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Some fireworks over the Ryan O'Reilly contract |
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Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray is about as straightforward as a NHL GM can get. There are times when he just lays out the way he sees it and there are times he backs off. Recently, after a very busy and productive Day-1 of the 2015 NHL Draft, Murray was asked if he was willing to share his plan for Cody Hodgson (who was eventually waived and bought out.) "Nope. No. I'm going to just stick to what I do." he said to the group of reporters. "[I will] be very open with you guys with the things I can be and keep you in the dark on things I want to."
Then there are other times, however, when Murray forces one to pay attention to his words as he paints general, expressionist-type pictures and makes us think about where he might be headed.
At Jack Eichel's press conference announcing the signing of his entry-level contract, Murray was asked about how the coaching search was going for the Rochester Americans and the timetable for finding one. "I don't have a timetable," said Murray. "We've been talking to different people about special situations that we're going through here. We're talking about doing some things that maybe haven't been done before."
What those "special situations" might be and what those "things that haven't been done before" remains a mystery, but what Murray might have been foreshadowing was the innovative structure of Ryan O'Reilly's seven-year contract extension. The generalities of O'Reilly's extension is that it's for $52.5 million with a cap-hit of $7.5 million. Now comes the intriguing part that, as far as I know, hasn't been done before.
The contract negotiated between the Sabres and O'Reilly's agent Pat Morris, according to Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, has "O’Reilly is getting a salary of just $1 million per season. That means roughly 87 percent of the contract will be paid in the form of signing bonuses. He will get a $10 million bonus in 2016-17, $8 million in 2017-18, $7.5 million in 2018-19 and $5 million for each of his final four seasons."
Said Morris via Harrington, 'It’s something where he gets money earlier to do what he wants with it.'
In addition to all that money up-front for O'Reilly to "do what he wants with it," he'll also be keeping it out of any escrow payments by the players to the NHL. According to Harrington, players had about 14 percent of their base salaries withheld in escrow this past season until the league’s final revenue numbers were released."
In addition to that perk in the bonus structure Harrington, as well as others, conclude that O'Reilly's contract is also veritably buyout-proof as he will get his signing bonus money regardless as a buyout would affect only the $1 million annual salary.
It's an unusual situation for fans who've been following the Sabres over the past two decades. While Darcy Regier was GM in Buffalo for 17 yrs. it was other teams, like the Philadelphia Flyers, NY Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks that would do deals stretching the limits of the collective bargaining agreement. We watched as the league laid the hammer down on the NJ Devils (rightfully or not) for the Ilya Kovalchuk contract. But now the shoes on our foot.
Trading for, and extending O'Reilly, is a big-time, big-city move by the Sabres and it's one that will reverberate throughout the entire league.
Kinda like the big "POW's" during the grand finale. Some really enjoy it. Others don't.
Happy 4th, y'all!
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