42 replies to this topic

[StormJH1]

Hmm. Well, he deserves the money, but I'm not really sure I'd classify it as a "steal". Yes, if he misses an ENTIRE year b/c of concussion, you could LTIR him and get the cap money (or a big chunk of it). But even before his concussions, he has missed time from other injuries. 53 games played in 07-08, and came back too early THIS year. Yeah, he looked great when he came back, but it was 22 games total. He could literally bump into a teammate again and be screwed. (Crap, he was FIGHTING in the playoffs, and he started the fight!)

I assume they didn't do anything too suspect with front loading the salary, because in Crosby's case, he could be forced to "retire" at age 28, 32, 35, whatever. And if he retires at one of THOSE ages and gets paid 12 million a year with a 8.7 mil cap hit, hmm.

[rrasco]

Those are some expensive tears.

[StormJH1]

Yeah, if he retires he comes off the Cap, so its a no-brainer signing by the Penguins and well deserved by Sid. This guy literally saved their franchise from moving to Canada and built them a new arena.


Bobby Mac's speculating that the final 3 years will be 3-4m (when he's 36+) That's far from ridiculously low and not an unreasonable age either. Zetterberg and Franzens deals are still worse offenders in that sense since they get paid less in the final years at an older age, this deal won't have a problem going through it looks like, if Bob is right.

That's all fine and good, but it still poses the same underlying problem as the Zetterberg, Franzen, and (original) Kovalchuk deals...Crosby is not like other players. There is a significant chance that a major concussion could end his career...at ANY time. Look at what happened with Pronger, by the way...he might be done.

Is Crosby retires before his mid-30's, the deal cheats the Cap, end of story. Is there any good reason why the cap hit isn't simply determined by what the player makes THAT year? Isn't that how the NBA does it? I suppose you could then back load contracts, but that risks pissing off a player who may never see that money at the back end.

[DRAPES RULES]

]
" We may hate him as a Penguin, but to be honest I'd love having Crosby reprasenting the winged wheel." !!!!!???????

If that was to happen, I would sell every bit of my Red Wings stuff on e-bay and find another team to root for.

[haroldsnepsts]

Yeah, if he retires he comes off the Cap, so its a no-brainer signing by the Penguins and well deserved by Sid. This guy literally saved their franchise from moving to Canada and built them a new arena.

Bobby Mac's speculating that the final 3 years will be 3-4m (when he's 36+) That's far from ridiculously low and not an unreasonable age either. Zetterberg and Franzens deals are still worse offenders in that sense since they get paid less in the final years at an older age, this deal won't have a problem going through it looks like, if Bob is right.

Agreed.

And honestly if Crosby remains healthy (and assuming the league remains financially healthy), he'd be a steal at $3-4 mill a year 10 years from now.

That's all fine and good, but it still poses the same underlying problem as the Zetterberg, Franzen, and (original) Kovalchuk deals...Crosby is not like other players. There is a significant chance that a major concussion could end his career...at ANY time. Look at what happened with Pronger, by the way...he might be done.

Is Crosby retires before his mid-30's, the deal cheats the Cap, end of story. Is there any good reason why the cap hit isn't simply determined by what the player makes THAT year? Isn't that how the NBA does it? I suppose you could then back load contracts, but that risks pissing off a player who may never see that money at the back end.

Crosby's risk is definitely higher given his concussion issues, but honestly I don't think it's tremendously higher than any given NHL player. They could all suffer a career-ending injury pretty much any game.

And if his career is ended that way, he's no longer playing for the team so I don't really consider it cap circumvention. The most egregious cap circumvention to me is when they pay a player well below what he'll likely be worth at the end of his career or sign a contract that is almost certainly longer than the playing career of a player based on his age not health.

[cusimano_brothers]

This seems to be a wise business deal...by both parties.

[toby91_ca]

I think there is way too much speculation going on regarding how much he'll get per year (i.e. front loading and low amounts at the end). I think it is a safe bet to assume that there will be some larger amounts at the front with a gradual decline, but that makes some sense, nothing wrong with that.

The huge difference between this 12 year deal and Zetterberg's deal is that Crosby signed his at 24 and Zetterberg signed his at 30 or 31 (also, I'm assuming Zetterberg's has a much steeper decline in salary towards the end, but that's pure speculation).

