It's Gone! 2004-2006 NHL Offseason and Lockout Thread

[Blade]

Sweet! Can't wait for the details!

Time to call up the Oilers for some tickets!

[sachmo71]

Wonder if there is actually a chance the players don't sign?

[Ksyrup]

The NHL and the players' association announced Wednesday that they had reached reached an agreement in principle on the terms of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Details were not released, pending the formal ratification process by NHLPA members and the NHL board of governors.

However, in his Insider Weblog, ESPN The Magazine's E.J. Hradek -- with the help of key sources on both sides of the table -- offered a look at some of the expected terms:

Term: Six years.

Salary rollback: All remaining contracts will be rolled back 24 percent. The rollback will also impact players who must be given qualifying offers for new deals. Those qualifying offers will be based on a player's salary in his last contracted year, minus the 24 percent rollback.

2004-05 contracts: Those contracts will simply disappear from the ledger. Players, however, will be credited with a "year of service." Years of service can determine a player's free-agent status.

Salary cap: Each team must meet a minimum, but not exceed a maximum payroll number. For the 2005-06 season, the high-end threshold will be approximately $37-$39.5 million. The low-end threshold will be between $21.5-$24.5 million.

The numbers are based on the league's projection of revenue for the 2005-06 season. The projection is approximately $1.7-$1.8 billion. According to the league, total revenues for the last complete season (2003-04) were $2.1 billion.

If revenues increase, the salary cap thresholds will increase on a season-to-season basis. If revenues decrease, the salary cap thresholds will decrease on a season-to-season basis.

Buyouts: Teams will be allowed a window of time to buyout player contracts. A player can be bought out for two-thirds of the total remaining value of his contract, minus the 24 percent rollback. A team will not be allowed to re-sign a player they have bought out for a still to be determined amount of time. The money spent to buyout a player will NOT count against the salary cap.

Escrow: A still to be determined percent of players salaries will be placed in an escrow account. In the new deal, league-wide payroll can't exceed 54 percent of total league-wide revenue. If league-wide payroll is determined to be more than 54 percent of revenues, the escrow account will be passed back to the clubs. If league-wide payroll is determined to be less than 54 percent of revenues, the escrow account will go to the players.

Individual team-by-team player cap: No single player can earn more than 20 percent of his team's total payroll. For example, a team with a total team payroll of $37.5 million couldn't pay a single player more than $7.5 million.

Revenue-sharing: The top 10 revenue clubs will contribute to a pool that will be redistributed to the bottom 10 revenue clubs. The NHLPA proposed a similar revenue sharing component in 1994 during the league's first lockout.

Unrestricted free agency: It will remain frozen at age 31 for the first year of the new CBA. It will gradually decrease to age 28 during the life of the deal.

Salary arbitration: The club and the player will both have ability to elect to go to arbitration. Although not confirmed, I believe NHL will go to a baseball-style arbitration system that calls for both sides to submit a salary figure and an arbitrator to decide on one number or the other. There will be a limit on the number of times a team or player can go to arbitration. And, the clubs will have a limited number of times they can walk away from an arbitrator's decision. Under the old system, the clubs could not take players to arbitration.

Qualifying offers: Players making less than $660,000 must be tendered qualifying offers of 110 percent of their final contracted season's salary. Players making between $660,000.01 and $1 million must be tendered qualifying offers of 105 percent of their final contracted season's salary. Players making over $1 million must be tendered qualifying offers of 100 percent of their final contracted season's salary.

Entry level contracts: Entry level contracts will be capped $850,000 per season, with a maximum signing bonus at 10 percent of salary per season. The contracts will be three years in length.

Minimum salary: The minimum salary will be $400,000. Under the old agreement, the league minimum was $175,000.

2006 Winter Olympics: The NHL will shut down operations in February 2006 to allow players to participate in the Winter Olympics. To accommodate the scheduling issues, the league will cancel its 2005-06 All-Star Weekend (scheduled for Phoenix).

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by sachmo71

Wonder if there is actually a chance the players don't sign?

Perhaps wishful thinking as neither side really understands what's good for them in the long term, but I just don't see it. If they reject this one, the player position just worsens even more than it has already in that the NHL just starts exploring avenues like replacement players and a lower and harder cap.

SI

[Chubby]

any details on the draft and lottery system? I heard July 21st for the lottery and the 30th for the draft in Ottawa...

[TurnerONU22]

Bob McKenzie from TSN is reporting:

The lottery formula is as follows - each team begins with three balls. For every playoff appearance in the last three years or No. 1 overall pick over the last four years, a team loses one ball. But each team will still be guaranteed to have one ball in the lottery. The first round will go with teams picking 1 through 30, with the 30th team picking 31st and the draft order 'snaking' back and forth in a seven round draft.




