In spite of a pretty remarkable playoff run, Maxim Lapierre still has a lot to prove.
Is he that motor-mouthed ball of energy we saw in the playoffs, or the passive, non-forechecking softy we saw in the regular season?
Lapierre revealed late in the regular season when his play began picking up that a lingering foot injury is what caused his performance to dip, and that once that had gone away, he was able to play his own game again.
Of course, that's a pretty easy crutch to throw out there as a reason, but you can only do that when you are once again an effective member of the team, which he clearly was in the playoffs.
The lasting image for me of Lapierre's post-season came late in Game 7 of the first round, chasing Capitals "defenceman" Mike Green for a puck deep in Washington territory and distracting him enough to allow Dominic Moore to swoop in, grab the puck and score far side on Semyon Varlamov. That would turn out to be the winning goal of the series and allowed the Habs to continue a magical spring ride that sent emotions sky high in Montreal and also put millions in pure profits in the team coffers.
So, like many of the decisions he's been forced to make this off-season, Pierre Gauthier had to decide which Lapierre he was signing to a new contract. Was it the one that clearly got under his opponents' skin to great effectiveness in the playoffs, the one that used his speed to force turnovers on the forecheck, the one that was very often one of the best Canadiens forwards on the ice? Or was it the Lapierre that spent most of the season peeling away from finishing his hits on the forecheck, that didn't look the least bit fast and didn't appear to have any impact on the outcome of a game?
It appears that Gauthier decided that he didn't want to decide.
Giving Lapierre a one-year deal for $900,000 tells me that Gauthier doesn't buy his post-season performance, that he wants to see it for 82-plus games before giving him a long-term deal that would keep him in his hometown for the foreseeable future.
Now it's up to Lapierre to go out and prove that last season's lethargy really was injury-related and that he is in fact the guy we saw in the playoffs and especially two years ago, when he was often times the lone shining light in what was a dismal season.
With Lapierre signed the Canadiens cap situation becomes even more clear, and it also explains what is taking Gauthier so long to sign Carey Price. According to capgeek.com the Canadiens have $4.7 million of cap space remaining, except that doesn't count Price's contract plus those of the Hamilton players who will make the team this year. Also, it does count the $425,000 in bonus money included in Lars Eller's contract, and I'm sure the Canadiens would rather not use the bonus overage if it can be avoided.
So, if we take for granted that there will be two players from Hamilton that will make the team this year and they will cost no more than $900,000 each, plus if we remove the overage for Eller's bonuses, that leaves around $2.5 million to get Price signed and leave a little wiggle room for the upcoming season.
That amount of cap space essentially rules out the possibility of getting Price locked up long term because Gauthier can't offer an average salary greater than $2 million per year. Considering the Canadiens have essentially handed the No. 1 job to Price and the team has no other viable options, it's hard to imagine Price accepting so little on a multi-year deal. If he were signed prior to the Jaroslav Halak trade, then maybe something could have been worked out, but not now.
So, like Lapierre, it looks as though it will be up to Price to prove himself this year and earn himself a big contract, because I'd be stunned to see either side agreeing to each other's terms on a long-term marriage.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
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17 comments:
I fail to see why they wouldn't use the bonus overage; it's there and pretty much automagically applied to bonuses. As long as you don't spill over the 2 millions reserve or so it represents (and other than Eller's we don't have any bonuses on payroll), there is no problem there, the money won't carry over next year, no?
As much as I like Lapierre, I'm not sure is anything more than a replacement-level player. I don't think he'll ever earn much more than what he does now.
As for Price, it's all about an offer sheet, I guess.
Olivier,
I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the bonus overage applies as soon as you exceed the cap by using it. Whatever amount you exceed the cap by is the amount your cap number is reduced the following year. I read that section of the CBA about a million times last season because of Price's bonus money, and that's what I understood.
The team will realize almost a million in additional cap space if Markov stays on the long term IR for 15 games.
It is also unreasonable to assume that no other player will spend any time on the IR.
Cap space can always be found during the season if it is needed.
Hamrlik's deal is in its last year and some team will need a veteran defenceman some time this season. Thats a bundle of cap space.
Long term injury relief is a very complicated mechanism that basically only benefits a team if a player is out for the rest of the season. As soon as Markov comes back, the team will have to return under the cap, meaning if someone were acquired to replace him he'd have to be removed from the payroll upon his return. There are a lot of conditions attached to LTIR, a list too long to mention here, but it's not as simple as just claiming the salary of the player for the amount of time he's lost.
@Arpon: Agreed on the LTIR.
But about the bonuses, I'd tend to give the capgeek guys some credit, and they systematically count the bonus cushion as freed up "hard" cap space, up to the given limit, which according to them is 7.5% above cap ceiling, about 4.5 millions.
But at the same time, the habs had only Price's 1.35 mil bonus on the books last year and still ended up with 65k carry-over bonus penalty, so I'm obviously reading this the wrong way.
