Zetterberg pulls a Hossa

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/HeleneStJames/status/1040598537858437122

3 years left on his contract. This upcoming one pays him $3.35mil. The next two pay him $1mil each. If his contract was 9 years instead of the sham 12 his cap-hit would have gone from $6.083mil to $7.516mil.

But hey, a heck of a career for the guy.

 

[L K]

https://twitter.com/HeleneStJames/status/1040598537858437122

3 years left on his contract. This upcoming one pays him $3.35mil. The next two pay him $1mil each. If his contract was 9 years instead of the sham 12 his cap-hit would have gone from $6.083mil to $7.516mil.

But hey, a heck of a career for the guy.

It?s a shame the Leafs never got to take advantage of these cap circumvention.  We got in trouble for buying a pick for Olaf Kolzig and had to pay picks for Babcock and Lou though!

 

[cabber24]

Utter BS, cheaters. CHI too. Should have signed Marleau for 6 years all front loaded. Something wrong with his medulla oblongata? Hasn't missed a game in three seasons and soon as his contract starts paying peanuts he's "to hurt" to play.

Am I offside? Do you think his back thing is real? From afar, it doesn't seem to pass the smell test.

 

[Kin]

I said it re: Hossa and I said it re: Lupul but the idea of these conditions being "real" or not or injuries being genuine or not is kind of missing the point.

My guess is that almost any hockey player of a certain age could find medical reasons why they "can't" continue playing that a doctor could sign onto in good conscience.

 

[cabber24]

I just hinted in a Red Wings forum that this may not totally be above board and the comment was immediately removed.

 

[cabber24]

Cap circumvention aside, one of the best draft picks all time, 1999, 7th round, 210th pick.

Fantastic career.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Lets not forget that Zetterberg told a Swedish media outlet this just last summer:

"The only reason why we wrote such a long contract was because of the payroll," Zetterberg said in a translation of the interview. "It is quite obvious that you try to fool the system. Actually, I may have two years left, but I have also learned to take one year at a time. But I will probably not play until then (the 2020-21 season, when the contract expires)."

 

[Phileas Fogg]

I just hinted in a Red Wings forum that this may not totally be above board and the comment was immediately removed.

Considering what he's meant to the franchise, and the fact that the Wings are clearly not going to be a contender anytime soon, it's not like they just stole the hope diamond here. The contract was made in a different time when there were obvious loopholes, and smart GMs exploited it.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

I just hinted in a Red Wings forum that this may not totally be above board and the comment was immediately removed.

Considering what he's meant to the franchise, and the fact that the Wings are clearly not going to be a contender anytime soon, it's not like they just stole the hope diamond here. The contract was made in a different time when there were obvious loopholes, and smart GMs exploited it.

Ding Ding Ding

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Considering what he's meant to the franchise, and the fact that the Wings are clearly not going to be a contender anytime soon, it's not like they just stole the hope diamond here. The contract was made in a different time when there were obvious loopholes, and smart GMs exploited it.

My main issue with the whole thing is that the league threw in those dumb cap recapture penalties that were meant to retroactively punish teams that signed these contracts and then years later are completely failing to enforce those penalties. So what was the point of them in the first place? Just get rid of them and let these players retire with some more dignity instead of forcing them to go on LTIR for years.

 

[cabber24]

Considering what he's meant to the franchise, and the fact that the Wings are clearly not going to be a contender anytime soon, it's not like they just stole the hope diamond here. The contract was made in a different time when there were obvious loopholes, and smart GMs exploited it.

My main issue with the whole thing is that the league threw in those dumb cap recapture penalties that were meant to retroactively punish teams that signed these contracts and then years later are completely failing to enforce those penalties. So what was the point of them in the first place? Just get rid of them and let these players retire with some more dignity instead of forcing them to go on LTIR for years.

Agreed.

 

[Kin]

Considering what he's meant to the franchise, and the fact that the Wings are clearly not going to be a contender anytime soon, it's not like they just stole the hope diamond here. The contract was made in a different time when there were obvious loopholes, and smart GMs exploited it.

My main issue with the whole thing is that the league threw in those dumb cap recapture penalties that were meant to retroactively punish teams that signed these contracts and then years later are completely failing to enforce those penalties. So what was the point of them in the first place? Just get rid of them and let these players retire with some more dignity instead of forcing them to go on LTIR for years.

Like I said before and like I said in the Lupul situation, really "going after" teams would result in the NHL trying to establish a single and independent standard for what constitutes a player being too injured to play.

Which they won't do while the concussion lawsuits are going on. Not in a million years.

 

[L K]

I said it re: Hossa and I said it re: Lupul but the idea of these conditions being "real" or not or injuries being genuine or not is kind of missing the point.

My guess is that almost any hockey player of a certain age could find medical reasons why they "can't" continue playing that a doctor could sign onto in good conscience.

You really can.  I have to fill out disability packages for patients all the time.  I have yet to run into a single company, or at least their insurance company, who tries endlessly to try and convince me that the patients isn't really disabled.  My job as a physician is to look at the patient in front of me and care for their needs and interests.  I do need to keep a mind on the system impact but if a person is disabled, they are disabled.

Where it becomes very complicated is in something like a skill based profession.  There isn't an alternative job for a hockey player.  If Tavares blows his knee out tomorrow and can't skate, there isn't another job he can fill to uphold his contract with the team.  Sure, he might offer to scout or become a Jr Assistant manager to the Assistant GM but that doesn't have an impact on the cap. 

Zetterberg could probably still play hockey.  He likely can't play hockey to the standard that he wants.  He especially isn't likely to want to do it for a fraction of the money he made in earlier years.  There is no way you are going to be able to prove that he isn't unable to compete though.