One note for me especially is that when Columbus traded up to get Nash, they will NOT be counted as having the first round pick then, so that gives us three balls in the lottery.

Also, only a seven round draft?? This could affect the Blue Jackets too as they have traded away their 8th rounder for this year? I wonder what will happen to them for that one

[Simms]

Originally Posted by Chubby

any details on the draft and lottery system? I heard July 21st for the lottery and the 30th for the draft in Ottawa...

Originally Posted by TSN

The lottery formula is as follows - each team begins with three balls. For every playoff appearance in the last three years or No. 1 overall pick over the last four years, a team loses one ball. But each team will still be guaranteed to have one ball in the lottery. The first round will go with teams picking 1 through 30, with the 30th team picking 31st and the draft order 'snaking' back and forth in a seven round draft.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature.asp?fid=7314

I've heard the same dates as you, but haven't seen them confirmed yet.

[henry296]

Originally Posted by TurnerONU22

Bob McKenzie from TSN is reporting:

The lottery formula is as follows - each team begins with three balls. For every playoff appearance in the last three years or No. 1 overall pick over the last four years, a team loses one ball. But each team will still be guaranteed to have one ball in the lottery. The first round will go with teams picking 1 through 30, with the 30th team picking 31st and the draft order 'snaking' back and forth in a seven round draft.




One note for me especially is that when Columbus traded up to get Nash, they will NOT be counted as having the first round pick then, so that gives us three balls in the lottery.

Also, only a seven round draft?? This could affect the Blue Jackets too as they have traded away their 8th rounder for this year? I wonder what will happen to them for that one

Does the same treatment apply to the Penguins who traded up to Fleury two years ago as Columubus? Does anyone lose a ping pong ball for those drafts?

[sterlingice]

Some really interesting and almost progressive ideas in the agreement.

Six years is a good length. Hopefully it lasts longer than that, of course. The 24% was going to stick as soon as it was offered (oops). And we knew the free agent age would be dropping, too.

How many teams are going to stick near the low end of the salary cap? In the NFL, if you did that, you'd be crucified by the home fans. Then again, unlike the NFL, there are some teams in the NHL that can't sit at the maximum and still make a profit.

The buyouts are a decent way of leveling the field, helping the larger teams take advantage of their larger funds- "Detroit, spend your money now and retool because otherwise you'll be cap handicapped".

The escrow account just seems interesting, to say the least- not sure the effect that will have (I can just see the union pushing a player to sign a lower contract as the league sits at 53.8% while an owner wants to give a bigger contract to push it over).

I love the salary provisions: no crazy superstar contracts so the Jerome Iginla's of the world might be able to stay put, rookies are capped (I've always hated rookie bonuses- earn your right to get the cash), and the minimum went way up (you made the league, so you deserve big cash).

There are some provisions I'm not even sure what they will do, if anything: arbitration, the 10 team revenue pool, and qualifying offers.

I wish they wouldn't cut the All Star game, but I guess the Olympics are a decent reason to do it.

The Hawks, if they ever get decent management, should love this. They can sit at 37M and still make money, provided they spend it well. Then again, they've shown they aren't very good at doing that, so who knows. They have a crapload of cap space to spend so it will be exciting to see how they spend (please don't go Rangers and just waste it!) it.

SI

[Chubby]

contracts being wiped out for last season yet players gaining a year of service is a HUGE point in this deal.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Chubby

contracts being wiped out for last season yet players gaining a year of service is a HUGE point in this deal.

I don't think it's nearly that substantial since the FA years were already going down and we knew that was what had to come of this since the owners were going to implement a lot of stuff on the players. Not only that, but I suspect rosters are going to see such a huge overhaul in the next couple of months that this will look like a drop in the bucket when all is said and done.

SI

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I don't think it's nearly that substantial since the FA years were already going down and we knew that was what had to come of this since the owners were going to implement a lot of stuff on the players. Not only that, but I suspect rosters are going to see such a huge overhaul in the next couple of months that this will look like a drop in the bucket when all is said and done.

SI

except now that last year was wiped out, teams have MANY fewer players under contract and will lead to even greater (if that's possible) scambling in signing players this offseason.

[TurnerONU22]

Originally Posted by henry296

Does the same treatment apply to the Penguins who traded up to Fleury two years ago as Columubus? Does anyone lose a ping pong ball for those drafts?

