The Flyers organization is generally proactive about signing important players to contract extensions ahead of their free agency eligibility, whether it be the restricted or unrestricted variety. As we saw this summer with Matt Carle's departure via unrestricted free agency and the major immediate escalation of RFA winger Jakub Voracek salary in a new long-term deal, things get dicier and pricier once July 1 hits and a player is still unsigned.
Last night, the Flyers signed Wayne Simmonds to a six-year contract extension that will begin in 2013-14 once he plays the second and final season of the deal he signed after coming to Philadelphia in the Mike Richards trade. Simmonds, who will make $1.75 million next season, will see his cap hit jump to $3.84 million come 2013-14. Note: Some reports place the cap hit figure at $3.97 million.
Upon the expiration of the deal in 2018-19, Simmonds can become an unrestricted free agent. The player, who will turn 24 next week, will be nearing his 31st birthday upon the expiration of his new deal.
Why did Simmonds get such a big raise? As Tim Panaccio noted in his CSN Philly column about the signing, the guideline used to arrive at the final contract length and dollar figure was likely the extension that Max Pacioretty signed with Montreal earlier this week. Pacioretty, 24, got a six-year deal worth $4.5 million. Simmonds' deal comes in a bit south of Pacioretty's (who is a little bit better player right now).
Any time a young non-superstar player gives up all of his remaining RFA years plus some UFA eligibility, it is going to require a leap of faith on both sides. The team knows it is overpaying right off the bat but expects to make it up as the contract progresses.
The Flyers are banking on Simmonds' continued improvement and hoping the player's production eventually makes the deal a bargain as the market price of similar players escalates in the future. The player, conversely, is trading off potential future added earnings for immediate financial security.
Earlier this month at HockeyBuzz, I blogged
my thoughts on whether Simmonds can maintain or surpass his production of last season. In a nutshell, I believe that Simmonds is the type of player who can score goals with the right linemates and sufficient power play time but is not someone who is going to self-create a lot of scoring opportunities.
Come next season, I think Simmonds can come close to the career-best 28 goals and 49 points he produced in 2011-12. The numbers may dip slightly or be right about the same, but I don't expect a big drop off because he may see top-six time at even strength and is likely continue in the first-unit power play role he performed in the second half of last season.
As Simmonds moves forward into his new contract, I think he'll have years where he matches or surpasses those totals and seasons in which he finishes closer to about 20 goals. When you weight the package of toughness, grit, above-average skating and forechecking and burgeoning 25-plus goal potential, I think Simmonds could justify the contract over the life of the deal.
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Do yourself a favor whenever the NHL or NHLPA releases public statements about the progress/lack of progress on Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations: Take them with a grain of salt and realize that posturing and sword-rattling is always part of the process in any big money negotiation right up until the time a final agreement is signed.
Also, these negotiations NEVER truly progress near resolution until an official deadline is hours away or has already passed. That's just the way it goes. Everything leading up to it is just so much tumult and shouting, especially when there is a lot of media attention and both sides are trying to win points for their side in the court of public opinion.
It should be of no surprise to anyone that the NHL did not hail the NHLPA's proposal as a work of brilliance that opens the door for a rapid agreement. But if you read between the lines of Bettman's calculated response, what was REALLY being said was that:
1) The NHL confirmed what Donald Fehr had already said about the NHLPA's proposal; it wasn't so much a counter-offer as a proposed alternative starting place.
2) As such, the two sides now have to adopt elements of each others' framework to have a starting point for the real nuts-and-bolts of the negotiation, and
3) The process of setting up terms for negotiation and then coming to an agreement is going to be painstaking.
Think of this process in similar fashion to what it takes to get a major bill passed in Congress without presidential veto when House and Senate -- each controlled by opposing political parties -- have to reconcile and then vote on two widely divergent versions of the same bill. Both versions of the bill have elements that the two parties consider must-haves and other points that are more negotiable.
Usually, whichever party the president belongs to will ultimately be the one that "wins" a version closer to what it initially proposed. Of course, that is assuming the president has a united front among Congressional members of his party.
In the NHL/NHLPA negotiation, the president (commissioner) represents the owners. So the NHL side has a built-in advantage in the process. However, that I just don't think there is the same level of unity among NHL team owners that there was in 2004-05. Donald Fehr's negotiating strategy seems to be primarily built around keeping it that way.
As such, Gary Bettman's response yesterday was as much about trying to rally owners to unite and stay the course he's recommended as it was a counter-attack on the other side.
Personally speaking, I detest politics from all sides. I don't put much stock in rhetoric. Beyond that, I consider much of the negotiation process to involve time wasted on posturing when it could have been spent accomplishing the same final result a lot sooner.
I'm not on the NHL's side. I'm not on the NHLPA's side. I just want to see a 2012-13 NHL hockey season that is not significantly delayed at the start.
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My profile article on Flyers second-year defenseman Marc-Andre Bourdon is now online at the Flyers' official Web site. Click
here for more.
This week's Across the Pond at NHL.com takes a look at former Flyers forward Jan Hlavac, who now plays for HC Rytiri Kladno (Kladno Knights) of the Czech Extraliga; the team owned by ex-Flyer Jaromir Jagr. Click
here for more.
Later this week or early next week, IIHF.com will publish an article I wrote on hockey in South Korea. A few months ago, I took an in-depth look at
hockey in Japan.
Last but not least, I contributed a rather extensive article on James van Riemsdyk to the 2012-13 Lindy Sport's In the Rink: Toronto Maple Leafs annual. Click
here for ordering information.
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