NHL General Discussion

[Eli26]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

I don't feel sorry for him. He's retiring...right. He's going to get just as much in the KHL and some people are reporting he'll be making even more.

Ummmm Who says I feel sorry for the dime-bag? I feel sorry for the fans of the team and it's still big news regardless of the situation. What the heck does feeling sorry for a guy who has made tens of millions and will continue to make tens of millions in his homeland have to do with the fact a 30-year-old superstar walked away from 77 million USD remaining on an NHL contract, doing it at this time, where so many UFAs have been picked up and signed. It's still costing the team their first in 2014 which could be anywhere from No. 15 to as low as a top 3-5 pick. Also they will be dinged 250,000 every year for the remainder of his contract. btw I don't feel sorry for the team either. He was a head case and red flag prior to the signing. They should have known better.

The point of my post was it's HUGE ****ing hockey news. It's not your usual, a regressing 40-year-old star player retires or the Jets signed Matt Halischuk a career minor leaguer or 4th line NHLer at best... because that sort of thing is not exceptional. I was just shocked that everyone here passed it off so quickly as though it was nothing big. Where as every other place you go to, media outlets and fans alike are both in awe and bewilderment.

 

[CriterionCollector]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

As a Devils fan you should all feel sorry for me.

 

[bumblebee]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

Funny how we blow off the significance of a superstar in his prime who signed the most lucrative contract in NHL history, retiring. A guy who led the playoffs in scoring two years ago. But yeah, it's just another day of hockey news.

He's 30 and has averaged 42 goals per season.

I'm a Caps fan, I got my own problems to worry about.




Seriously though it is crazy to think of someone walking away from all the $$$

 

[Grenouille]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

I don't feel sorry for him. He's retiring...right. He's going to get just as much in the KHL and some people are reporting he'll be making even more.

This is my exact thought on this topic. He's going to get just about the same amount if not more to play in the K, plus it's going to be tax free.

 

[Eli26]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

This is my exact thought on this topic. He's going to get just about the same amount if not more to play in the K, plus it's going to be tax free.

It isn't about that...Holy. Don't any of you get it? A big stud forward, one of the best pretty much screwed over its fanbase. He didn't leave because he was hurt or because he was playing abysmal hockey.. he left half-way through the Summer after most of the biggest UFAs have been signed up, and did this in a time that the Devils need a player like him the most. I am purely looking at this from an NHL and fan perspective. I already know he will make more in the K... Anyone who truly believed he retired from the game completely is an idiot. If it was your player on your team it hurts more knowing he left your team in a middle of a contract, in a bad time, in his better days to play in another league for more money.

It's the fact we passed it up as, oh it's just other hockey news, that I was like, okay... so we have moved on so easily. Okay. lol

Perhaps we should have. Maybe you guys got it right. The whole situation stinks. Personally I agree with bumblebee and think, while the Devils will be hurting for the next year or two (btw they will drop in the standings because of this and with no 1st rounder... youch)... but long term wise, it's a blessing.

The deal should have never happened period. This is the issue I have with big league sports. There will always be a jackass willing to overpay another jackass.

 

[Eli26]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

I'm a Caps fan, I got my own problems to worry about.




Seriously though it is crazy to think of someone walking away from all the $$$

It's not just the money though. It's the fact the NHL loses one of the best goal scorers and two-way players of recent to another league. Again, this doesn't happen every day.

 

[Grenouille]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

I get that Kovy screwed over the Devils organization and fan base. The team gave up talent to get him, then went through contortions to resign him (including the draft pick penalty - which Lou completely messed up by not taking the hit last year), lost other good players because of his deal, traded their first round pick this year for a goalie instead of taking a shooter which they now need, and missed out on the best FAs just last week before he bailed. If the Bruins had a star Russian player that pulled this I'd be livid.

This now turns to a question of how much this will hurt the Devils going forward. Things may get quite bleak and maybe Vanderbeek decides it's time to sell....

 

[SixMillionDollarMan Guy]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

I'm a Caps fan, I got my own problems to worry about.

 

[Eli26]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

I get that Kovy screwed over the Devils organization and fan base. The team gave up talent to get him, then went through contortions to resign him (including the draft pick penalty - which Lou completely messed up by not taking the hit last year), lost other good players because of his deal, traded their first round pick this year for a goalie instead of taking a shooter which they now need, and missed out on the best FAs just last week before he bailed. If the Bruins had a star Russian player that pulled this I'd be livid.

This now turns to a question of how much this will hurt the Devils going forward. Things may get quite bleak and maybe Vanderbeek decides it's time to sell....

I heard Lou was against the signing of Kovy from the very start, that it was Vanderbeek who continuously pressed on the idea of signing a superstar goal scorer. It was said Vanderbeek wanted that star, to get away from the trap/blue collar label that has been following the Devils for years. I am not sure their GM can be blamed for this one. Everyone has a boss they have to answer to. Even the mighty Lou has to answer to one.

