Why are we paying Franzen 4 mil?

[Antilles328 0]

Can someone explain to me the reasons why Franzen is only being paid 4 mil a year?

Is it his defense? Physicality? Skating ability? What specific part of his game prevents him from being a 6-6.5 a year player?

Because he is about as clutch as clutch can be. He's averaged nearly a goal a game in the playoffs for the past two years! He should have gotten the Conn Smythe if it wasnt for that brain injury.

I'm not sure how we got away paying him so little but I thank the hockey gods we did.

[Echolalia 2,961]

He gets a lifetime supply of Hot-n-ready, something that Illitch gives out very rarely.

[sean 19]

Franzen took less to play here.

Kenny and Co. have created an organization where players do things like that.

He'd be getting at least 5 - 6 anyplace else.

Edited May 11, 2009 by sean

[Decoy Jones 0]

Kenny probably made him an offer like this. Mule you can have 6.5 mil somewhere else and more than likely have the summer off or you can have 4 mil and be in the playoffs pretty much for the rest of your career.

[egroen 384]

Wings got a discount - but they had to give him a long-ass, decreasing contract in order to do so (he will make $5.5m next year) - which definitely exploits a current loophole in the CBA.

What worked in the Wings favor was that Franzen had barely any history of doing what he is doing now (literally one regular season and one post-season), is injured a fair amount of the time and is not much of a playmaker, which keeps his total points down.

But you are right - I am quite positive Franzen would be receiving some massive offers this summer if he was a free agent.

[kylee 727]

He gets a lifetime supply of Hot-n-ready, something that Illitch gives out very rarely.

LOL!

how's that for a signing bonus!?

[stormboy 47]

yeah, i mean to be fair, he's not nearly the relentless back-checker that datsyuk, zetterberg and hossa are. his defense isn't amazing, though it's not terrible, IMO. but a lot of players probably would get more just because of their wicked offense.

franzen would probably have signed for more elsewhere too if he'd been playing on a team other than the red wings prior to his signing. on many (though certainly not all) teams, he's be on their top line with their best set-up people and logging the most minutes, which would probably boost his production a bit. here, he gets second-line minutes with usually the second-tier defensemen (i.e. kronwall instead of lidstrom moving the puck for him). it is hard to argue that being on a line with hossa puts you on the second line, but filppula, though emerging as a (hopefully) promising set-up man, is obviously no where near where datsyuk and even zetterberg are in this regard.

[dallas27 7]

Can someone explain to me the reasons why Franzen is only being paid 4 mil a year?

Is it his defense? Physicality? Skating ability? What specific part of his game prevents him from being a 6-6.5 a year player?

Because he is about as clutch as clutch can be. He's averaged nearly a goal a game in the playoffs for the past two years! He should have gotten the Conn Smythe if it wasnt for that brain injury.

I'm not sure how we got away paying him so little but I thank the hockey gods we did.

His loyalty to the best organization in all sports, which can be seen from top to bottom.

[p_diddy_datsyuk_13 2]

OK, people.

You can say all you want that the Wings' are exploiting a loophole on the CBA with all of the long contracts they are handing out. The fact of the matter is, they are not, there is no loophole. While it may seem like a loophole now, just wait until all of these guys are 40, when their careers are nearly over and production has likely declined significantly. Franzen will still be the same $4 Million cap number at age 40, which essentially screws the team later... there is no guarantee that the salary cap will rise, so when Zetterberg and Franzen hit 40 and are taking up a cumulative $10 Million in cap space, and are putting up a combined 70-80 points a year, come back then and comment on any loophole. Toward the end of their careers, these contracts, could prevent the team from really building for the future and signing young stars to the extended contracts they may want in the future. The cap will not likely be higher than $65 million in 10+ years, so these contracts will still be taking up a significant portion of the payroll.

This is why the league is not concerned this so called "loophole" in the system, because it is NOT a loophole in fact. The teams will eventually pay for it. They will be paying them just $1 million a year in the future, while they will have a $4 Million or $6 Million cap number, so the team has to make up for it, and since players tend to diminish their productivity later in their careers, neither player will likely be worth the 4 or 6 million in cap space at that point in their careers.

See, it is not exactly a loophole, enjoy.

[Opie 308]

However when the player retires his cap hit is out the window (because of signing age), so if Zetterberg retires, pulls a Forsberg and comes back for 1 mil a year it is a brand new 1 mil a year hit!

The odds of Zetterberg, Hossa, Mule all playing to the age of 40 are very unlikely.

But you are correct it is not a loophole!

[Ms_Hockey 0]

I distinctly remember the majority of people on this site saying that Franzen wasn't worth more than $4m before he was signed.

Now we want to know why we're paying him only $4m?

[Antilles328 0]

OK, people.

