In the wake of the tumultuous season that was 2006-2007, General Manager Paul Holmgren dipped into free agency and made a splash with an eight-year, $52 million, no-trade-clause-ridden contract for Buffalo Sabres center Danny Briere.  At the time, Briere was coming off a 95-point season and was seen as a core piece of a quick rebuilding process (Philadelphia being a very “win now” city).  Three years later, Briere’s contract is seen by many as an obstacle for the organization to work around in order to have any depth within the system.  Similar contracts signed alongside Briere’s in 2007 are Scott Gomez’s seven-year, $51.5 million contract and Chris Drury’s five-year, $35.25 million contract with the New York Rangers.
I would have thought by now that the days of signing players to exorbitant, bloated contracts in the salary cap era would begin to dwindle.  It just doesn’t make good management sense to sign a player with a high cap hit unless he has shown that he can perform above and beyond expectations on a consistent basis, like a Crosby, Ovechkin, or a Sedin.  I bring this issue up due to two recent signings in the last few days: Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks and Tomas Plekanec of the Montreal Canadians.
Patrick Marleau, a 30 year-old forward about to become an unrestricted free agent, was re-signed by the Sharks with a four-year, $27.6 million contract that will command a cap hit of $6.9 million.  Since the lockout, Marleau has surpassed the 70-point mark four out of five years and is coming off his best season with 44 goals and 39 assists (83 points). You can argue that his worth to the team is that of any other superstar, and you wouldn’t necessarily be incorrect, but he isn’t even one year removed from being stripped of his captaincy on a team that has a history of choking in the playoffs.  He’s a great piece to have, but for a team with vacancies on the back end, do you really want to shoot yourself in the foot before all is said and done?
The Canadiens also had another major re-signing: twenty-five year old center Tomas Plekanec for $30 million over six years ($5 million cap hit).  Plekanec is young, fairly consistent, and also coming off the best year of his career, but his point production isn’t what you’d call “phenomenal.”  It’s solid.  The general consensus is that he will be at last $1 million overpaid on a team lacking in size and strength.
The irony of these signings is that they come after both organizations rid themselves of their #1 starting goaltenders in order to shed salary cap.  The age of extending high contracts to goaltenders is coming to an end (I’m looking at you, Nabokov/Turco), but extending bloated, clause-ridden, multi-year contracts to forwards?
Apparently, still relevant.