I think the CBA is a poorly written document. But then again, I'm not a lawyer...
Olivier,
On the bonus overage it's relatively clear. Should you decide to use it, you will be penalized. Simple as that. The capgeek guys include it in every team's available cap space because, I suppose, every team could theoretically use that mechanism to squeeze more cap dollars out of the system, like the Hawks did last year. But there are clear consequences to that. That's why I prefer not to include it, because I believe it's a last resort for most teams.
@Olivier & Arpon:
-you can only use the bonus cushion assuming the bonuses have been earned...big assumption at this juncture
@Anon: as for the savings of big ticket players (eg Hamrlik) being traded at the dealine it's not that significant---that's why other clubs pick up these players late in the year as most of the salary has been already paid. even if it was significant they have to sign Price "now" not after January
-the Cap is a very complicated issue that would have been a lot easier to deal with now had they not acted as drunken sailors with last July 09 signings.
-July 09 to date has cost them Halak, Moore, Ellis, will reduce the number of 2010-11 call ups from Hamilton, forced them into a 1yr contract with Lapierre and potentially the same w Price which will eventually cost them more than necessary when he re-signs. assuming he has a decent year
-in a cap world your contracting sins always catch up to you..Gainey & Gauthier are beginning to pay for that expensive 'experiment'
pfhabs, look at the teams in this year's Finals: two of the absolute WORST cap managers in all of hockey. The under-appreciated fact is that it's to spend first and sort out the cap implications later, than to hoard cap space. San Jose, Philly, Chicago and Boston are among the teams that attest to that. Last year's spree is not the problem - it bagged us a very good core. The problem with this organization is, and has been for some time, the absence of elite-level cheap young talent coming from Hamilton.
If it's a 1 year deal, then Price is already signed. He was already offered his qualifying offer as per the CBA and he does not have arbitration rights. Therefore, he would already be signed to play for next year. This is definitely going to be a 2-3yr deal I believe that will be filled with bonuses (to motivate young Pricey).
@TMan
Price is not technically signed until he agrees to the terms of the qualifying offer. If he does not agree, he remains an RFA and we have no starting goalie (an unlikely scenario).
Also, I do not believe that bonuses can be applied to a non-entry-level contract, such as what Price will be signing.
@PFHabs - While what you say is true about bonuses, a team has to assume a player will hit those bonuses when budgeting for the cap. But it's also true that Eller may be unlikely to hit them, so perhaps Habs will take that chance. And yes, the Gomez trade has crippled the team in terms of cap space for years, but I found him to be a valuable two-way player in the playoffs. Grossly overpaid, but valuable nonetheless.
@TMan - Price is not obligated to sign his QO, his lone other option being to holdout. I doubt either side wants it to get that far, but Price will want more than the paltry amount of his QO.
@Flamemoth - You are right, only entry level and 35+ contracts can include bonus clauses
@Arpon:
-it's not only Gomez. Cammalleri who is an excellent player but vastly overpaid...the Senators GM in talking about the Kovalev signing indicated that they offered Mike $5.5 for 4 years...that was his second best offer...the CH paid $8 million more than that over the 5 years. Gionta was told by Lamerillo to sign with the CH because the best he'd offer is $2.75-$3.0 per year. the CH paid $2.0-$2.25 beyond that per year...again a good player but overpaid..Spacek at $3.83 for 3 years for a 35+ yr old player is overpaid. Mara-did he play? was paid $1.675 for about 30 games. no value there either
-its more than Gomez who showed up for 30 in-season games and the post season. btw I'll remind you that Koivu scored 52 points in the reg season (to Gomez's 59) for $4.1million less than Gomez. I think we need to define true value because Scott is not value for dollars nor will he ever be under this current contract. he's not even a point-a-game-player which is the level which is commenserate with about $5 million/year
-so the cap nightmare is a myriad of player signings not just the Gomez stupidity....and in case you thought this management group learned its lesson we have that $500,000 raise for Pouliot for his aaah valuable contributions !
-as for the bonus inclusion you are correct it makes sense to include for planning purposes
@Anon:
-the two teams in the Cup finals are light years ahead of the CH in players on the ice...even with all those jettisoned by Chicago (7 at last count) they still have a better team than the CH and btw they won the Cup....the CH cannot match the Hawks nor the Flyers anywhere on the ice except for in goal...so to say the finalists also have bad cap numbers you are correct but they have great teams...the CH only have the bad numbers with an aging slower D corps and a couple elements up front...the CH 3rd and 4th lines are no match nor are their centres...so the CH in my view have bad numbers and a bubble team---bad combo
PF: When it comes to Cap issues, we always have to remember the habs are gonna pay for the higher tax rates here in Québec. So tag a few dollars here and there.
