Hossa contract circumvented the NHL salary cap?!

[WaukeeBlues]

Impossible!!! I refuse to believe it!!!!

REPORT: Hossa's Contract with Blackhawks Under Investigation

"CHICAGO -- The NHL is investigating Marian Hossa's 12-year, US$62.8 million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks.

The league confirmed Friday that it is looking into the deal, but would have no further comment until the investigation is completed.

The Ottawa Sun first reported Thursday night that the league is studying whether the contract circumvents the salary cap and the collective bargaining agreement.

"The Chicago Blackhawks vehemently dispute any implication that the team has in any way violated the collective bargaining agreement or had any intention whatsoever to circumvent the salary cap," the team said in a statement.

"The Marian Hossa contract is a legitimate contract that was approved by the NHL. We are not at all concerned by the investigation and are confident the NHL will conclude that there is absolutely no evidence that the Blackhawks intended to circumvent the salary cap."

Hossa's contract results in a $5.23 million cap hit each year over the length of the deal, according the report. That's despite a lot of the money being paid early in the contract with Hossa making $7.9 million annually for the first seven years before his salary tapers off.

The 30-year-old, who scored 40 goals last season with the Detroit Red Wings, is expected to miss the beginning of the season after having surgery on his shoulder."

[Ruutu15]

Yeah, I doubt it, but you'd be kidding yourself not to think "under the table" deals don't happen.

Besides, the only way they could ever find out (if this IS the case) is if they were stupid enough to actually put it in writing, in which case the whole front office should be fired.

[TSUCookieMonster]

I couldn't help but chuckle a bit when I read this.

[Leedog]

Just saw on the "bottom line" that Prongers contract with Philly is being investigated too. Shouldn't their defense be that "since Zetterberg and Franzens deals were ok, we thought this method was perfectly fine."?

[philco_3]

Maybe theirs will go under investigation too.

[#1ELPBluzFan]

Hey, if the Black Hawks are stupid enough to sign Hossa for that long of a contract...they can have him; just don't expect any sympathy from anyone if the deal doesn't work out.

Good luck getting 4 good years out of him.

[Prison Bull]

The investigation hinges on whether retiring prior to the end of the contract was discussed/written. If there is proof then $5M fine and draft picks. :D

As far as I am concerned, the league left these loop-holes and have approved these types of contracts.

Kiprusoff - Oct 26, 1976 (37 in last year)
(2008/09 through 2013/14)
8.5 - 7 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 1.5 (from 6.7 to 5.833)

Zetterberg - Oct 9, 1980 (40 in last year)
(2009/10 through 2020/21)
7.4 - 7.75 - 7.75 - 7.75 - 7.5 - 7.5 - 7.5 - 7.5 - 7 - 3.35 - 1 - 1 (from 7.1 to 6.0833)

Franzen - Dec 23, 1979 (40 in last year)
(2009/10 through 2019/20)
5.5 - 5 - 5.25 - 5.25 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 3.5 - 2 - 1 - 1 (from 4.9375 to 3.95)

Lecavalier - April 21, 1980 (40 in last year)
(2009/10 through 2019/20)
10 - 10 - 10 - 10 - 10 - 10 - 10 - 8.5 - 4 - 1.5 - 1 (from 9.167 to 7.727)

Ohlund - Sept 9, 1976 (39 in last year)
(2009/10 through 2015/16)
4 - 4 - 5.5 - 5 - 3.75 - 2 - 1 (from 4.45 to 3.607)

Pronger - Oct 10, 1974 (42 in last year)
(2010/11 through 2016/17)
7.6 - 7.6 - 7.2 - 7 - 4 - 0.525 - 0.525 (from 6.68 to 4.921)

Hossa - Jan 12, 1979 (42 in last year)
(2009/10 through 2020/21)
7.9 - 7.9 - 7.9 - 7.9 - 7.9 - 7.9 - 7.9 - 4 - 1 - 1 - 0.75 - 0.75 (from 7.4125 to 5.233)

[Steve Levy Sucks]

Maybe theirs will go under investigation too.

They already were investigated and found to be in compliance. The issue with the Hossa signing is that by time the end of the contract nears he will be past his worth. Unable to negotiate a new contract would probably force him to retire, and even if he didn't - the Blackhawks lose only a million per year. The Pronger deal seems to be okay.

[Ruutu15]

Maybe theirs will go under investigation too.

They already were investigated and found to be in compliance. The issue with the Hossa signing is that by time the end of the contract nears he will be past his worth. Unable to negotiate a new contract would probably force him to retire, and even if he didn't - the Blackhawks lose only a million per year. The Pronger deal seems to be okay.

"Unable to negotiate a new contract would probably force him to retire, and even if he didn't - the Blackhawks lose only a million per year." So they're investigating the deal on behalf of the player? That's the NHLPA's job, and Hossa wasn't forced to sign it.

The way I see it, the loopholes are in the CBA. A good GM will exploit those loopholes until they are closed. I don't think you should be able to penalize a team for exploiting a grey area.

[T-Ruff]

Shouldn't their defense be that "since Zetterberg and Franzens deals were ok, we thought this method was perfectly fine."?

The NHL's problem was that Hossa's deal is the first of these ridiculously long contracts to take a player beyond age 40 (to 42), and that he is going to make only 3.5 million over the last 4 years of the deal. It looks much more suspicious than any previous contracts of these types:

Player - age at end of deal - money over last 4 years

Zetterberg - 40 - $12.350 million
Franzen - 39 - $7.500 million
Richards - 36 - $16 million
Vinny - 39 - $15 million

Hossa - 42 - $3.5 million

So there really hasn't been a contract like Hossa's before, consider this: if the Wings did the same with Zetterberg (add 2 more years of $750k, same as last 2 on Hossa's deal and taking him to age 42 as well), his cap hit would be down from 6.08 to 5.3....

[Ruutu15]

And again, what is the problem? You can't draw up a CBA and then talk about intent. Either there's a rule against what the Hawks did or there isn't. They're not the only ones to exploit this loophole. If anything, the NHL needs to worry about closing the loophole, not penalize the GM's who try to gain every advantage within the scope of the rules.

[T-Ruff]

And again, what is the problem? You can't draw up a CBA and then talk about intent. Either there's a rule against what the Hawks did or there isn't. They're not the only ones to exploit this loophole. If anything, the NHL needs to worry about closing the loophole, not penalize the GM's who try to gain every advantage within the scope of the rules.

Oh I agree... My point was simply that you can't lump them all together and justify investigating them all just because Hossa's is.