On Sept. 15, the day before Owners’ Lockout III commenced, the Jets signed Evander Kane to a six-year, $31.5 million contract that begins with a $3 million salary for one year, increases to $4.5 million the next year and then settles at $4 million for each of the final four seasons of the deal.
Four days earlier, the Bruins signed Tyler Seguin to a six-year, $34.5 million extension beginning with 2013-14 that ranges between $4.5 million and $6.5 million per. Boston entered into this contract even though Seguin was just two seasons into his three-year Entry Level deal.
So it would be interesting indeed for Winnipeg owner Mark Chapman and Boston owner Jeremy Jacobs to explain why the NHL is insisting on systems changes that would limit contracts to five years and annual variance within those contracts to five percent, and why these demands have become non-negotiable barriers to settlement.
It would be interesting to hear these owners explain themselves this afternoon when they and four others sit across the table from an as of yet unidentified sextet of players before tomorrow’s Board of Governors meeting — also in Manhattan — that is likely to be explosive.
It’s not just Boston and Winnipeg, of course. The fact is (with reference material provided by capgeek.com) that 10 of the last 61 one-way contracts signed prior to the lockout would violate either the term-limit clause or the annual variance clause — or both — that the NHL is seeking to impose through this lockout.
That includes the Capitals’ contract with John Carlson, the Oilers’ deals with Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall and the Hurricanes’ deal with Jeff Skinner (all extensions two years into Entry Level); the Flyers’ contracts with Wayne Simmonds and Scott Hartnell; and the Canadiens’ contract with Max Pacioretty.
This does not include the Penguins’ 12-year, $104.4 million extension of Sidney Crosby’s contract set to begin next season that fluctuates between $12 million and $3 million per. Nor does it include Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Quick’s 10-year, $58 million extension with the Kings scheduled to begin next year that varies between $7 million and $2.5 million per. Neither does it count the $10-year, $60 million extension Jordan Staal signed with Carolina after his trade from the Penguins.
These deals took place earlier in the summer. These deals — which have nothing to do with the massive contracts that went to free agents Zach Parise, Ryan Suter and Shea Weber — are examples of the rank hypocrisy at work in the league’s money grab and power trip that define this destructive, insane lockout.
It’s not about make-whole money. It’s about control. It’s about the attempt, most notably, of Canceler-in-Chief Gary Bettman, Jacobs, and counsel Bob Batterman to shape the NHL in their own shortsighted image.
This is about the NHL attempting to both minimize the bargaining power of every player in the league and all but eliminate the maneuverability of general managers in the market.
It is one thing to eliminate the type of dramatic front-loaded contracts that do in fact eliminate low-revenue franchises from the mix. It is quite another to force every player and GM into a five-year straitjacket.
And it is even quite another for the league to use this collective bargaining agreement to attempt to institute the most rigid contract and freedom restrictions in pro sports, this by the way coming off the previous seven-year collective bargaining agreement that produced seven different Stanley Cup winners and 19 different conference finalists.
This isn’t about competitive balance. This is about raw power. This is about hypocrisy. The floor is yours, Messrs. Chapman and Jacobs.