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From: Michael Byrnes <mbyrne...@gmail.com>
To: go-bruins@googlegroups.com
Sent: Friday, April 3, 2009 11:32:09 AM
Subject: [GoBruins] Re: Thomas gets Brodeur money
Teams sign free agents to that kind of money (or more) all the time, though.
Savard for 1 year at $5 million is probably a much better value than many 2009
offseason UFA signings will be.
2009 will be an interesting off season. Generally speaking I think changes in
trends get talked about well after the fact as opposed to when they are
happening, but I think the trade deadline was an interesting reflection of
where things are headed. You didn't see any salary dumps like usually
happened, and there were far fewer deals than just last year. I think it's a
trend reflective of the new salary cap NHL. I would see one possible change in
the next CBA being relaxing of the rules governing off loading of salaries,
like used to happen in the NHL. ie: Take our guy making 5M a season, and
we'll pay 3 million of his salary.
I think the far more interesting change is hardly been discussed. These things
happen in very small shifts, like the loss of the Canadian Lexicon of hockey,
you don't even know it's happening while it's going on, and today you have me
and 3 other people calling hockey sweaters, hockey sweaters. 10 years from now
fighting is going to be banned from the game, and it started this trade
deadline day. Prior to this year Chris Neill would have a very sought after
player. He makes peanuts, and he fights, and he is a UFA this coming summer.
He was exactly the kind of player Ottawa themselves always tried to pick up at
the deadline ( see May, Ray, Varada etc. ) I think it's reflective of
enlightened thinking in the new NHL, that being that their value is highly over
rated. Brain Burke, probably the biggest fan of fighting in hockey admitted
that *some* fights are staged and only for entertainment. We are now just
arguing able what percentage, but to
have an NHL GM admit this to be true is amazing change in thinking. Also,
almost without anyone but me noticing it, 1993 has been dropped from the
argument of the fighting apologists as the year *The Instigator* penalty came
in. They all may seem like subtle changes, but in 10 years time it will be
gone, and people are going to be wondering where it went, and what the big
signal it was going was. Well there was no big signal. It's death from
sanguination, but not from one swift chop from a Samura Sword, but death from a
1001 *paper cuts*
Salaries and long term deals are going to be the same I believe. It's not
going to happen overnight, but starting with this off season I think you'll see
a subtle shift. Previously the length of term was usually 5 years. It was
pretty standard, Chara, Savard, Bergeron, but league wide. I think you'll see
that drop, and *all the time* should probably be changed to *previously*,
because we have had a financial meltdown, the effects of which won't be felt in
the salary cap until the 2010-2011 season.
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