[Re-Signing] Toews and Kane sign 8 year extensions, $10.5 million per year

[beyondthewall19]

Maybe it's just me, but is Seabrook not that great as he used to be? At the very least defensively, made some questionable decisions most notably this past Cup run

maybe i'm the only one who feels this way. thats ok

[The Guvnah]

I don't see these signings as a problem at all, but I guess that's just me. The cap will go up, affordable young players will step into support roles... same old story we've seen over the last five years or so from the Hawks.

[Daydream Nation]

I don't see these signings as a problem at all, but I guess that's just me. The cap will go up, affordable young players will step into support roles... same old story we've seen over the last five years or so from the Hawks.

Depends on the cap and the progress of the Hawks prospects. If the cap is close to 80 mil in 2015-16 and guys like TT, Clendening, Johns, Hartmen, Danault, ect become good, productive players, then these contracts will not hurt.

[CHunter]

Per Pierre Lebrun 44M on 84 in signing bonuses.....

‏@Real_ESPNLeBrun Vacation tweet: Note that Kane/Toews deals are front-loaded as well as the fact they include $44 million each in signing bonuses

[cannon]

THe contract that really killed them was Crawford's, you don't need to give a goalie $36 million over 6 years in the NHL's current landscape, especially one as mediocre as Crawford

[doulos]

So half the deal is a signing bonus? Wow. That makes their contracts more tradeable at some point I imagine?

[Fast Tony DeNiro]

So half the deal is a signing bonus? Wow. That makes their contracts more tradeable at some point I imagine?

I don't think the bonus is included in the salary. It's on top of the base salary.

So 10.5 million, PLUS whatever the signing bonus is.

[Mr. Guru]

These contracts will look cheap for a star player in 3-4 years.

I'll repeat, the worst time to sign a contract or contract extension is a year or two after a new CBA.

Saying that, it's nice to see the NHL finally in that $10+M per year stage.

[lucifer316]

So half the deal is a signing bonus? Wow. That makes their contracts more tradeable at some point I imagine?

it depends on the exact structure of the deal but it could actually make them less tradeable

when a team retains salary and cap hit in a trade they can only retain salary and cap hit not 'signing bonus' and the amount retained can only be half

so for example say you have a flat deal where the 'signing bonus' is even through out the contract and amounts to exactly half of the contract, all the original team can retain in a trade in that instance would be 1/4 of the contract instead of 1/2 of the contract

these days signing bonus is actually a misnomer as it doesn't all have to be paid at the time of the contract signing, it is basically an allocation of money which cannot be held back due to a lockout and it also cannot be diminished by 2/3rds in the event of a buyout of the contract

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I don't think the bonus is included in the salary. It's on top of the base salary.

So 10.5 million, PLUS whatever the signing bonus is.

signing bonus plus the regular portion of the salary makes up all of the salary, otherwise you would have a way of circumventing the cap

[lucifer316]

These contracts will look cheap for a star player in 3-4 years.

I'll repeat, the worst time to sign a contract or contract extension is a year or two after a new CBA.

Saying that, it's nice to see the NHL finally in that $10+M per year stage.

i don't know that the contracts will look cheap but there will certainly be more of them out there

as for the league finally being in the 10+ range, i assume you mean during the cap era

[2014olympicgold]

I think the hawks killed themselves with their recent signings. Kane and Toews alone are manageable contracts (and I would sign those guys in a heartbeat for whatever they wanted), but Hossa, Sharp, Bickell, Crawford, Keith, and Seabrook are the killers.

Hossa in 3 yrs won’t be so bad. But he’s under contract till 2021 (or 2022 I think). That’s like 5mill for a 40 yr old

Sharp’s contract is up in 2 yrs, but in 2 yrs does he get a pay raise from 5mill?

Crawford….Oh this is self-explanatory.

Keith’s contract will get manageable in a few yrs, but it’s a long contract for an older player

Seabrook I think has lost the edge he once had. Or he has shifted into a pure defensive role.

