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Injuries have made it difficult to project a few different players in Detroit’s system. McIsaac and Svechnikov are some of the more concerning cases, as their development has been derailed multiple times. It seems to be part of the “roll of the dice” of drafting. More and more teams use the combines to try and guess at future injuries, but it is still not a guarantee.
Take a quick look at CapFriendly. This season, there are 22 contracts on the books with just under 10 million in cap space (Z can still be put on LTIR if Yzerman decides to get to the ceiling). Next season? 9 contracts with a projected 46 million in cap space (only Dekeyser and Stecher still have contracts of the current NHL D). The next year? 2 NHL players and 67 million in cap space. Keep in mind that players currently listed as Grand Rapids should be moving up and will count against the cap. The point remains, Yzerman is trimming the fat and it is impressive.
The buyout of Abdelkader was a bit of a surprise, though a welcome one. The defensemen brought in (apart from Stecher) are on expiring deals. I am optimistic about the affect Marc Staal can have, along with John Merrill. Whereas in the past, guys who were “good in the room” were overvalued (my opinion), there is a need for some guidance with a team that is quickly getting younger. Lidstrom was a consummate pro. The way he handled himself and the tone he set was immense. Something special left the locker room when #5 retired. The focus, the patience, the vision of someone who had been there and succeeded as well as the pain of getting there and losing. There are too many things that can be taken for granted, and helping the “kids” find the right head space is a huge part of development.
Jeremy Roenick discussed losing in the finals early in his career when Chicago won the first of their three recent Stanley Cups. The belief was, “I’ll get back here” in the mind of a young player never came to fruition. It’s incredibly difficult to believe that Gretzky never won a cup outside of Edmonton, but Messier did. When you have a team that keeps getting kicks at the can, er, cup, it skews your perspective on what a tremendous feat it truly is. There are very good players, and very good teams, who don’t seal the deal. For those of us blessed enough to enjoy that victory, we become “experts” on what it takes and exactly how to get there. In short, for a long time, Red Wings fans were a bit spoiled. To be frank, I enjoyed every minute of it.
We’re moving ahead with the former captain at the helm and a lack of appetite for clinging to some of the older philosophies and habits. We don’t fully know how successful Yzerman’s first two drafts have been, but his player and asset management has been very good. The contracts that have vexed and frustrated are winding down. I’m fine with the team’s decision not to buy out Nielsen. Unless he’s holding up a major deal, there are just two seasons left as opposed to 4 on the books.
Lastly, the NHL had a refreshing moment of common sense recently. It was announced that the 20-21 season (why are we calling it that? It’s really just the 21 season) will have a minimum of 48 games. Many of us came to the conclusion that the full season was a near impossibility. It feels like this should also read “a maximum of 48 games”. If you’ve suffered through my obsession with the dollars and cents (and clearly not the sense) of HRR, you’ll immediately jump to two thoughts. One, regional TV deals that have a built in penalty for any and all games shy of 82 played, reducing the TV revenue. Penalties for last season still haven’t been announced, and it will add to the pile. Also, I have to assume that players will have “adjusted” salaries due to the schedule reduction.
The way the HRR split is set (50/50) with a typical escrow between 10 and 20 percent (locked into 20 this year) shows that it takes about 60% of games played to cover player salaries. The back 40% of the season and the playoffs are needed to get as close to the split as possible. This year, players have even agreed to a 10% deferment on pay (total of 30% withheld each check for the league) and now will be looking at getting just over half of the total salary. The balance between money and reality is going to cause some long discussions.
This is where the “sour grapes” are going to settle in. Signing bonuses have already been paid out. There are some players who have already banked more than their AAV (depending on the deal) and are sitting pretty. The current cash flow (or lack of) pulled a lot of bonus money off the table. The free agents are at the mercy of the owners just a couple of years after it seemed that the new generation had gotten the upper hand. When the kids were getting paid big as RFAs, there were vets that weren’t happy. Now that the purse strings have been cryogenically sealed, I can only imagine that things will be tense at the NHLPA meetings.
So many people’s livelihoods are caught in the fray of what the NHL decides. Imagine what hockey equipment stores are dealing with. No leagues, no sales. Both on the consumer and on the professional level. Some major brands ran out of stock back in March due to the shutdown of Chinese production. Only one major brand (Warrior) had a pro level factory outside of China (Mexican facility). As far as I know, no one has consumer level production outside of China. That could well mean that Bauer hasn’t had any major orders since February. I checked with one source regarding sticks for playoff teams, and almost all the teams had existing inventory to cover the players.
Owners have cut the first checks of the season (meaning players who aren’t signed yet missed their first payday) without any significant influx of revenue. We still don’t know how much damage has been done financially. The league’s announcement helps bring another taste of reality to the equation. The trend of “trickling” out info is meant to soften the blow. I wonder if it is only delaying the reaction at this point. Changes are coming, a bit more candor on the part of operations would be a welcome change of pace.
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
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