You can say all you want that the Wings' are exploiting a loophole on the CBA with all of the long contracts they are handing out. The fact of the matter is, they are not, there is no loophole. While it may seem like a loophole now, just wait until all of these guys are 40, when their careers are nearly over and production has likely declined significantly. Franzen will still be the same $4 Million cap number at age 40, which essentially screws the team later... there is no guarantee that the salary cap will rise, so when Zetterberg and Franzen hit 40 and are taking up a cumulative $10 Million in cap space, and are putting up a combined 70-80 points a year, come back then and comment on any loophole. Toward the end of their careers, these contracts, could prevent the team from really building for the future and signing young stars to the extended contracts they may want in the future. The cap will not likely be higher than $65 million in 10+ years, so these contracts will still be taking up a significant portion of the payroll.

This is why the league is not concerned this so called "loophole" in the system, because it is NOT a loophole in fact. The teams will eventually pay for it. They will be paying them just $1 million a year in the future, while they will have a $4 Million or $6 Million cap number, so the team has to make up for it, and since players tend to diminish their productivity later in their careers, neither player will likely be worth the 4 or 6 million in cap space at that point in their careers.

See, it is not exactly a loophole, enjoy.

I believe there is a loophole. I believe if the player retires, the cap hit is erased or reduced. Chances are Zets/Franzen won't play till the end of their contract.

Secondly, if the cap DOES increase, then every player with a long contract will be getting paid a smaller percentage, leaving more room to sign players. I don't think there is anyway the cap doesn't increase, especially if the NHL gets back in bed with ESPN. We are essentially buying forever stamps for our players.

[Dano33 41]

OK, people.

You can say all you want that the Wings' are exploiting a loophole on the CBA with all of the long contracts they are handing out. The fact of the matter is, they are not, there is no loophole. While it may seem like a loophole now, just wait until all of these guys are 40, when their careers are nearly over and production has likely declined significantly. Franzen will still be the same $4 Million cap number at age 40, which essentially screws the team later... there is no guarantee that the salary cap will rise, so when Zetterberg and Franzen hit 40 and are taking up a cumulative $10 Million in cap space, and are putting up a combined 70-80 points a year, come back then and comment on any loophole. Toward the end of their careers, these contracts, could prevent the team from really building for the future and signing young stars to the extended contracts they may want in the future. The cap will not likely be higher than $65 million in 10+ years, so these contracts will still be taking up a significant portion of the payroll.

This is why the league is not concerned this so called "loophole" in the system, because it is NOT a loophole in fact. The teams will eventually pay for it. They will be paying them just $1 million a year in the future, while they will have a $4 Million or $6 Million cap number, so the team has to make up for it, and since players tend to diminish their productivity later in their careers, neither player will likely be worth the 4 or 6 million in cap space at that point in their careers.

See, it is not exactly a loophole, enjoy.

My buddy mentioned this too me, and i wonder what the rules are about this. Zetterbergs contract has him making $1M per year at the end of the contract. What if they decide to restructure the contract. Say they want to give Zetterberg $2M for his remaining years at that point. It would be a win for Hank because he would be making more, but what would happen to the old contract? Would the old cap hit stand after a restructured contract?

[eva unit zero 271]

My buddy mentioned this too me, and i wonder what the rules are about this. Zetterbergs contract has him making $1M per year at the end of the contract. What if they decide to restructure the contract. Say they want to give Zetterberg $2M for his remaining years at that point. It would be a win for Hank because he would be making more, but what would happen to the old contract? Would the old cap hit stand after a restructured contract?

I would assume, unless the CBA is changed, that the NHL would disallow any team from signing a player it had a contract which would have covered the same period, and would instead force them to bring the player back under the terms of the same contract (for example, if it were $1m actual salary with a $4m cap hit, a NCT, etc.) or maybe the NHL would say that the team could not make an offer on the player and he could only be signed be another franchise.

[vOrophin 5]

I distinctly remember the majority of people on this site saying that Franzen wasn't worth more than $4m before he was signed.

Now we want to know why we're paying him only $4m?

And this is why Ken Holland is a genius.

[egroen 384]

My buddy mentioned this too me, and i wonder what the rules are about this. Zetterbergs contract has him making $1M per year at the end of the contract. What if they decide to restructure the contract. Say they want to give Zetterberg $2M for his remaining years at that point. It would be a win for Hank because he would be making more, but what would happen to the old contract? Would the old cap hit stand after a restructured contract?

You can not restructure a contract under the current CBA.

I have a hard time seeing Zetterberg and Franzen being dead weights at the end of their contracts.

