The Penner offer sheet and ...

Edmonton Oilers Gm, Kevin Lowe, this week tended an offer sheet to Anaheim's Dustin Penner, a restricted free agent. Lowe was within his right to do so, the CBA permits it. It's not the fact that Lowe presented the offer sheet, it's the way he did that has Ducks Gm Brian Burke in a pickle.

Dan Wood of the Orange County Registar,Mentions that Burke called Lowe's actions, as being gutless and classless.Burke will meet with CEO,Micheal Schulman and owners,Henry and Susan Samueli, before any decision is made. The Ducks cap hit sits at 49,358,459, which is bumping against the cap. To be noted, that only the 23 highest salaries are counted, but there also about 400,000 of a buyout that must be calculated for 2007-08, which limits you to 22 skaters. It's certainly not the 400 k that is Burke's problem, it's what happens if Scott Niedermeyer comes back to play an another year. He has two years left on his contract.If the former captain walks away , the money comes off the books and the problem is solved and Burke can match the Oilers offer. They are many more ways around this situation, but I won't get in to it, as they are long and complex, Burke's cap guy will certainly explained them to upper management in the meeting.

It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out and the impact it will have on other RFA's due to be signed or going to arbitration. Bob Gainey in Montreal is surely not seeing Lowe's offer in a good way, as he will try to avoid an arbitration hearing with 30 goal man, Micheal Ryder, who had similar numbers to Penner's last season.

Brisebois back in Montreal ?

According to the Journal de Montreal, Bob Gainey and Patrice Brisebois were seen having a lunch together in a Montreal restaurant, from that same paper, it's mentionned made Brisebois a contract offer for the 2007-08 season at 700 k. The former Habs defenseman is said to be considering it seriously. Is Gainey gearing up at major trade, and this is a step he needed to take in order not too be caught short on the backend ? We just find out faster than we think.

Former Habs tough guy passes away and...

The man that wrote the work description for an NHL tough guy, John Ferguson, the former Hab enforcer passed away Saturday after his battle with cancer.
Ferguson was not an enforcer like we see in today's hockey, but he could also score, play the power play, penalty kill and many other things, one thing he was respected and feared. Toronto Maple Leafs, forward and tough guy, once told me '' I ''hated'' Ferguson, he use to beat me up all the time.'' Well Eddie, maybe you deserved it.

I only got to see Fergie play in his last year, it was the miracle cup run in 1971. In the off-season, he and Serge Savard owned horses and would enter races at Blue Bonnets in Montreal in the late 60's and early seventies. Ferguson was an assistant coach with Harry Sinden in the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviets.

After his playing career, Ferguson went on to become an NHL executive in New York with the Rangers, in Winnipeg, where he convinced his old buddy Savard to play a few extra years from 1981 to 83, before Savard himself become and NHL executive with the Habs. Ferguson made stops in Ottawa and San Jose, where he was a scout.

His son, Ferguson Jr, is the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and both have been seen together at times in the Air Canada Center. My deepest sympathies to the family. Fergie, you will be missed and thank you for the memories.

The cap is not working like it's suppose to

Last Friday, was the second anniversary of the new CBA, on that day two years ago, we all were jumping with joy, finally we would be getting hockey back, that lock-out was over. We thought at the time, the NHL had gotten the business under control, but as we have been seeing in the last two years, it's far from that, the same crap that cost us a year without hockey is starting over.

Why you may ask ? Well it's simple, the cap under the present structure, is not protecting the small markets as it should of. Oh yes, shoot me, but there is revenue sharing. I forgot about that. Well explain to me then, why two teams in the NHL's biggest market, New York, were among the sixteen teams in 2005-06, earning below the league average in revenues ? In that same year, league revenues were 2.265 billion, divide by 30, it comes up to 75.5m per team. The Devils and Islanders, registered 63 and 56 million. Because they play in that market, they are not eligible for revenue sharing.

