As most Americans were enjoying barbecues, family gathering and fireworks yesterday, NHL teams were still busy sorting through their offseason plans in preparation for free agency.
The NHL elected to establish new rules for free agency as part of the updated collective bargaining agreement. Players were allowed to begin talking with and visiting other teams on July 3 to gauge interest to avoid the usual frenzy that was free agency. Teams were not allowed to discuss specific terms or monetary amounts, though who knows how closely that was followed.
One player that the Philadelphia Flyers spoke to at length was Ray Emery, who appears is their first candidate to join Steve Mason next season in net. Emery’s options are either re-sign with the Chicago Blackhawks or sign with the Flyers, New York Islanders or Edmonton Oilers.
For now, it appears that Tim Thomas is out of the running.
Per Renaud Lavoie of RDS, Simon Gagne has not talked to any teams besides the Flyers.
While they continued working out plans for Friday, the organization did complete two contract extensions for existing players- Adam Hall and Claude Giroux.
Hall signed a modest one year, $600,000 contract that will see him center the fourth line next season. Hall is one of the best face-off men in the business and a prototypical fourth line player. It’s a good depth signing. The only question that lingers is how does this affect Scott Laughton making the team?
The bigger news is the eight-year, $66.2 million contract that captain Claude Giroux signed for the 2014-15 season.
Worth a cap hit of roughly $8.275 million per season, Giroux will not be the highest paid player in the NHL, but will certainly be drawing more criticism from fans if he doesn’t live up to the lofty price tag. Many fans I spoke with felt that anything above $7.5 million was high based on his record to date, but as a free agent (restricted or not), the contract is in line with the market.
I don’t like it, but I understand it.
The early predictions for the 2014-15 salary cap are as high as $70 million. With Kimmo Timonen’s salary coming off the books, fitting Giroux’s extension in should not be an issue.
I have a feeling, after all is said & done, we wind up with Ryan, Yandle/Weber & Emery. All of Sloburn, Meszaros, Coots, Read & Talbot, will all be gone. We now have major organizational depth at center, with Giroux, Lecavalier, Schenn, Coots, Talbot, Hall, Cousins, & Laughton. Our forward depth is now also, deep, with Hartnell, Jake V., Simmonds, Schenn, Read, Gagne, Rinaldo, Raffl, Akeson, McGinn, Rosehill. I hate Sloburn, & I am not a fan of Coots, & believe he’s mediocre & overrated by many, so in my book, they’re both expendable. Meszaros, can’t stay healthy & we ain’t re-signing Read.
Not that this means anything, but nevertheless it’s interesting to note…when the Flyers sign a guy to a huge extension, it hasn’t worked out over the last couple of years.
Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Ilya Bryzgalov, these were all guys that the team handed mega-deals to, only to cut the cord through buyout or trade several years later.
Here’s to hoping the Giroux deal doesn’t meet a similar fate.
I thought of 2 things once this deal was announced. First that he is being paid like he is one of the best players in the NHL now and I am not sure he is one of the best. Second, that he is absolutely determined to win and will do anything it takes. I am a huge fan of Claude’s and the difference between his deal and carter/richards/bryz is that you will see everynight a return on your investment whether it be with goals, assists or just hustle and hard work.
It’s not that huge extensions haven’t worked for the Flyers… it’s that they rarely work for any team. You’re expecting a player to meet very high criteria on an annual basis, in spite of the fact that they, you know, age. Their linemates change, they get injured, they go through personal issues, etc. etc.
What was Giroux’s Previous Contract like..
I just hate to see when Teams already have Players locked up, and then renegoitaite with a long-term hoping everything pans out and that they got a good players at reasonable $$$ down the Road.. (like the Phils Did with Ryan Howard who wasn’t going anywhere or demand a new Deal at the Time)
If the Players perform well, and the Teams play well and have Success, most of the Players are not going to leave Philadelphia, so why lock them up unless you absolutely have to.. it just always seems to bite Teams in the ass when they do this .. 3 Years is an eternity in the Sports World..
Giroux signed a three year, $3.75 million per year “bridge” deal between his entry level contract and this one. Will still be earning that for next season.
Thnx Josh.. So my point is that this was not a necessity to do this Off-Season as far as extending Giroux.. It’s nice to lock up young Talent who you plan as a cornerstone PLayer for your Franchise, but this particular off-season with so many other areas up in the air, did it need to be down now.. it’s not like Giroux is going anywhere…
Fraud, that is how it’s done. That is the cost of doing business in the real world. You fantasy gm’s always operate in a vacuum from the real world.