1) The cap will be far and away higher than it is right now (we are still talking about a league without a lucrative TV contract) - at a conservative average growth of only 5% per year, that comes to a cap of $84.5m in 8 years

2) If they retire the cap hit comes off the books

3) If they are on LTIR the cap can be exceeded by their cap hit (assuming the Wings are at or near the max)

4) If they are sent to GR their cap hit comes off the books

5) If they are waived and claimed their cap hit comes off the books

6) If they are traded, their cap hit comes off the books (and cash-strapped teams struggling to hit the minimum will love a veteran player with a low actual salary and high cap hit)

[Frozen-Man 144]

You can not restructure a contract under the current CBA.

I have a hard time seeing Zetterberg and Franzen being dead weights at the end of their contracts.

1) The cap will be far and away higher than it is right now (we are still talking about a league without a lucrative TV contract) - at a conservative average growth of only 5% per year, that comes to a cap of $84.5m in 8 years

2) If they retire the cap hit comes off the books

3) If they are on LTIR the cap can be exceeded by their cap hit (assuming the Wings are at or near the max)

4) If they are sent to GR their cap hit comes off the books

5) If they are waived and claimed their cap hit comes off the books

6) If they are traded, their cap hit comes off the books (and cash-strapped teams struggling to hit the minimum will love a veteran player with a low actual salary and high cap hit)

Excellent and succinct post. I was just about to post the same thing (although probably not as clearly ). It is a loophole because it allows teams to evade the purpose of the hard salary cap using long front loaded contracts where the teams can get the high ended cap hit off the books through any of the means that you listed above.

[C-TownWing 0]

Are you complaining? I'm not.

IMO, the reason is that we beat the market, plain and simple. I think the perception of people outside of those of us who watch him every day was that he was an okay player who happened to get hot in the playoffs last year. Even yesterday, someone on TSN (I think) compared him to John Druce, before quickly being corrected with a "yeah, but Franzen's been doing it for two years now."

Point being, most people saw him as a fluke, we saw differently, threw more money at him than anyone else would (at the time), and now that he's proving to everyone that he wasn't a fluke, it's too late, he's ours for the next decade-plus.

We locked up a 30-goal guy who defines "clutch playoff performer" for under market value. Yet another feather in the cap of our FO.

[Grim 5]

Ours is the last team that should be whining about aging players... The Wings have and would roster players approaching their mid-40s.

[Rivalred 630]

I totally agree that we are overpaying for Franzen. The man should only be making 1.5 million and be playing on the 4th line!!!!

[Guest MrSandMan]

Because he wishes to continue playing for the best organization in the history of sports.

That's a pretty good reason, wouldn't you say?

[JPT 26]

Can someone explain to me the reasons why Franzen is only being paid 4 mil a year?

He's not being paid $4 mil a year in his new contract. Thats just the cap hit. He's making the same money as he would on another team or at least in the same ballpark.

[albo23 10]

OK, people.

You can say all you want that the Wings' are exploiting a loophole on the CBA with all of the long contracts they are handing out. The fact of the matter is, they are not, there is no loophole. While it may seem like a loophole now, just wait until all of these guys are 40, when their careers are nearly over and production has likely declined significantly. Franzen will still be the same $4 Million cap number at age 40, which essentially screws the team later... there is no guarantee that the salary cap will rise, so when Zetterberg and Franzen hit 40 and are taking up a cumulative $10 Million in cap space, and are putting up a combined 70-80 points a year, come back then and comment on any loophole. Toward the end of their careers, these contracts, could prevent the team from really building for the future and signing young stars to the extended contracts they may want in the future. The cap will not likely be higher than $65 million in 10+ years, so these contracts will still be taking up a significant portion of the payroll.

This is why the league is not concerned this so called "loophole" in the system, because it is NOT a loophole in fact. The teams will eventually pay for it. They will be paying them just $1 million a year in the future, while they will have a $4 Million or $6 Million cap number, so the team has to make up for it, and since players tend to diminish their productivity later in their careers, neither player will likely be worth the 4 or 6 million in cap space at that point in their careers.

See, it is not exactly a loophole, enjoy.

We will enjoy. I am glad you are not our GM. Neither of them will have a $4 or $6 Million cap hit when they get older, they'll have a $1 Million cap hit. If Zet is in his second to last year of his contract, he is making $1 Mil for the next two years. Average those two $1 Mil's out, and you get a $1 Mil cap hit! Woohoo!!!

[puertoricanWingsfan 5]

did anyone else see the statistic that TSN showed last night about Franzen's production the playoffs the last two years?

20 goals in 25 games, including 5 game winners. That's more than Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, or any other star. Johan Franzen is simply the best playoff producer there is. PERIOD.

[XxGoWingsxX 0]

did anyone else see the statistic that TSN showed last night about Franzen's production the playoffs the last two years?

20 goals in 25 games, including 5 game winners. That's more than Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, or any other star. Johan Franzen is simply the best playoff producer there is. PERIOD.

You're DEAD WRONG...he's lazy and he sucks! lol jk good post