Offering 4M is rediculous. When you negociate you have to at least offer something reasonable as your first offer, 4M is not.
This is what's wrong with sports in general. When is 4 Million dollars not reasonable? I know its quite a dropoff from what Kovy is earning now, but he hasn't exactly been the best player in the league either. We should be paying for what he has done recently, not what he did in Pittsburgh. If Kovy won't accept 4.5 to 5.1 Mil a year, let him pound sand. Let him see if anyone will offer him more when no one knows what the next CBA will look like. I'd love to have him back, but not by giving him a salary that will hurt us in the future.
People like Malakhov don't understand the game, plain and simple. If you make a ridiculous offer to Kovalev, he won't come back even if you make a better offer. The first offer has to be great, if it's too low you're humiliating the player. After what Pierre Gauthier has said about Kovalev, you can't offer something like 4 millions. He said that Kovalev is the kind of player that can give you the extra notch to push the team at another level. And with that, you want to offer him (he's a UFA after all) 4 millions dollars? Where's the diplomacy? That's very unrespectful to offer something that low to Kovalev. You start at 5.25 mil per year and you hope that he will accept in that range (within one million more). They're also looking for 3 years + contracts at this point in their career. They want a little bit more security. And prolly a no-trade clause (with a few teams where you can trade him). That's the way it works, newbie...
I hope you guys to be talking like that are contract negociation experts. I mean, you must have been there at least once.
Montreal has a budget and will make an offer according to that budget. If Kovalev is such a prima donna that a 3.5 million offer will "humiliate", I doubt he'll be back simply because he wont be a BG type of player.
BG will offer Kovalev whatever he feels he's worth for the Montreal hockey club. If that's 3.5 million, so be it. That's what Andre Savard was unable to do, and that's what cost him his job. You need to get the most out of every player (dollar wise).
Also, you need to ask yourself if Kovalev is a worthy investment right now. Do we have the team to win the cup? Is it time to continue to build for the future (3-4 years) or time to spend to win now?
Well, you missed the point... It's about keeping Kovalev or not. And giving good contract to stars is not really a huge concern. Especially not when it's one of the most spectacular player in the NHL. It's when you give too much money on low-impact players and etc.
I totally disagree with this. Giving good contracts to stars should be a huge concern, simply because of the fact that a large percentage of the payroll would be invested into one player. Team's payrolls get thrown out of whack when they sign star players.
The Islanders aren't screwed up because they pay low-impact players too much; they paid their star Yashin too much. The Stars aren't screwed up because they pay low-impact players too much; they paid Guerin too much. Now I know these are extreme situations, and signing Kovalev to say a six million a year deal won't restrict the Habs financially like the Isles/Stars, but it can still be a costly mistake and at least should be discussed. A team can usually afford to swallow a bad signing to a mid-range player.
And also, what Kovalev would the Habs be signing? The enigma Kovalev seen for last year's regular season, or the playoff Kovie and the Kovie that got 95 pts in Pittsburgh? You can't be totally sure, either way.
Salaries are way too freakin high to begin with but that's the way it is, right. Kovalev played on a bleepin CHECKING LINE at the end of the regular season while only getting 1 period with Koivu and Zednik. How long did it take in the playoffs for that 1st line to mesh? And when they did, they dominated round 1. Koivu deserves to have someone with the skill Kovalev possesses on his wing. And I would really hope Gainey and co. keep in mind what the fans want because signing Kovalev would be another step closer... To the Cup of course.
I don't mean base their decision on what fans want, just keeping all of us in mind. We want a winning team, period. Kovalev adds to our hope IMO.
As for Demitra I dunno.
We need to provide a winning environment to our prospects, Kovalev helps a lot. Just imagine AK-47 learning the game with Kovalev and Koivu... Kovalev is needed in Montréal, and at 6M he's not overpaid in the same sense than Guérin or Holik are. We have to understand that, especially since he played very well during the playffs, there will be teams to give him 6M a year. And what is the big deal, Brisebois makes 4M, Theodore makes 5.5M, Koivu makes like 4.5M (not sure). I'm not saying all those players are worth the money they make, I'm just saying that Kovalev helps the team a hell of a lot more than any of those players, except for Theo, when he decides to play, and that's not all the time.
With the CBA, it's comparable to the 6.6 millions he is making right now.
5 = 6.6
The problem with Kovy is that he don't show himself every game. If he was stellar everytime, he could be looking for 7 millions. With his inconsistancy, 5 is fair. And it's a 3 years contract, high risk for the team.
With the CBA, it's comparable to the 6.6 millions he is making right now.
5 = 6.6
The problem with Kovy is that he don't show himself every game. If he was stellar everytime, he could be looking for 7 millions. With his inconsistancy, 5 is fair. And it's a 3 years contract, high risk for the team.
Gainey should start nego with 4.5
11/2 years is fair too.
I think thats more than fair. I don't quite understand how Kovy is suppose to be this leader for guys like Kats and Perez, when he doesn't show up every night himself.
IMO,
I think they should offer a 4.5 contract that offers him bonuses to get a 6.5. He will be playing with captain-K and Zman. I think with these 2 he should be able to get 35g-35A a year. I think it is a middle point between both parties. But I must say that I am not ready to see the Kovalev before playoffs because he was terrible.
I will tell you something. If the team don't care about the fans, they will be in big, big trouble. I'm not sure that the Bell Centre will be sold-out if Kovalev is gone.
the bell center will always be sold out even if would be and the bottom on the standings
4.5 with bonus' sounds good. If the 'real' Kovalev shows up (not like he had much of chance on the 3rd/4th checking lines) than there shouldn't be any problems. Salaries for top players are steep (anything above 3mil IMO) but if that's what it takes to keep him in Montreal, do it. I like this guy and he looks darn good in the CH too.
I know its quite a dropoff from what Kovy is earning now, but he hasn't exactly been the best player in the league either. We should be paying for what he has done recently, not what he did in Pittsburgh. If Kovy won't accept 4.5 to 5.1 Mil a year, let him pound sand. Let him see if anyone will offer him more when no one knows what the next CBA will look like. I'd love to have him back, but not by giving him a salary that will hurt us in the future.
