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Hossa's (81) contract with Blackhawks is drawing NHL's attention (AP)
The NHL is scrutinizing Marian Hossa's contract with the Chicago Blackhawks to determine whether it circumvents the salary cap and the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
Of course it does.
Hossa signed a 12-year $62.75-million contract this summer. The contract will take Hossa to the age of 42, however, with $55.3-million payable in the first seven years it is very likely (and should be assumed) that Hossa would begin to contemplate retirement.
In additon to providing the Blackhawks with a discounted salary cap figure of $5.23-million per year, signing Hossa to such a contract before the age of 35 allows the team to clear his salary cap figure should he choose to retire after receiving the bulk of his money. The CBA has a provision that the salary cap hit of a contract signed by a player over the age of 35 remains on the books should the player retire.
The truth of the matter is the NHL had to approve the contract before it could be registered, and it has done so.
The New York Islanders were the first to employ a long-term deal to discount the salary cap hit when they signed goalie Rick DiPietro to a 15-year contract. Mike Richards of the Philadelphia Flyers and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals also signed contracts that extend beyond a decade. In DiPietro's case the the annual salary is equal to the salary cap figure, and Richards and Ovechkin's contracts escalate and peak in the middle years, before tapering off towards the end, similar to their expected performance through the years.
And Hossa's is not the first contract structured in this fashion. Vincent Lecavalier's 11-year, $85-million extension ($70-million in the first seven years) with the Tampa Bay Lightining, was the first big money, long-term, front-loaded contract to exploit this loophole in the CBA. That was followed by the Detroit Red Wings' 12-year, $72-million contract with Henrik Zetterberg and 11-year, $43-million contract with Johan Franzen. All three of these contracts, if fulfilled until the end of the term would see these players in action until they are 40 years old.
I think it's a reasonable assumption that neither the team nor the player expect to fulfill the term of these contracts. And while this type of contract does circumvent the salary cap and contravenes the intention of the CBA, it is allowed by the letter of the agreement
The league's investigation in to the Hossa deal at this time is simply to give notice to the NHL player's association that they intend to close this loophole when the current CBA expires at the end of the 2011-12 season.
Comments
Interesting , its like a chess game
Regarding the comparison to DiPietros contract: While its true that the length of DiPietros contract allowed for the team to sign him for what would ultimately be far less money, the difference with his contract in commparison is that his is not front loaded and is a straight salary throughout. Not a huge difference, but a difference nontheless.
Chris - That is exactly what I am pointing out. The Islanders were the first to employ a long-term deal to lock up a star player, but they have it structured such that DiPietro's annual cash salsary is the same as the avergae cap hit. The Lightning and Lecavalier were the first to front load a long-term deal which set the table for what Detroit has done with Zetterberg and Franzen, and for Chicago to do with Hossa and the Flyers to do with Pronger. It just seems odd that while the NHL has approved all five of those contracts that they would leak to the media that they are investigating the last two (Hossa, and Pronger). Either you investigate all five or none!? Why Hossa's but not Lecavalier's? Why Pronger's but not Zetterberg's? The intent and the result is the same in all five cases.
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