Does anyone else think that this will be Poile's worst signing yet?
It's up there with Mason, imo.
More than just this contract I hate the fact that we have Erat, Leggy,Dumont,Arny and Mason all signed to long contracts and big money. In fact 20.5 million to be exact. Oh and don't forgot about sully's dead money. I mean I like all these players and they are all good. But if these guys are our core for the next 5 years I dont care who is the coach be prepared for many more first round exits.
Then the player is injured, is put on LTIR and the team has the cap space. It's not really that big of a deal, I think the team would be more worried that a player doesn't live up to the amount they are being paid.
The better question is what happens when one of these guys has a career crippling, rather than ending, injury and they become a shadow of themselves. Not hurt enough to be on LTIR but instead producing at a fraction of what they used to be able to do.
The better question is what happens when one of these guys has a career crippling, rather than ending, injury and they become a shadow of themselves. Not hurt enough to be on LTIR but instead producing at a fraction of what they used to be able to do.
Part of these contracts are PR. Show Nashvillians that you're committed to keeping the team here, you're committed to the guys that bring people in (Tootoo, Rads, etc) and that you expect loyalty in return. Great PR.
Will it screw us in the end? Maybe, but right now, I'm so happy we have a team, and players that want to play here, I'm ok with the 7 years. Now. Erat starts doing stupid crap a la Leggy, and I'll change my tune.
Marty - stay off of 21st after a few beverages and oh yeah, don't suck.
Part of these contracts are PR. Show Nashvillians that you're committed to keeping the team here, you're committed to the guys that bring people in (Tootoo, Rads, etc) and that you expect loyalty in return. Great PR.
Will it screw us in the end? Maybe, but right now, I'm so happy we have a team, and players that want to play here, I'm ok with the 7 years. Now. Erat starts doing stupid crap a la Leggy, and I'll change my tune.
Marty - stay off of 21st after a few beverages and oh yeah, don't suck.
Nothing against your fans, but between Kevin Lowe's antics last summer and now Nashville fanning the flames of managerial stupidity, several teams can look forward to overpaying players this summer or trading away players they might otherwise keep. In the end the Preds might suffer for it the most though, because Erat, if he ever has a bad season or a dispute with the team for some reason, he will be near impossible to trade until the last couple years of his contract IMO. No one is going to shell out that kind of money for Martin Erat in your typical trade scenario... hopefully he earns his contract for you guys.
Nothing against your fans, but between Kevin Lowe's antics last summer and now Nashville fanning the flames of managerial stupidity, several teams can look forward to overpaying players this summer or trading away players they might otherwise keep. In the end the Preds might suffer for it the most though, because Erat, if he ever has a bad season or a dispute with the team for some reason, he will be near impossible to trade until the last couple years of his contract IMO. No one is going to shell out that kind of money for Martin Erat in your typical trade scenario... hopefully he earns his contract for you guys.
Nothing against your fans, but between Kevin Lowe's antics last summer and now Nashville fanning the flames of managerial stupidity, several teams can look forward to overpaying players this summer or trading away players they might otherwise keep. In the end the Preds might suffer for it the most though, because Erat, if he ever has a bad season or a dispute with the team for some reason, he will be near impossible to trade until the last couple years of his contract IMO. No one is going to shell out that kind of money for Martin Erat in your typical trade scenario... hopefully he earns his contract for you guys.
you need to get over yourself. i can't believe you just just compared this to the Lowe situation. you act like this is the first pay-by-potential contract in history.
Nothing against your fans, but between Kevin Lowe's antics last summer and now Nashville fanning the flames of managerial stupidity, several teams can look forward to overpaying players this summer or trading away players they might otherwise keep. In the end the Preds might suffer for it the most though, because Erat, if he ever has a bad season or a dispute with the team for some reason, he will be near impossible to trade until the last couple years of his contract IMO. No one is going to shell out that kind of money for Martin Erat in your typical trade scenario... hopefully he earns his contract for you guys.
Its not our fault teams around the league have started dropping absurd numbers on RFA and UFA to be. Hartnell's signing last year was much worse in comparison, and it set the bar fairly high. Add in the gigantic RFA contracts that have been handed out by several teams, including but not limited to Tampa (Richards at the max), Buffalo (Vanek), Pittsburgh (Whitney and Crosby), and you see how this occurs. I'm not too upset with the contract to be honest. He would have received similar money on the free agent market, especially if he has a stable second line next year. Lowe's antics has changed the league because teams are legitimately afraid to lose their young stars, and thus, RFA is no longer cheap. I could care less how it affects big market teams who are looking to sign their young players cheap so that they can sign away small market teams stars (I'm so sorry that Detroit, Colorado, Dallas, Toronto, or one of the other high salary teams could not reap the rewards of Erat in his prime)....Oh wait - I'm not. Erat is 26. He showed signs of breaking out last season and this season pre-injury. He has been a consistent top line player in tournaments, and he is suited for playoff battles. Would I be happier if the contract was for 4 million a year? Yes. Would he have signed a multi-year deal @ 4 million a year? Highly doubtful heading into UFA. We would likely have had to sign him to a 1 year tender and if he had a great year, wave goodbye. If you don't believe me, look at these UFA contracts from last year alone...and these are just the forwards (I excluded Briere's 8 million a year contract)
Paul Kariya: 3 years 18 million
Jason Blake: 5 years 20 million
Chris Drury: 5 years 35.25 million
Scott Gomez: 7 years 51.5 million
Ryan Smyth: 5 years 31.25 million
Michael Handzus: 4 years 16 million
Michael Nylander: 4 years 19.5 million
Todd Bertuzzi: 2 years 8 million
Dainus Zubrus: 6 years 20.4 million
Bill Guerin: 2 years 9 million