Bickell cashed in on a playoff point tear. You can’t blame him for the contract, but 4mill is a lot for a 3^rd/4^th liner.

The Hawks are built with talent through 4 lines, and the fact everyone’s contracts were up at different times allowing each to get the max they deserve. If Toews, Kane, and Crawford contracts finished at the same time, I doubt Crawford would of asked for 6 mill. More 4.75-5mill just to stay on the team.

[Coyote]

Wow that is some crazy money, but you can't argue with success, 2 cups in 5 years
The real question will be whether they can make it work with so much cap tied up in two players

[Daydream Nation]

I think the hawks killed themselves with their recent signings. Kane and Toews alone are manageable contracts (and I would sign those guys in a heartbeat for whatever they wanted), but Hossa, Sharp, Bickell, Crawford, Keith, and Seabrook are the killers.

Huh?

Hossa has a cap hit at 5.5 M and is a Selke-quality forward that just put up 60 pts in 72. Right now that is a GREAT contract. The contract might turn bad when his play diminishes or if the Hawks get stung by recapture but right now he is a tremendous value.

Sharp just put up 78 pts. At 5.9 M, he is completely earning his contract and is a value.

Keith is the Norris Winner and has a cap hit of 5.5 M. He currently has one of the best contracts in the NHL.

Seabrook's contract at 5.8 M is a fair number for what he brings.

I agree that Bickell and Crawford are overpaid but it's not a huge overpayment. Crawford should be paid in 5-5.2 M range and Bickell is about 1 M overpaid. But last year, Bickell would have gotten more if went to FA.

So I would completely disagree with your premise that those players you listed are the problems. And as soon as someone points to Bicks and Crawford, look at Hammer. At 4.1 M, he is 1 M or so underpaid. And Shaw at 2 M is a great value as well. Overall, I don't have many criticisms with how Bowman has structured the contracts on the Hawks. Just wish Toews and Kane stayed in the 9 M range since it will be lean for a couple years in Chicago.

[Rylant]

Huh?

Hossa has a cap hit at 5.5 M and is a Selke-quality forward that just put up 60 pts in 72. Right now that is a GREAT contract. The contract might turn bad when his play diminishes or if the Hawks get stung by recapture but right now he is a tremendous value.

Sharp just put up 78 pts. At 5.9 M, he is completely earning his contract and is a value.

Keith is the Norris Winner and has a cap hit of 5.5 M. He currently has one of the best contracts in the NHL.

Seabrook's contract at 5.8 M is a fair number for what he brings.

I agree that Bickell and Crawford are overpaid but it's not a huge overpayment. Crawford should be paid in 5-5.2 M range and Bickell is about 1 M overpaid. But last year, Bickell would have gotten more if went to FA.

So I would completely disagree with your premise that those players you listed are the problems. And as soon as someone points to Bicks and Crawford, look at Hammer. At 4.1 M, he is 1 M or so underpaid. And Shaw at 2 M is a great value as well. Overall, I don't have many criticisms with how Bowman has structured the contracts on the Hawks. Just wish Toews and Kane stayed in the 9 M range since it will be lean for a couple years in Chicago.

I agree. Hossa and Sharp are both easily worth the salary they are being paid. Keith is one of the best defensemen in the league, and most would agree that he is being underpaid.

I am not sure why people are so hard on Crawford. I think that his 6 million dollar cap hit, is fair market value for a goalie of his caliber. Rask, Lundqvist, Rinne, Price and Ward all have a higher cap hit than Crawford. Schneider and Miller both now have 6 million dollar cap hits. Lehtonen and Varlymov have 5.9 million dollar cap hits, while Smith has a 5.66 cap hit. Of all these goalies, I would choose Crawford ahead of Rinne, Ward, Schneider, Miller, Lehtonen and Varlymov, so I am not sure why people are of the mindset that Crawford is being overpaid.

Rylant

[lucifer316]

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