Zetterberg Extension: 12 years, $73 million

[puckloo39 5,686]

Pronger is def one of those bastards you hate to play against, but would welcome him on your team.

I don't know about that. After seeing him take out Homer and nearly kill him and then skate away laughing about the "physics" and how he couldn't help it... I don't want him to ever wear a winged wheel. That's not the kind of behavior I associate with this team.

Bertuzzi was suspect when he became a Wing, but I 'forgave' Bert - as if it matters what I think - for the Steve Moore incident. I truly don't believe he had any intention of seriously injuring Moore. If three Avs hadn't piled on top of them both, I wonder if the same amount of damage would have occured.

Pronger tried to injure a crippled Steve Yzerman in 2002 playoffs. If you're a fan, I don't have to tell you how that turned out. The hit on Homer, along with a dozen other less serious incidents, make me hope that Pronger remains a "Dick" forever.

[Wingsallwin 0]

If you manage to retain Hossa at 6 as well, that's 33.55 for the top 3 paid forwards, top 2 paid d-men, and top paid goalie. (Or, about 35.8 for the top 6 paid players)

For comparison:

Penguins: ~31-32

Sharks: ~36.5

Capitals: ~31.5

Bruins: ~29.5 (And dont they have to sign Thomas? Though you can probably say goodbye to Manny's contract..)

Rangers: ~36-36.5

Habs: ~30 (These guys have lots of big UFAs coming up)

Duckies: ~31-32

Flyers: ~33

Flames: ~32

Hawks: ~32

Nucks: ~29-30

These are all successful teams, with the unfortunate exception of the Pens, who have crappy coach + big injuries in the 1st half. The Wings seem to be on the upper end of the average if they sign Hossa at 6, but not the highest (and it should be noted the highest is currently the most successful, though #2, the Bruins, are the lowest in this bunch).

Let's look at some unsuccessful teams:

Bolts: (09-10 numbers, assuming no trades) ~27-2

Ottawa: ~31 (Their problem isn't top 6, though, but rather everything else XD)

Islanders: ~22.5

Trashcans.. er, Thrashers: ~22.5-23

Leafs: 23.75

Blues: ~26 (They're like missing 1 or 2 of those all season, too)

Kings: ~20

The bottom teams, on average, seem to be paying for a much, much cheaper (and also much less skilled) top 6 players. If you look at the average teams, their numbers are.. well, unsurprisingly, average.

I don't think there's any problem with the Wings spending around the same money for their top 6 as the other most successful teams in the league.

First, guys we will be fine. We know there will be a problem in this team on a goalie and defense positions but no team in the league can be perfect.

But the list you show us is ridiculous. Penguins cap situation is what everyone is concerning seriously. If you put too much money on top 5 or 6 players, you will not have any secondary scoring. That's what this Wings organization has done last between 15 to 20 years. And we were the best teams in the league every season during the regular seasons.

I cannot understand why you put the f***s there. They will be awful doubtlessly next season, how much do they pay for the top players and having no secondary scoring line?

Let's not caring about the list you show us.

The number is only number. The sports is not only one season and that is what the basic stuff every GM really always consdiers about. Some teams you listed over there like Boston and Chicago will definately lose many good players after this season and Holland has done some nice jobs so far.

We can make the best line, ZDH by not putting more than 5 million on each player. Homer gets around 2million but he is very efficient player in the league.

To fill out your request, we will sign Hossa and let's say he gets 7million.

Then, Zetterberg gets 7.2, Datsyuk gets 6.7, Hossa gets 7, Lidstrom gets 7.45, Raffy gets 6million. The toal of those top 5 players are 34.45 million, which is bigger than all teams you list out there except for the Sharks.

I don't mind we make those kind of decision but it will not be that working easily because every GM always cares about the 2nd scoring line and so far we have 3rd scoring line which other teams don't have.

[Barrie 900]

I'm starting to understand and appreciate these looooooooooong term contracts. Top players still get a big pay day while in their prime, but the cap hit isn't a big as signing a 4 or 5 year deal, because in their final few years they don't get paid as much (as it should be).

Unless Z totally tanks, this deal guarantees two things, 1) he's the future captain, and 2) he'll have his number retired. You know Zetterberg is going to bring it every night, so he won't dog it with a 12 year contract.

I'm happy with the deal. I have a soft spot in my heart for Draper, Maltby, McCarty, Ozzie, Holmstrom, Lidstrom, and Chelios, but Z is becoming my favorite player.

[Barrie 900]

I dunno...I'm gonna have to disagree. This is the longest contract in the history of the Wings. Z has repeatedly been tagged by the brass as the future captain. All signs point to Z wearing the C next. Don't get me wrong, Dats is awesome too. Signing him for 7 years was a big commitment. Just...12 is more.

Agreed. Nothing against Datsyuk, but Zetterberg is the future captain and face of the franchise after Lidstrom hangs 'em up.

[Never_Retire_Steve 35]

12 years is why it's $6M a year ...

I guess that's why I'm not too fond of this deal then (more so mixed emotions) as it could be a bad signing in about 7 years which would leave 5 years for it to play out

I only wish Holland had thought to offer him $6M for 5 years!

I know!! That bastard!