Its not our fault teams around the league have started dropping absurd numbers on RFA and UFA to be. Hartnell's signing last year was much worse in comparison, and it set the bar fairly high. Add in the gigantic RFA contracts that have been handed out by several teams, including but not limited to Tampa (Richards at the max), Buffalo (Vanek), Pittsburgh (Whitney and Crosby), and you see how this occurs. I'm not too upset with the contract to be honest. He would have received similar money on the free agent market, especially if he has a stable second line next year. Lowe's antics has changed the league because teams are legitimately afraid to lose their young stars, and thus, RFA is no longer cheap. I could care less how it affects big market teams who are looking to sign their young players cheap so that they can sign away small market teams stars (I'm so sorry that Detroit, Colorado, Dallas, Toronto, or one of the other high salary teams could not reap the rewards of Erat in his prime)....Oh wait - I'm not. Erat is 26. He showed signs of breaking out last season and this season pre-injury. He has been a consistent top line player in tournaments, and he is suited for playoff battles. Would I be happier if the contract was for 4 million a year? Yes. Would he have signed a multi-year deal @ 4 million a year? Highly doubtful heading into UFA. We would likely have had to sign him to a 1 year tender and if he had a great year, wave goodbye. If you don't believe me, look at these UFA contracts from last year alone...and these are just the forwards (I excluded Briere's 8 million a year contract)
Paul Kariya: 3 years 18 million
Jason Blake: 5 years 20 million
Chris Drury: 5 years 35.25 million
Scott Gomez: 7 years 51.5 million
Ryan Smyth: 5 years 31.25 million
Michael Handzus: 4 years 16 million
Michael Nylander: 4 years 19.5 million
Todd Bertuzzi: 2 years 8 million
Dainus Zubrus: 6 years 20.4 million
Bill Guerin: 2 years 9 million
How dare you confuse the situation with facts
It's clear that in the current environment the GMs are being forced to take a longer-term approach in their signings. I think we can wave goodbye to the days when 30+ year old UFAs received huge contracts, principally based on their past performance. GMs are now taking educated risks to sign their young talent to long-term deals as they are entering their prime. Sure it's a risk, but Erat's contract hasn't dramatically changed the landscape.
Just b/c the Pens might not be able to re-sign Malone doesn't mean this was a bad deal for the Preds.
I don't mind the money since we're paying him to stay here a few years into his prime UFA time. It's just the 7 years I don't like. That's a long time to get very complacent.
It's funny that we complain about the team making too many passes all the time, but in Erat's case, it's that he doesn't pass enough. If he could keep his head up when skating around the zone he might find an open player some time or make a good shot on a screened goalie instead of turning the puck over. As frustrating as he is sometimes, he almost always seems to be in the top 5 in scoring for us every year so as long as this is the Erat that we get for the next 7 years I'll be happy.
I just hope that Freeman and co. have enough money for the rest of the guys this year and Rads next year.
And I really don't give a crap about other teams' GM's or fans feelings. Don't cry to me about not being able to sign your own players. It's not our fault if your team can't work out a deal with a player. Although why should I expect anything else, what we do determines the fate of every team and the league apparently.
because the contract can't lose more than 50% of its value in any one year
Not quite, it is because the contract cannot drop by more than 50% of the minimum of the salaries in the first two years.
As an outsider, I would say that this contract is in the ballpark (maybe a touch high) for someone with Erat's record, but for the team it sends a positive message that the new ownership is serious about putting a quality product on the ice.
There is a lot of speculation that Weber will receive a number of OS's and that the Preds will not match because of money issues. Personally, I don't think that the team would hesitate to match. The Erat signing makes me even more confident that they would not let Weber walk.
Its not our fault teams around the league have started dropping absurd numbers on RFA and UFA to be. Hartnell's signing last year was much worse in comparison, and it set the bar fairly high.
I couldn't agree more. I think Hartnell's deal - both in length and money - is the single worst contract the Flyers have, and that includes Briere and Timo's deal. That is an absolute sham of a deal for a guy like Hartnell. One of the most overhyped and overrated glorified grinders in the league. Every time I heard "he's the youngest free agent in league history and still has upside" I wanted to vomit. Hands of stone and a very low hockey IQ.
Not quite, it is because the contract cannot drop by more than 50% of the minimum of the salaries in the first two years.
As an outsider, I would say that this contract is in the ballpark (maybe a touch high) for someone with Erat's record, but for the team it sends a positive message that the new ownership is serious about putting a quality product on the ice.
There is a lot of speculation that Weber will receive a number of OS's and that the Preds will not match because of money issues. Personally, I don't think that the team would hesitate to match. The Erat signing makes me even more confident that they would not let Weber walk.
Word pubically and from inside sources say that the Preds would match ANY kind of offer sheet for Weber, even absurd money.
Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I don't mind paying elite young players the money they deserve while in the prime of their career [usually ages 24-30]. In the past they would get their big contract when they reached UFA [age 31 pre-CBA] and many were on the decline during much of their contract and the money they received was on past accomplishment rather than legitimate forseeable contributions over the life of the contract.
The final analysis will be more clear in hindsight when we see how many of these young players don't ever reach their potential, have a major injury, or simply sit back and lose the hunger due to receiving that big, fat, long-term contract........
Don't get me wrong. I am not trying to spook anybody. The speculation I am referring to is from posters on HF, though Weber's name comes up a lot on hockey shows up here. My main point is that many on these boards still see the Preds in selling mode. I don't put a lot of weight on these comments. In fact, I find this kind of surprising given that the new owners have done a good job so far of signing core players. My guess is that Weber is a Pred for a long time. I would not be surprised to see a 6-8 year deal.
