He's making a buyout decision quite difficult. As they said he seems to have become the unofficial captain of this team.
Yep. Its a damn shame but change is part of the game and his numbers and years are just too much to consider for another 6 years.
Perhaps the nhl will change their tune and change the rules like with the devils and Kovalchuk. .. Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk
The thing with Richards is he stinks up the joint most of the time but can come back with the big goal. I can see why it is kinda a difficult decision but he still needs to be bought out.
Richards is 7-0 in game 7's now, has a cup a Conn Smythe and has scored some huge playoff goals. You need guys like that on your team despite the cap recapture and the stretches where he doesnt do much in the reg season. Holy shit this team is in the ECF!!!!
its hard to deny that richards has had a good impact on this playoff run so far, but you got to agree with me here is that he is put in a lot of opportunity to be successful, he plays in every PP on the point, he does play on the PK, hes there on every big moment, he has good amount of ice time which is why its frustrating when he isnt producing because he should have so many chances, with that being said, idk if we still dont buy him out again, its just sometimes business decisions are business decisions.... and there not easy
Dis...this falls into a similar situation with the likes of cally and dubi...you would like to keep the player, all the intangibles are there, BUT...in the day if a hard salary cap with severe penalities, it would be too huge of a risk to carry that contract around. There should be something in the agreement that allows, by mutual agreement between the player and team, to rework an existing contract, just like they do in the NFL. Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk
As well as Richards has played. And as much as he has become the defacto Captain, I think he still has to be boughtout this summer. These are the tough decisions that a guy in Sather's position has to make. Not an easy call. To me even more than the cap recapture issue is his cap hit versus his production. He is going down. He will only get worse as he ages, that is reality. So next year, the year after, Richards getting 6.7 mill per will be very tough to swallow as his production drops further. He scored 20 this season, but stil not worth that type of cap hit. And now to have that for 4 or 5 more seasons will cripple us. This is a decision along the lines of dealing Cally, and Sather made the right, and tough, call there. He needs to do it again for the better of the team. Only issue is MSL and the fact that this team has become a family pretty much. But what can you do.
Someone correct me if I am wrong but, I believe the Devils were found to have tried to circumnavigate the cba with the original contract signed by Kovalchuk. They were supposed to have a first round pick taken away from them. I believe that was recinded to a lesser pick. Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk
Yes, they gave the Devs the last pick in the 1st round. But there is ZERO ZERO ZERO shot they change the rules regarding re-negotiating signed contracts. That would just be a way to get around the cap. And the NFL has it because their contracts are NOT guranteed.
there are some contracts that have guarantees in them Chuck. Sanchez I believe was guaranteed last season when he redid his contract two years ago. The entire contract however is never guaranteed in the NFL.
here is the research on the Devils issue... "The sanctions originally imposed on the Club included a significant fine, the forfeiture of the Club's third-round draft selection in 2011 (which was forfeited) and the forfeiture of a first-round draft selection which has been deferred by the Club until this year in accordance with the terms of the original penalty. As a result, as it relates to the portion of the discipline relating to the first-round draft pick, the Devils stand to forfeit it entirely in the upcoming 2014 NHL Draft. The Devils recently applied to the League for reconsideration and relief from a portion of the original penalty, citing primarily changes in circumstances which, in the Club's view, changed the appropriateness of the sanctions initially imposed. After due and thorough consideration, the League has decided that a modification of the original circumvention penalty associated with the Kovalchuk contract is warranted and, accordingly, has amended the sanctions as follows: The New Jersey Devils will now be entitled to the 30th selection overall in the 2014 NHL Draft (the last pick in the first round), regardless of the Devils' final standing following the 2013/14 season. The Club will not be permitted to trade or transfer its right to the 30th overall selection in the 2014 NHL Draft. The Club's fine has been partially reduced. So I think one of the big things we fear with Brad's contract is early retirement and the significant cap penalty for that...maybe if the early retirement was due to injury we can apply for the same leniency that the devils got.
the only part worth discussing is why Kovalchuk's contract doesn't count against their cap, and i don't know the reason.
Al, that is the NFL. It will NEVER happen like that in the NHL. And at the very least it will not happen until this CBA is up 7 years from now. So nothing to discuss. Let's talk about something else....
I believe Kovy's deal doesn't count against the cap because he left them to play in the KHL, and I am pretty sure he left prior to the new CBA, which is where the cap recapture clause came from and started. Prior to that there was no cap recapture clause, so Kovy could "retire" with no harm. The new CBA introduced the cap recapture clause so all the teams that signed these crazy long deals with 1 or 2 mill in real money due the last 2 or 3 seasons, would have to pay for making a joke of the cap, which is exactly what those contracts were signed to do.
What a tough decision. According to CapGeek, if he retired at age 37, his cap hit for the final 3 years would be just under 5.7 mil. It would be worse if he retired at a later age. I was glad they didn't buy him out last year. His leadership, big game ability, and possible locker room fall out might not be worth buying him out. The cap will probably rise 3 years from now and maybe we could absorb that. Hell, we were paying 3 enforcers that werent't even on the team anymore probably 3.5 mil +/- a year or 2 ago. I'll understand a decision either way. This is a really hard one but I'd be inclined to keep him.
