced salary? No.

The Blackhawks should have been hit with the recapture penalty, plain and simple.

Glad we have Dr. cptjeff here to sort this out.

 

[WarriorofTime]

The question is why would the Pens want this when they can 1 year him til retirement?

If Crosby is pushing for it, because he doesn't want a management group to "Stamkos" him.

 

[Fourier]

Cannot re-sign until a year expires after a buy-out from same team.

This was true for compliance buyouts but not ordinary buyouts. If there was a prearrangement to do this it would almost surely be considered circumvention. But if the player want to resign without such a prearrangement it can be done and has been done.

Flames (re-)sign Michael Stone, who they bought out last month

In August, the Calgary Flames bought out the final year of Michael Sto...

flamesnation.ca

 

[BlueBaron]

Why would Crosby want that? The Pens can’t just tell him what to take.

No player in this era has left more money on the table than Crosby. Being signed for 8.7 forever is a ridiculous bargain. He should get a raise to end it. It doesn’t hurt the Pens at this point and he gets a little thank you.

Right. So the Pens wouldn't. Which was my question.

If Crosby is pushing for it, because he doesn't want a management group to "Stamkos" him.

That makes sense.

 

[GrumpyKoala]

The question is why would the Pens want this when they can 1 year him til retirement?

I think from a distraction perspective you don't necessarily want to go through the full free agency speculation year after year.