Yeah, and I believe that was Fla's pick as well, so they only have 1 ball in the lottery, and the Pens and CBJ's have 3.

[Chubby]

my Sabres will have 3

Isn't this the same lottery setup they had in TSNs fake lottery (where the Leafs won, which was the only reason they did an article on it)

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Chubby

except now that last year was wiped out, teams have MANY fewer players under contract and will lead to even greater (if that's possible) scambling in signing players this offseason.

Yeah, but they're all under the new system so it matters a lot less. Sure, there will be a lot less players under contract, but all the ones signing still only get 54% of league revenue. For individual teams, it means a lot- more players will be closer to free agency and may leave. That said, it will be much easier to resign them since everyone's under the same rules now.

SI

[Chubby]

	The rush for the No. 1 pick in 2005

Once the NHL's new collective bargaining agreement is ratified, the 'wildest' offseason in league history will take place. All 30 teams will be scrambling to sign players and fill out the rosters for when the puck drops in October. That sense of urgency will also carry over into the NHL Entry Draft- scheduled for July 30 in Ottawa. For the last few years, the league's lottery system included 14 non-playoff teams, with only one team that could move up and improve its position. That will all change this summer, as all 30 teams - with no 2004-2005 standings to back them up - will be thrown into the hat for a chance at grabbing the first overall selection. The lottery formula is as follows - each team begins with three balls. For every playoff appearance in the last three years or No. 1 overall pick over the last four years, a team loses one ball. But each team will still be guaranteed to have one ball in the lottery. The first round will go with teams picking 1 through 30, with the 30th team picking 31st and the draft order 'snaking' back and forth in a seven round draft. Take a peek at how each team fared in the selection order over the last three years. Note: The order shown reflects each team's position based on the final standings and does not reflect trades made or lotteries won. However, draft lottery winners are noted (*), as are Stanley Cup champions (**), who pick last regardless of regular season finish.

	2005 NHL Draft Lottery

Pos.	Team	2004 Draft Position	2003 Draft Position	2002 Draft Position
-	Anaheim	9th	19th	7th
-	Atlanta	10th	8th	1st
-	Boston	27th	16th	29th
-	Buffalo	13th	5th	11th
-	Calgary	19th	9th	9th
-	Carolina	8th	1st	25th
-	Chicago	2nd	14th	21st
-	Colorado	21st	26th	28th
-	Columbus	4th	3rd	2nd
-	Dallas	20th	28th	13th
-	Detroit	29th	27th	30th **
-	Edmonton	14th	17th	14th
-	Florida	7th	4th *	3rd *
-	Los Angeles	11th	13th	18th
-	Minnesota	12th	20th	8th
-	Montreal	18th	10th	15th
-	Nashville	15th	7th	6th
-	New Jersey	22nd	30th **	20th
-	NY Islanders	16th	15th	22nd
-	NY Rangers	6th	12th	10th
-	Ottawa	23rd	29th	16th
-	Philadelphia	25th	24th	26th
-	Phoenix	5th	11th	19th
-	Pittsburgh	1st	2nd	5th
-	St. Louis	17th	22nd	23rd
-	San Jose	28th	6th	27th
-	Tampa Bay	30th **	25th	4th
-	Toronto	24th	21st	24th
-	Vancouver	26th	23rd	17th
-	Washington	3rd *	18th	12th

»Print this page

[TLK]

Anyone hear anything about the playoffs being upped to 20 teams, or is that just an ugly rumor?

[bob]

I wish that teams could resign players that have their contracts bought out - higher payroll teams like Detroit are going to lose some guys that have been around for a while b/c they didn't see a salary cap coming.

Can they just renegotiate their contracts for these kind of players?

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I love the salary provisions: no crazy superstar contracts so the Jerome Iginla's of the world might be able to stay put, rookies are capped (I've always hated rookie bonuses- earn your right to get the cash), and the minimum went way up (you made the league, so you deserve big cash).

this might be the intent, but it's probably going to have the opposite effect.

let's say the Flames are on the low end of the salary cap - $25 million. At best, Iginla can make $5 million with the Flames. But if the Rangers are at, say, $40 million, he can make $8 million to sign with them. If this indeed stays as part of the CB as is stated, this is going to just hasten the departure of star players from small market teams (and, remember, they'll be unrestricted free agents 3 or 4 years earlier now).

it's an odd rule - almost like the opposite of the NBA rule to encourage players to resign with their team.

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by bob

I wish that teams could resign players that have their contracts bought out - higher payroll teams like Detroit are going to lose some guys that have been around for a while b/c they didn't see a salary cap coming.

