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Free Agent Frenzy

The $4.25 million is $1 million salary and a $3.25 million signing bonus. But wait, there’s more. Ovi gets a $4.75 million bonus for 10 games played.

That leaves them with less than $1 million cap space, so the bonus overage will be deferred until next year.
 
Ovechkin will probably play 12 minutes a night, half on the power play, and pop in 30 again. Tuch will do all the hard work he skips out on, score 20 and get called a free agent bust. This has been Nostadambear, thanks for your time.
 
David Rittich signed with the Devils, 1 year/$1 million.

So the Devils have 35 year old Jake Allen for 4 more years, Nico Daws, who has played 9 NHL games total in the last 2 seasons, signed for 2 years and Rittich.
 
On Ovechkin

Ovechkin waits to decide whether or not he is coming back for this season...which I totally understand.

He makes his decision, 'I'm coming back!' Now everyone knows his role is going to be as a PP merchant and possibly a 2nd/3rd line sheltered minutes winger. Does Ovechkin offer to take a lesser salary on this 1 year deal with Washington now up against the cap given a reduced role? NOPE! This deal is effectively a $9 million one season contract. It's structured with that big and easily achievable bonus structure to allow the Caps to defer a big chunk of that cap hit to the following season because they didn't have the cap room to give him the full $9 million as salary or signing bonus.

Ovechkin just couldn't play this season without that extra $4.75 million I guess?
 
I mean, who am I to question Alex Ovechkin and his salary needs (McDonalds and Coca-Cola prices are up), but if I was a Caps fan, I would be sort of livid about Ovechkin not taking less money. He is impacting their cap next season in a sizable way. He really needed that big of a salary for his farewell tour season?
 
andyt said:
David Rittich signed with the Devils, 1 year/$1 million.

So the Devils have 35 year old Jake Allen for 4 more years, Nico Daws, who has played 9 NHL games total in the last 2 seasons, signed for 2 years and Rittich.
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Not sure who is supposed to be actually playing the games in NJ. Rittich is a career backup (and getting paid like it), Daws is a guy who has never done anything more than platoon on any level, even junior. He’s never played more than 44 games in a season in his life … and that was last season in Utica. Before that his career high was 34 games. Allen famously crapped out as a starter in St Louis several times and has been a backup in Montreal and NJ for the last 7 years.

I mean, I guess that can triple platoon if they want. The total position payroll isn’t that much, at a total of less than $4 mil for the three of them. But why? It feels like an MLB team getting stuck pitching their bullpen for an entire game because a starting pitcher got hurt on a road trip. There’s got to be another shoe yet to drop. Maybe they think they’re in for Hellebuyck? Maybe they’re working on a deal for a surprlus goalie somewhere else and need to send Allen away in the deal? I dunno but it’s weird.
 
NoMich said:
Does a team get "punished" somehow for doing that?
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I think the league sees the salary Cap hit for the following season as punishment. And it would be if the Cap wasn’t jumping up year to year at the rate it’s currently projected

cmaleski2 said:
I mean, who am I to question Alex Ovechkin and his salary needs (McDonalds and Coca-Cola prices are up), but if I was a Caps fan, I would be sort of livid about Ovechkin not taking less money. He is impacting their cap next season in a sizable way. He really needed that big of a salary for his farewell tour season?
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Yeah. It feels like a lot for a guy that’s probably going to give them 60-something points again. He’s going to max out at $9.0 mil so long as he doesn’t blow his knee out before Game 10. That would put his salary roughly $500K under where it’s been for 18 years … since his ELC expired. So the only concession Ovechkin has made to age and decline has been inflation.
 
Jaime Benn isn't any good anymore, but he apparently was willing to keep playing for far less money than he was getting before. Basically the exact opposite of what the Washington Capitals captain did.
 
Yeah, Benn went to the low salary/high bonus structure last season when his last long term deal expired, but he still ended up getting paid $4 million last season. And he’ll end up getting that full $2 million in 26-27 because the performance levels are allowed to be laughably low in these deals. He’s now a below replacement level player who basically brings value only for the letter he wears on his uniform and the once or twice a season he goes full Hulk on somebody’s head. If that’s worth more than, ya know, a guy who can consistently give you a good shift, then fine I guess. That’s kind of stuff that wins you votes with the GM of the Year committee, after all.
 
Yes, there’s an element of greed to Ovechkin’s deal, but the WAS front office didn’t have to make that deal. Also, is WAS going to be a draw without Ovechkin on his farewell tour? Seems to me— yes, it’s a tight squeeze and DC is full of money grubbers— both sides knew their worth.
 
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