As for Koivu vs Gomez, well Saku Koivu may very well end up one of the most criminally underpaid players of the last 15 years or so. I don't think he can give the sheer volume of minutes Gomez gives in a given season, but other than that, he is as good as Gomez (who *is* and underrated defensive player IMNHO). We all agree Scott is overpaid, but the defensive creds I personaly give him means that to my eye the level of overpay he represents isn't criminal or counter-productive.
That being said, I see no cap nightmare. Halak, if Eller is what I think he is, may turn out to be a good sell-high move and Price may very well end up being a very decent value on his next contract. He was a pretty darn good one on his first, warts, lack of maturity and all that stuff included. We all remember his 09 implosion and how Halak left him in the dust last winter, but on his first three seasons, he also had very-good with shades of outright dominating first half. He'll be fine.
What annoys me right now is that we just don't have that much talent out of the top-6. Eller looks good, but Moen, Lapierre, Pyatt, Darche and Boyd are all 15-20 points scorers. That's better than last year, when we had Laraque in the mix, but it still isn't very good offense-wise. That's why I don't think shipping the younger K was a wise move; we need another set of hands in the bottom of the lineup.
PF: When it comes to Cap issues, we always have to remember the habs are gonna pay for the higher tax rates here in Québec. So tag a few dollars here and there.
As for Koivu vs Gomez, well Saku Koivu may very well end up one of the most criminally underpaid players of the last 15 years or so. I don't think he can give the sheer volume of minutes Gomez gives in a given season, but other than that, he is as good as Gomez (who *is* and underrated defensive player IMNHO). We all agree Scott is overpaid, but the defensive creds I personaly give him means that to my eye the level of overpay he represents isn't criminal or counter-productive.
That being said, I see no cap nightmare. Halak, if Eller is what I think he is, may turn out to be a good sell-high move and Price may very well end up being a very decent value on his next contract. He was a pretty darn good one on his first, warts, lack of maturity and all that stuff included. We all remember his 09 implosion and how Halak left him in the dust last winter, but on his first three seasons, he also had very-good with shades of outright dominating first half. He'll be fine.
What annoys me right now is that we just don't have that much talent out of the top-6. Eller looks good, but Moen, Lapierre, Pyatt, Darche and Boyd are all 15-20 points scorers. That's better than last year, when we had Laraque in the mix, but it still isn't very good offense-wise. That's why I don't think shipping the younger K was a wise move; we need another set of hands in the bottom of the lineup.
Olivier, I think you're selling Boyd a bit short lumping him in as a perennial 15-20 point guy... he was pretty much as big of a scorer in junior as Sergei was, and he's been stifled on two NHL teams that don't like offence in Calgary and Nashville to date. I think he has the hands and speed for being a nice complimentary scorer. Nothing huge, but solid.
Also, both Trotter and Desharnais are on the bubble, and they just had massive years in the AHL while being fairly young. It's possible we can get some offensive contribution there, as I assume one of the two, if not both, will make the team.
Sergei had no interest in playing for this team anymore. He showed that many times. It sucks, but what can you do? He just wasn't that into us.
Arpon, I think the whole one year deal philosophy is pretty engrained in Montreal management right now: keep the players under 27 as cheap as possible, and pay the vets the big bucks. I agree that Price will get no more than two years, and likely just one year as well.
@Olivier:
-understand the taxes in Quebec are higher and that agents play the game that a $1 in MTL is only worth .85 in TO or Ottawa or .60 in the US. but has anyone seen any real stats on the value of a $1,000,000 contract in MTL vs other jurisdictions ? I believe FLA has no state taxes at all but do not see other US based teams giving UFAs premiums to compete with the Florida teams
-as for Saku; yes underpaid but more importantly underappreciated by a disgustingly large number of fans and media
-for Gomez being an underrated defensive player you may be right but it makes his salary even less palatable when you think of the best 2-way players today in terms of production, defensive play and salary; eg, Zetterberg...boggles the mind to remember that Gainey et al sold Gomez to the fans as a player 'in the top 5 skaters in the league' but referring to offensive capability
-absolutely correct that based on what we know bottom 6 is average as a collective group and Sergei is a loss
@Saskhab:
-as for Calgary and Nashville being into defensive hockey...I'm sure Jacques' 0-5 sit back and wait style has not escaped you...Boyd may be lucky to get 25 points !
-as for Sergei its tough to be into an organization that lets you free wheel on the streets after hours, admonishes you for it then sticks you on a third line with slugs after some pretty good years with guys named Kane and Gagne...shows you some enlightened coaching under Boucher but buries you under the autocratic rule of The Count...Sergei is exhibit A-1 of very poor mentoring and player development with Latendresse being exhibit A... could also add D'Agostini in the mix and O'Bryne may be soon to follow
-at some point you cannot get rid of that much of the roster to please an outdated coach w/o saying/thinking it's time for new bench leadership...my view anyway
funny I actually think the bottom 6 looks alright - assuming Eller is who we are told he is. I'm more worried about the top 6. Specifically the two wingers (ak, chicken) penciled (very lightly I think) beside our core 4.
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