$8.7 million is an absolute steal. The risk of injury to him is a pure cash issue, not a cap issue. Locking him up at a cap hit of $8.7 per year for the next 12 years is a steal......offset that with the risk that they might be on the hook to pay him the cash with him playing if a concussion sidelines him. This assumes he can't be insured for concussions, which likely I would guess. If his contract was fully insured, there would be no risk at all....other than the cap coming down significantly, which isn't a signficant risk I wouldn't think.

[evilzyme]

So... Crosby just helped everyone out a little bit in terms of the Parise sweepstakes. Gonna be really hard to justify paying anyone over 9 million if that's what Crosby's making.

Exactly, unless you're better than Sidney Crosby and noone can legitimately say that with a straight face to their gm you aren't making past him. He wanted to take a paycut inorder to bring the best for their organization. Can't hate on that as much as i hate the kid. And yes, its a paycut in terms of his skill. Plenty of gms would easily pay him max and he would rate it. Hopefully he can stay healthy.

[Red Wings Addict]

I'm really surprised he didn't get some sort of raise. Will Malkin be content to play for the same wages after everything he's done since signing his last contract?

It's because Crosby loves the number 87. His birthday is 8/7/87. Hence his jersey number. Hence the reason why the Consol Energy Center seats 18,087 people.

Exactly, unless you're better than Sidney Crosby and noone can legitimately say that with a straight face to their gm you aren't making past him. He wanted to take a paycut inorder to bring the best for their organization. Can't hate on that as much as i hate the kid. And yes, its a paycut in terms of his skill. Plenty of gms would easily pay him max and he would rate it. Hopefully he can stay healthy.

See I don't know what kind of standard GMs want to go by, especially our own. Sid's cap hit is 8.7 but he could be making 13-14 a year depending on the structure of the contract. Therefore, is a cap hit higher than 8.7 justifiable if the individual will only make something like 9.5 in actual dollars for that year? He'll have a higher cap hit than Crosby but he won't make more money.

[Z Winged Dangler]

I thought the NHL made lifelong, front-loaded contracts illegal after the Kovalchuk debacle?

Except Kovalchuk will be back in diapers by the time his contract is up. Crosby at 36 will just be out of them. And yes, hopefully this does affect the Parise $$$ cap hit, cause no one in the NHL should really be making more money than Crosby. Good signing by the Pens and for 8.7 mil/year, if the cap keeps going up, this will seem like a discount and they'll most likely sign Malkin for the same amount per year, if not the exact same contract. He's proven he's the real deal, even if i'm not a fan you gotta give credit where it's due and those 2 deserve it. Parise is max 7.5 now with Crosby being signed for a reasonable amount, not like most GM's in the league throwing stupid price tags for average players.

[Doc Holliday]

]
" We may hate him as a Penguin, but to be honest I'd love having Crosby reprasenting the winged wheel." !!!!!???????

If that was to happen, I would sell every bit of my Red Wings stuff on e-bay and find another team to root for.

Then obviously you care about your own personal hatred for a player than the actual success of the team.

[Hockeytown0001]

They had no choice, they had to sign him.

[LeftWinger]

Then obviously you care about your own personal hatred for a player than the actual success of the team.

agree...if I can get to like Chelios, I can get to like anyone, besides it wouldn't be the first Red Wings player that I had disgust for...

[wingslogo19]

No brainer here

[Red Wings Addict]

No brainer here

Pun intended?

[turbowhistle86]

Calling it now....Shea Weber "Zetterberg's" him on the first shift Saturday, October 20th resulting in a retirement ceremony.

[Jaymister]

He could have held out for more, so it's a good deal for the Pens.

[hooon]

Really curious what this means for Malkin's next deal, wherever he signs.

[13dangledangle]

As a lot of peep's here have said I hope he has a healthy career here on out. The amount however seem's a little low tbh so Im leaning towards he doesnt feel 100%. Crosby is bar none the best player in the game when healthy so either he's feeling a little worried about his longevity or is so egotistical that he REALLY, really loves his number...

[frankgrimes]

or c. he took a paycut to get safety and win another Stanley Cup with the Pens now they have the money to sign Suter AND Parise damnit