Can they just renegotiate their contracts for these kind of players?

nope. renegotiations will not be allowed (per what I've heard)

tlk - I heard that but it has died down lately so I don't know if that's part of the deal or not. It could be part of the other rules changes tho which aren't part of the CBA I guess.

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

this might be the intent, but it's probably going to have the opposite effect.

let's say the Flames are on the low end of the salary cap - $25 million. At best, Iginla can make $5 million with the Flames. But if the Rangers are at, say, $40 million, he can make $8 million to sign with them. If this indeed stays as part of the CB as is stated, this is going to just hasten the departure of star players from small market teams (and, remember, they'll be unrestricted free agents 3 or 4 years earlier now).

it's an odd rule - almost like the opposite of the NBA rule to encourage players to resign with their team.

or it will force teams to up payrolls to keep their stars (but not force them into bankruptcy at the same time). If Joe Draft Pick turns out to be a star and sees his new contract go way up, team payroll will go way up allowing him to have a bigger piece of that pie.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by bob

I wish that teams could resign players that have their contracts bought out - higher payroll teams like Detroit are going to lose some guys that have been around for a while b/c they didn't see a salary cap coming.

Can they just renegotiate their contracts for these kind of players?

I am as big a Wings fan as you're likely to meet, but I will say if Detroit didn't see a salary cap coming they deserve what they get. Team all across the league were intentionally not signing players to contracts that went beyond the 2003-2004 season because of the uncertaintity that surrounded the post-CBA world. A salary cap should have been foreseen.

One solution to the problem is to work out a deal with another team. Say, for example, the Wings want to keep Hatcher, but don't think it will work out for them. So they buy his contract out, he gets signed by Team X, who then turns around and trades Hatcher back to the Wings for some other player, prospect, or a pick. I guess that's one way around it. The other is to bite the bullet and look into the farm system.

Exciting times ahead!

[bob]

Originally Posted by Chubby

nope. renegotiations will not be allowed (per what I've heard)

That really sucks - that means Detroit will most likely have to get rid of Hatcher, Whitney, Shanahan, and will most likely not be able to resign Mathieu Schneider.... They are at $30 million for $13, which does not include Cujo (not that he was coming back), Yzerman, Chelios, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, or Kronwall (last three are restricted)....

I guess one way to get teams more balanced is to screw the higher up teams for a while.

[Chubby]

Melrose is now saying the lottery will go back 5 years...

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Exciting times ahead!

Exactly. I'm stoked. I can't wait until the player movement starts. We don't exactly get hockey sports talk here in KC, so I'm going to have to find somewhere to get online talk once things start.

SI

[bob]

Ok, I agree that they should have known a cap was coming - it just seems that without full knowledge of the upcoming system, you can't plan as well as a high payroll team that is trying to get one or two last runs out of your aging team.

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by bob

That really sucks - that means Detroit will most likely have to get rid of Hatcher, Whitney, Shanahan, and will most likely not be able to resign Mathieu Schneider.... They are at $30 million for $13, which does not include Cujo (not that he was coming back), Yzerman, Chelios, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, or Kronwall (last three are restricted)....

I guess one way to get teams more balanced is to screw the higher up teams for a while.

Awww, sry but I have no sympathy after the lower teams (like my Sabres) have been screwed for years. As Honolulu said, if Detroit didn't see the cap coming like most everyone else then it's noones fault but their own.

[bob]

Wonder if the new NHL games will have the new CBA rules close to accurately modeled. Damn it, I might have to buy another NHL game this year.

[Blade]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Exactly. I'm stoked. I can't wait until the player movement starts. We don't exactly get hockey sports talk here in KC, so I'm going to have to find somewhere to get online talk once things start.

SI

I am stoked as well...it will just be nice for the Oilers to have a legitimate chance at getting and keeping a star player or two...

Good times ahead!

[bob]

Originally Posted by Chubby

Awww, sry but I have no sympathy after the lower teams (like my Sabres) have been screwed for years. As Honolulu said, if Detroit didn't see the cap coming like most everyone else then it's noones fault but their own.

How have they been screwed, other than by being in Buffalo?

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Chubby

or it will force teams to up payrolls to keep their stars (but not force them into bankruptcy at the same time). If Joe Draft Pick turns out to be a star and sees his new contract go way up, team payroll will go way up allowing him to have a bigger piece of that pie.

oops - I read 20% of payroll as 20% of cap.

still not going to work though.
if the Flames (25M) offer Iginla $5 M and the Rangers (40M) offer him $8M, the Flames will have to increase their payroll up to $40M to be able to match - so to re-sign Iginla, they'd need to add on $7 million in payroll in other players. Not really a system that encourages stars to sign with small-market teams...

