Pronger extended

Deal rumoured to be $35 mil, 7 years, for a cap hit of $5 mil / yr. Of course, he'll be 41 at the end of the contract....

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2009/07/07/pronger_extension_flyers/

Beat me to it.

Nice signing. Since he signed before 35 his cap hit will come off the books once he retires.

Good value - these are the deals players should be signing. This is an elite player and he takes well below his market value to keep a team competitive. Might be a giant a-hole, but still a classy move.

7 years? Great cap hit, terrible term though. I guess the Flyers guess he'll be retiring before he hits 41.

Some of these guys are going to hang around well past their prime and cause their teams all sorts of headaches capwise.

RobbyJ wrote:Some of these guys are going to hang around well past their prime and cause their teams all sorts of headaches capwise.

He's scheduled to make 525,000 in the last two years of the deal. Why do I feel that's not enough incentive for a player to stick around?

SpezDispenser wrote:7 years? Great cap hit, terrible term though. I guess the Flyers guess he'll be retiring before he hits 41.

This is becoming the standard for players under 35. It's great for the Flyers because if he retires before the contract ends, which he almost certainly will, they'll be off the hook for his cap hit. I'm sure they won't be thrilled taking the full cap hit for a 41 year old player if he is still playing, but this seems to be the normal with players around 30-34 signing these huge deals to spread the cap hit out. It's a calculated risk on the teams part. From a strategy point of view, it's a brilliant way to stack your team just that little bit more each season. Too bad Kovy wasn't a couple of years younger. We could have signed him to a 10 year, $20 million deal, lowering his cap hit to 2 per.

Zoolander wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:7 years? Great cap hit, terrible term though. I guess the Flyers guess he'll be retiring before he hits 41.

This is becoming the standard for players under 35. It's great for the Flyers because if he retires before the contract ends, which he almost certainly will, they'll be off the hook for his cap hit. I'm sure they won't be thrilled taking the full cap hit for a 41 year old player if he is still playing, but this seems to be the normal with players around 30-34 signing these huge deals to spread the cap hit out. It's a calculated risk on the teams part. From a strategy point of view, it's a brilliant way to stack your team just that little bit more each season. Too bad Kovy wasn't a couple of years younger. We could have signed him to a 10 year, $20 million deal, lowering his cap hit to 2 per.

Pronger is no Chelios, so we won't be seeing that guy still lumbering around in his 40's, mind you, Crosby better keep his head up for the next 7 or Pronger will be trying to lay him out for good.

Zoolander wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:7 years? Great cap hit, terrible term though. I guess the Flyers guess he'll be retiring before he hits 41.

This is becoming the standard for players under 35. It's great for the Flyers because if he retires before the contract ends, which he almost certainly will, they'll be off the hook for his cap hit. I'm sure they won't be thrilled taking the full cap hit for a 41 year old player if he is still playing, but this seems to be the normal with players around 30-34 signing these huge deals to spread the cap hit out. It's a calculated risk on the teams part. From a strategy point of view, it's a brilliant way to stack your team just that little bit more each season. Too bad Kovy wasn't a couple of years younger. We could have signed him to a 10 year, $20 million deal, lowering his cap hit to 2 per.

There are going to be consequences to pay, somewhere down the line, for these huge long-term deals, for sure. Looks brilliant now, but I think experience is going to show us before long that it's going to mean mortgaging the future for the present.

The potential for getting stuck with aging players who are no longer worth anywhere near their cap hit but who want to keep on playing (and have a contract to do so) is one undesirable consequence, I admit.

But the other, bigger issue for me is the way that it in some ways locks out future talent. Making this or that or these players the core of your team for 10+ years means that any talent that emerges in your organization during that time will always be shuffled to the side -- 2nd rate citizens, if you will. These deals don't leave a lot of room for re-defining your team should the need or opportunity ever arise. That strikes me as a recipe for disaster in the form of long-term stasis for the team. These deals take too much for granted and don't leave enough space for contingency plans.

What happens in DET over the next decade or so will, I think, make for a nice litmus test.

Another concern I have in regards to this practice is the next CBA. I would think that there is a faction of owners who would like to see some of the loopholes closed. This is one of them. Another advantage only available to the richer teams is burying contracts in the minors.

From Darren Dreger at TSN:

"If Chris Pronger retires with term and salary remaining on his contract after next season, does his money stay on the Flyers' cap?

There's some confusion today in Philadelphia over that simple question.

According to the NHL, the answer is yes. The seven-year, $35 million extension Pronger agreed to on Tuesday doesn't commence until after June 30, 2010. Pronger will be 35 at that point and any remaining salary will remain on the cap.

The Flyers disagree and interpret the CBA language governing the "over 35" clause differently.

Sources say the Flyers' lawyers are now aware of the league's stance and are debating this issue.

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren, in response to the debate over Pronger's contract, told TSN, "We are prepared to deal with any and all ramifications, positive or negative, that come with any long-term contract."

Chris Pronger turns 35 on October 10, almost a full year before his seven-year extension with the Flyers kicks in."

Oops!!! I believe the contract has gone through the league office already, so HA! HA! HA!

RobbyJ wrote:From Darren Dreger at TSN:

"If Chris Pronger retires with term and salary remaining on his contract after next season, does his money stay on the Flyers' cap?

There's some confusion today in Philadelphia over that simple question.

According to the NHL, the answer is yes. The seven-year, $35 million extension Pronger agreed to on Tuesday doesn't commence until after June 30, 2010. Pronger will be 35 at that point and any remaining salary will remain on the cap.

The Flyers disagree and interpret the CBA language governing the "over 35" clause differently.

Sources say the Flyers' lawyers are now aware of the league's stance and are debating this issue.

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren, in response to the debate over Pronger's contract, told TSN, "We are prepared to deal with any and all ramifications, positive or negative, that come with any long-term contract."

Chris Pronger turns 35 on October 10, almost a full year before his seven-year extension with the Flyers kicks in."

Oops!!! I believe the contract has gone through the league office already, so HA! HA! HA!

hope pronger doesn't get a huge injury just shortly into his extension, or the Flyers are pooched.

SensFan71 wrote:

RobbyJ wrote:From Darren Dreger at TSN:

"If Chris Pronger retires with term and salary remaining on his contract after next season, does his money stay on the Flyers' cap?

There's some confusion today in Philadelphia over that simple question.

According to the NHL, the answer is yes. The seven-year, $35 million extension Pronger agreed to on Tuesday doesn't commence until after June 30, 2010. Pronger will be 35 at that point and any remaining salary will remain on the cap.

The Flyers disagree and interpret the CBA language governing the "over 35" clause differently.

Sources say the Flyers' lawyers are now aware of the league's stance and are debating this issue.

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren, in response to the debate over Pronger's contract, told TSN, "We are prepared to deal with any and all ramifications, positive or negative, that come with any long-term contract."

Chris Pronger turns 35 on October 10, almost a full year before his seven-year extension with the Flyers kicks in."

Oops!!! I believe the contract has gone through the league office already, so HA! HA! HA!

hope pronger doesn't get a huge injury just shortly into his extension, or the Flyers are pooched.

Actually I kind of hope he does... It will re-instill my faith in karma.

If he is seriously injured he would be placed on LTIR. I want him to retire in 4 years so they have 4 years of 5M cap hits to eat.