[egroen 384]

I guess that's why I'm not too fond of this deal then (more so mixed emotions) as it could be a bad signing in about 7 years which would leave 5 years for it to play out

I know!! That bastard!

Take heart in that this is a league currently without a healthy TV contract, little sponsorship with revenues comprised of close to 70% directly from ticket sales (that is upsurdly high for a NA major sport) and despite that, the cap has gone up 40% in 4 years. Even with a few level or even down years in revenues, I see the cap being at least $80 million in ten years, which is not even an average of 4% annual growth. Zetterberg's contract will not be nearly as painful as it might be now (if say, we were paying Draper $6 million).

[Frozen-Man 144]

Cap space in todays NHL, especially when it is rumored that cap space goes down, very valuable asset and therefore you have to offer for cap space something more than one struggling player with expensive and expansive contract .

Your pointed discussion became quickly my rotten tomatoes for your rotten apples.

Like many others Ken Campbell of the Hockey news disagrees with you. Discussing trades the Wings might make he notes "Valtteri Filppula comes in at a very reasonable $3 million for the next four seasons after this one." I know you don't think he is worth much but once again that is not the view of the majority of people including people who are paid to know.

[Datsyerberger 279]

Like many others Ken Campbell of the Hockey news disagrees with you. Discussing trades the Wings might make he notes "Valtteri Filppula comes in at a very reasonable $3 million for the next four seasons after this one." I know you don't think he is worth much but once again that is not the view of the majority of people including people who are paid to know.

He's worth some good picks

I just think he's the poorest choice out of, Hossa/Flip/Franzen/Hudler, where you can only keep 2 of 4. (I'd take Hossa/Hudler or Franzen/Hudler. Then again, some think Flip is worth more than Hudler, so..

[Guest mindfly]

Looks like Z and Emma will have a lovechild soon

Quote from Aftonbladet after the contract was signed

"Future generations have their economy secured"

[CrossCheck24 2]

I am exuberant.

[Never_Retire_Steve 35]

Take heart in that this is a league currently without a healthy TV contract, little sponsorship with revenues comprised of close to 70% directly from ticket sales (that is upsurdly high for a NA major sport) and despite that, the cap has gone up 40% in 4 years. Even with a few level or even down years in revenues, I see the cap being at least $80 million in ten years, which is not even an average of 4% annual growth. Zetterberg's contract will not be nearly as painful as it might be now (if say, we were paying Draper $6 million).

I think that's a little optimistic myself, these next couple years will be really hard in North America, the Canadian teams make up a huge dispropotion of league revenues and they are behind the US in their recession. Canada is going to get hit here within the next year so we will see how that affects league revenues. Anyway, I don't think we should get into an economics discussion on a hockey board (I majored in economics in University, if I wanted to debate it I would do it at school

[gowingsgo 3]

Good signing. LONG deal but hockey players do tend to have long careers for some odd reason. Hope his back hangs in there for us

[Coolio Mendez 7]

people - the CAP number is $6MM, It's highly unlikely he's getting $6MM a year for the next 12 years. If so, that's a really bad deal for Detroit (and Holland and Jimmy D DON'T do bad deals). It would not surprise me to find out that he's paid heavily over the next 3-4 years, and then it drops off.

To the person who asked about injuries and retirement? Zetterberg will now not be retiring until he's 40. NHL contracts are guaranteed. So, if he gets injured next November and never plays again - Detroit pays him out of petty cash. (I know LITR players get paid in full, but I'm not sure if they count fully against the cap before age 35 or not - after age 35, LITR no longer gets applied to the cap - hence Alexei Zhamnov making a nice living in Boston the last three years without playing a game - or taking up cap space).

Someone else with salary cap knowledge may know - but Zetterberg just guaranteed his life!

[Jedi 1,865]

I love how this genius (and obvious Avs' homer) is suggesting that this contract is deliberatly circumventing the Salary Cap rules in the CBA...

Let's be real for a second. This deal is set up to circumvent the salary cap rules...

Had Francois Giguere thought of this first he would have signed Joe Sakic last year to a 30year $44M dollar deal. The first two seasons at $6M the third season at $4M , the 4th at $2M and the last 26 at $1M apiece. That would make Joe Sakic's cap hit a miniscule $1.5M/season. But everyone knows that at the very latest Joe Sakic will only play 2 more season's this and next. He would retire after next season and the Avs would have had 2 seasons of a $6M/year player with only a $1.5M cap hit and no long-term reprecussions. Obviously this situation is preposterous, but plausible.

Hey buddy. In the future, it'd be a wise idea to actually KNOW the rules of the agreement that you're accusing someone else of violating...

[egroen 384]

To the person who asked about injuries and retirement? Zetterberg will now not be retiring until he's 40. NHL contracts are guaranteed. So, if he gets injured next November and never plays again - Detroit pays him out of petty cash. (I know LITR players get paid in full, but I'm not sure if they count fully against the cap before age 35 or not - after age 35, LITR no longer gets applied to the cap - hence Alexei Zhamnov making a nice living in Boston the last three years without playing a game - or taking up cap space).

Someone else with salary cap knowledge may know - but Zetterberg just guaranteed his life!

Contracts can be insured for up to 7 years, anything after that comes out of the teams' own pockets.

Players on LTIR still count against the cap, but the club is allowed to exceed the cap by that same amount.