[Blade]

Originally Posted by bob

Wonder if the new NHL games will have the new CBA rules close to accurately modeled. Damn it, I might have to buy another NHL game this year.

I know EHM was going to update their game to reflect the new CBA for their NA release in Sept...

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Chubby

Melrose is now saying the lottery will go back 5 years...

ESPNews?

God forbid they interrupt the celebs and old timers rerun on ESPN. How could this possibly be more important than watching Jennie Finch pop up and Dave Winfield hit 250' home runs?

SI

[Wolfpack]

The Canes get two balls (the 2002 Finals run takes one away). Wonder how the hockey world would react if the Canes (or some other "less desirable" team) won the lottery to get Crosby. They'd go nuts north of the border, for sure.

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

ESPNews?

God forbid they interrupt the celebs and old timers rerun on ESPN. How could this possibly be more important than watching Jennie Finch pop up and Dave Winfield hit 250' home runs?

SI

yup.

I have ESPNews on, they had EJ Hrdek or whatever his name is a while ago and just had Melrose on via cell phone.

[bob]

I still think they didn't take care of one of the major issues - teams in cities that aren't hockey hotbeds (or even close to popular).

[Blade]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

The Canes get two balls (the 2002 Finals run takes one away). Wonder how the hockey world would react if the Canes (or some other "less desirable" team) won the lottery to get Crosby. They'd go nuts north of the border, for sure.

For that matter, how would Crosby feel, going to a team where Hockey isn't overly huge...

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Blade

For that matter, how would Crosby feel, going to a team where Hockey isn't overly huge...

This better not be what's keeping things up. He'd better shut up and like it. He only has to be there 3 years.

SI

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

The Canes get two balls (the 2002 Finals run takes one away). Wonder how the hockey world would react if the Canes (or some other "less desirable" team) won the lottery to get Crosby. They'd go nuts north of the border, for sure.

They had the #1 in the 2003 draft which costs them another ball.

[Blade]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

This better not be what's keeping things up. He'd better shut up and like it. He only has to be there 3 years.

SI

I hope he will just shut up and like it, but the recent talk of him going to Europe for better money is not starting things out well...

[Chubby]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2105489

Jim Kelley article on the deal.

[bob]

AvantGo on my pocket pc pulled down an article from the sporting new on which players each team is likely to buy out, as well as all the players currently under contract. I'll post it here if I can find it online, but it might be from the next issue (they do that a lot).

[bob]

One more question - what is the purpose of not allowing teams to renegotiate existing contracts to get under the salary cap?

[sovereignstar]

To royall fuck them over.

Go Wild!!!

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by bob

AvantGo on my pocket pc pulled down an article from the sporting new on which players each team is likely to buy out, as well as all the players currently under contract. I'll post it here if I can find it online, but it might be from the next issue (they do that a lot).

Maybe it's time to subscribe to Sporting News for my AvantGo, if they have articles like that. Their website has sucked ever since Fox bought them out- they used to be one of my favorites

Here's the article in question:
http://mobile.sportingnews.com/nhl/a...12/631578.html

SI

[bob]

Yeah, the AvantGo articles are pretty good, but overlap quite a bit with the magazine, so if you get that (I signed up for free when someone posted it a while ago) you can be pretty disappointed when it shows up, as you have already read it.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by bob

Yeah, the AvantGo articles are pretty good, but overlap quite a bit with the magazine, so if you get that (I signed up for free when someone posted it a while ago) you can be pretty disappointed when it shows up, as you have already read it.

I used to have a free subscription but then it ran out. I kindof like TSN, among the major sports magazines, but I'm too poor to pay for stuff like that right now.

SI

[Chubby]

please please please sign and deal Biron...

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by Chubby

They had the #1 in the 2003 draft which costs them another ball.

Actually, I think they lost the lottery and Florida won it, who swapped picks with Pittsburgh at #3 so the Pens could get M-A Fleury. The Canes picked Staal at #2. I think they did have the worst record that year, though. They just lost the lottery for the #1 pick. At least I think that was what happened.

[bob]

Originally Posted by bob

Wonder if the new NHL games will have the new CBA rules close to accurately modeled. Damn it, I might have to buy another NHL game this year.

Well, looking at the Take 2 site, NHL 2K6 is due out in August, so it is likely to be the same thing as last years with new rosters (if possible) and some new animation and maybe a bug fix or two.

As well as about 30 new bugs. And probably some new items to purchase for the skybox.