This past season, the NHL reported that revenues had gone up 7%, do the math, that means the per team average went up to 80.7 m. The problem is that the cap limit is based on the league revenues, minus the benefits times 56 % and divided by 30, you have your cap limit and floor, the difference between both cannot be more than 16 million. So let's do the same exercise, but create the cap limit based on the per team average revenues. We will use the 2006-07 revenue base. So 80.7 million minus 2.5 million for the benefits, that total times 55%, comes up to 43.5 million. So last year's cap limit would not of been as large, if the same exercise had been used. So with that formula the cap limit would not of gone up as fast, but gradually. That is how a real cap system should work.

High rent district and...

A week after the UFA frenzy, here are the highest cap hit for each team that has players counting for 5 million and plus in the cap count for 2007-08 season.

For those who don't know how the cap hits are calculated, it's by day, this even if the team is not playing.The number of days are determined in the lenght of the season.Last year, it was 187 days, which likely be the same this season. The count starts on the first day of the season and ends the last day. I'm listing below the players with the highest cap hit for each team and beside it, will be his cost for a day.

Eastern Conference

Atlanta Thrashers >>> Kovalchuk , 6,389,286 > 34,167.30
Hossa, Marian 6,000,000 >32,085.56
Boston Bruins Chara, Zedno 7,500,000 > 40,106.95
Savard, Marc 5,000,000 > 26,737.97
Buffalo Sabres Vanek, Thomas 7,142,857 > 38,197.10
Florida Panthers Vokoun, 5,700,000 >30,481.28
Jokinen 5,250,000 > 28,087.87
Montreal Canadiens Markov 5,750,000 > 30,748.66
Hamrlik 5,500,000 > 29,411.76
New Jersey Elias 6,000,000 > 32,085.56
Brodeur 5,200,000 > 27,807.49
NY Rangers Gomez 7,357,143 > 39,343.01
Drury 7,050,000 > 37,700.53
Ottawa Senators Redden 6,500,000 > 34,759.36
Philadelphia Flyers Briere 6,500,000 > 34,759.36
Timonen 6,333,333 > 33,868.09
Gagne 5,250,000 > 28,087.87
Pittsburgh Penguins Gonchar 5,000,000 > 26,737.97
Tampa Bay Lightning Richards 7,800,000 > 41,711.23
Lecavalier 6,875,000 > 36,764.70
St.Louis 5,250,000 > 28,087.87
Toronto Maple Leafs McCabe 5,750,000 > 30,748.66
Sundin 5,500,000 > 29,411.76
Kubina 5,000,000 > 26,737.97
Washington Capitals Kolzig 5,450,000 > 29,144.38

Western Conference

Anaheim Ducks S.Niedermeyer* >>> 6,750,000 > 36,096.26
Pronger 6,250,000 33,422.46
Giguere 6,000,000 32,085.56
Schneider 5,625,000 30,080.21
Calgary Flames Iginla 7,000,000 37,433.15
Tanguay 5,250,000 28,087.87
Chicago Black Hawks Khabibulin 6,750,000 36,096.26
Havlat 6,000,000 32,085.56
Colorado Avalanche Sakic 6,750,000 36,096.26
Smyth 6,250,000 33,422.46
Theodore 5,333,333 28,520.50
Colombus B Jackets Federov 6,080,000 32, 513.37
Dallas Turco 5,700,000 30,481.28
Detroit Lidstrom 7,600,000 40,641.71
Datsyuk 6,700,000 35,828.88
Rafalski 6,000,000 32,085.56
Los Angeles Blake 6,000,000 32,085.56
Minnesota Gaborik 6,333,333 33,868.09
Phoenix Jovanovski 6,500,000 34,759.36
San Jose Thornton 6,666,667 35,650.62
Nabokov 5,375,000 28,743.31
St-Louis Karyia 6,000,000 32,085.56
Vancouver Luongo 6,750,000 36,096.26
Naslund 6,000,000 32,085.56

*No news about Scott Niedermeyer officially retiring. If he does and the Ducks pay him the last two years of his salary,it will count in the Ducks cap count for both seasons. If he walks away and no money is paid out, the salary comes off the books. The Flyers are in a similar situation with Keith Primeau.