 

[Grenouille]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

And these NHL bosses are funny. Bruins owner Mr. Burns was banging tables during the lockout for 5-year max deals.

Now this week he's allowed 2 8-year deals to be signed.

 

[SixMillionDollarMan Guy]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

And these NHL bosses are funny. Bruins owner Mr. Burns was banging tables during the lockout for 5-year max deals.

Now this week he's allowed 2 8-year deals to be signed.

Reminds me of this classic from Wild owner Craig Leipold....

"The Wild owner committed $197 million to give 13-year contracts to free agents Ryan Suter and Zach Parise on July 4, 2012. A couple of days later he was sitting at a table to set the stage for negotiations, insisting there had to be a limit on the number of years in these ridiculous NHL contracts."

-Patrick Reusse (Star Tribune)

 

[Eli26]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

I said it then and I will say it again. Unfortunately the way the market works they have to fall in line to that sort of commitment if they want to land the big players or keep them. To build a winner these days sometimes teams have to compromise their own values and beliefs for what they feel is best for the team's success on the ice.

What I get out of this and you two should, is that they don't like it as owners (and why should they? They are in the business of making money!), having said that, they are also in the business of winning. Sometimes it makes for contradicting circumstances. If they had the power completely their way, they would have these guys signed to max salaries of 3-5 year deals at the lowest price possible. However, the market dictates these player values. Not those two. All thirty teams have to play along to that idea to take away that edge from the players and their agents. However, that isn't going to happen. And if it did, you would see so many players looking elsewhere to other leagues.

It's not that simple.

 

[Gates70]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

Ummmm Who says I feel sorry for the dime-bag? I feel sorry for the fans of the team and it's still big news regardless of the situation. What the heck does feeling sorry for a guy who has made tens of millions and will continue to make tens of millions in his homeland have to do with the fact a 30-year-old superstar walked away from 77 million USD remaining on an NHL contract, doing it at this time, where so many UFAs have been picked up and signed. It's still costing the team their first in 2014 which could be anywhere from No. 15 to as low as a top 3-5 pick. Also they will be dinged 250,000 every year for the remainder of his contract. btw I don't feel sorry for the team either. He was a head case and red flag prior to the signing. They should have known better.

The point of my post was it's HUGE ****ing hockey news. It's not your usual, a regressing 40-year-old star player retires or the Jets signed Matt Halischuk a career minor leaguer or 4th line NHLer at best... because that sort of thing is not exceptional. I was just shocked that everyone here passed it off so quickly as though it was nothing big. Where as every other place you go to, media outlets and fans alike are both in awe and bewilderment.

Sorry to say but he's Russian and you can't trust most Russians in the NHL. They are always threatening to go to the KHL. That's why a lot of teams have a hard time at the draft committing to them now. That and the whole rights thing.

As a Devils fan you should all feel sorry for me.

NO!

I'm a Caps fan, I got my own problems to worry about.

Seriously though it is crazy to think of someone walking away from all the $$$

Yeah no ****

 

[Eli26]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

Sorry to say but he's Russian and you can't trust most Russians in the NHL. They are always threatening to go to the KHL. That's why a lot of teams have a hard time at the draft committing to them now. That and the whole rights thing.



NO!



Yeah no ****

I agree to some degree. Russians scare the crap out of me, but I also think this is an ignorant comment. Because for every Russian like Kovalchuk there are more Larionovs and Datsyuks.

Lumping them into one group is ignorant and narrow in thought. If there is a Russian and he's by far the best player available in the draft at my position to pick, I take him. I hope for the best. Anything can happen. You have players like your Daigles and your Lawtons that go bust. Then there are your Lindros and Berards who's careers are shortened due to career threatening injuries. FYI: Those are all former 1st overall picks. Two are Canadian and the other two are American. You take a risk with any player no matter their background or where they come from.

 

[Eli26]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

The thing people have to realize, players have left leagues prematurely for countless reasons with years left in the tank, and these guys are not Russian. Loob and Palffy being great examples.

Even Canada has had guys retire early to start careers some place else... Ken Dryden as an example. Greatest goalie during his tenure and he switched careers to become a lawyer. Sure, the money wasn't as good as it is today, but he could have easily played several more years and still become a lawyer.

Having said that, there seems to be more emphasis on Russian players leaving. Also doesn't help they have a league that pays its top players handsomely, in tax-free dollars. Then there is the other thing. Even Russian players admit to. The money is more of a certainty in the NHL vs. the KHL ... The idea to play in the best league in the world is also another driving force in both bringing and keeping players here.

 

[Eli26]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

Anyway, I think a comment was overblown. Deleting my comments... just doing my part not to include others in this.

 

[The Ringer]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

 

[xjamiex]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

 

[The Ringer]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

I never realized what a giant Vinny was

 

[cokebabies]

Re: 2013 NHL Season

They could use a goalie upgrade, but the Isles are having a very nice off season.

The Hamonic signing was one of the best of the summer, and Bailey's deal is nice as well.