The Wings locked up Franzen for 11 years AP Photo/Don Heupel
Long term deal are very much in vogue in the NHL, since a player’s salary cap number is determined by the average amount of salary over the length of the new contract. No one understands this better then Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland who earlier this year locked up another one of his stars, Henrik Zetterberg, to a similar 12 year deal.
These are front loaded contracts where the player involved gets a majority of his money within the first three or four years of the deal. Teams are not adding additional years to the deal, at around I million dollars per, to keep the players cap number down.
For example the wings signed Johan Franzen to an 11 year deal worth 43.5 million dollars. In the final two seasons of the contract Franzen will only make 1 million dollars per year, thus his cap number is less then 4 million dollars for each of the 11 seasons of the contract.
In a salary cap world ingenious GM’s like Holland find ways to circumvent the rules. This is a classic example of that. Front loaded deals that give the team the cap maneuverability it will need as it rebuild on the fly to stay competitive.
Holland is so good at this that he should teach as a class. Since he took over the Wings they have won three Stanley Cup championships, and had a plethora of sure bet for the Hockey hall of Fame on the roster. The wings model works and they look to make a strong run towards another Cup title this Thursday in the first round of the NHL playoffs versus the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Back to the Franzen deal, the most Johan will get per season is 5.5 million dollars. That is a significantly less then he would have received as a prized free agent over the up coming summer. This is what proves the Wings methods work. Players are willing to make less money to play for a team that is a perennial Stanley Cup contender.
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