The Salary Cap and ...

The NHL in October will be in it's third season under a salary cap system. In 2005-06, the first after the year long lock-out, the cap had been set at 39million. In year two, it went up to 44 million. This season as we know it will be at 50.3 million.It's risen 11.3 million dollars in two years, and if estimates are true it could go up to 62 million.That is scary.As the upper limit goes up, so does the minimum.The difference between the two cannot be larger than 16 million.

The players are fine with this cap system, as their salaries are linked to league revenues, so the more those revenues go up, so does the cap and their salaries. The money forked out in the last three UFA seasons are a good indication of that. The danger is that if the cap keeps going up at this rate, it will bleed the smaller markets, espacially non traditional ones in the United States. Oh did I mention there was revenue sharing ? Big deal, all it does, is help those markets i mentionned assured they can reach the minimum limit, it does not permit them to compete. So as you can see, the lock-out was all for nothing. Remember the season after the lock-out, when every team in the league had painted the words '' Thank you fans'' on the ice? The league should have them paint '' Thank you suckers'' for this coming season. I'm sure i'm not the only one with that thought in mind.

For cap numbers and Q & A's on the CBA, you can go to NHLSCAP.COM.

Habs make good pick-up

The Montreal Canadiens made a good pick-up in signing UFA Roman Hamrlik. He will bring stability to the Habs defence, and is a better puck handler than Souray. The Habs also signed right handed center Bryan Smolinski, who had finished the season in Vancouver when dealt at the trade deadline. Smolinski knows the NorthEst division, having played in Ottawa for several years before being dealt to Chicago along with Martin Havlat.

I hope Brian Burke knows what is doing in signing Todd Bertuzzi to a two year contract for 4 million per season. Big Bert played only 15 games last season with Florida and Detroit. If Bertuzzi can gain his 2005-06 shape where he scored 25 goals and totaled 71 points, it will be a good signing for Burke, if not it could turn into a nightmare for the Ducks.

Darren Dreger from TSN, breaks down Daniel Briere's contract. I think in the next CBA, the league should limit contracts to five years or make sure they don't overlap into the next one. Contracts are insurred up to five years, after that the player must purchase their own insurance. Just to say, Briere thirteen years ago was about to play junior hockey in Quebec for 60.00$ a week, and now is a multi-millionnaire.

My good friend Spector, makes good points in his soapbox comments about the UFA signings in the last two days. François Giguere in Colorado, Glen Sather in New York, Paul Holmgren in Philadelphia and JFJ in Toronto will be nervous guys next year, they will be hoping that their off-season moves will payoff quickly, if not the natives will get restless and demand their heads or trades, but wait, I can't trade, no cap space, the contracts are sinking my ship. I guess a pink slip may be less expensive then.

Daniel Tolensky at HockeyBuzz.com, wrote a good article, that should be read by fans all over the NHL. The avalanche of coin we have seen over the last few days, makes you wonder if the lock-out was worth it.

Signings to date

Brian Rafalski goes home and will play for the Detroit Red Wings for the next 5 seasons. the deal 30 million at 6 million per season.

Brière Joins his buddy Biron in Philadelphia for the next 8 seasons, for a whopping 52 million, he will count for 6.5 million in cap space.

Ducks sign Mathieu Schneider to a two year contract for 11.25 million, he will count for 5,625,000 in cap space, most likely we have seen the last of Scott Niedermeyer in the NHL.

Capitals sign Tom Poti to a four year contract at 3.5 million season.

San Jose give a three year extension to Joe Thornton, 21.6 million, combined to this year's salary, will make for a cap hit of 7,067,500 for the next four years.

Todd White signs with the Atlanta Trashers for 9.5 million over the next four years at 2,375,000 a season.