Flyers ink Richards to 12 year $69 mil deal

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=225091&hubname=nhl

Centre Mike Richards, who has emerged as one of the league's top two-way forwards this season, has signed a contract extension with the Philadelphia Flyers.

TSN has learned it is a 12-year extension for $69 million that averages out at $5.75 million per year for the cap hit.

Richards was scheduled to be a restricted free agent after this season, but the extension will take him off the market and keep him in Philadelphia.

[Fire0nIce228 1]

This new CBA is awesome!

[willy0314 0]

12 fucking years? wtf is going on NHL??

[Langenbrunner15 0]

It will be great for the flyers as long as he keeps producing and doesn't get hurt, if he gets hurt their screwed. It's a very risky move to keep a player on one contract for so long. It'll either be a bargain or a bust.

[jason37 2]

Wow ... 12 years ... is it to spread the money out? I don't get it ...

[Langenbrunner15 0]

What don't you get?

12-year extension for $69 million that averages out at $5.75 million per year for the cap hit.

[Eazy_b97 1]

It's so they don't have to negotiate. It's them taking a chance, hoping the cap goes continues to go up a mill or two every year. So in a few years, he'll be a good deal, then a few years later, a terrific deal, etc..

I don't mind it, I was originally against the DiPietro deal, but it's looking very good at the moment and will only continue to improve.

[Chadd 916]

12 fucking years? wtf is going on NHL??

This prevents teams like Edmonton from driving up salaries with crazy offer sheets for restricted free agents.

[Ultimus 0]

It will be great for the flyers as long as he keeps producing and doesn't get hurt, if he gets hurt their screwed. It's a very risky move to keep a player on one contract for so long. It'll either be a bargain or a bust.

They don't have to worry about that either as they can put him on Long Term Injury, which will bump up the cap by the amount of his salary for the time he is on it...

So he gets hurt in training camp with a blown out knee and tears the ACL and MCL and whatever is done for a whole year(although players recover from those a lot faster) so that year they can be Cap+5.75.

If he makes an amazing recovery and comes back before that time they have to get under the cap by that amount, which could be tough if they go for the whole 5.75.

However,

if he blows out his knee and is never the same player and can play, then yes they are screwed by this deal. ;-)

I'm a Wings fan though so I don't need to worry about that, but I am curious to see if they give that kind of deal to Zetterberg. I doubt it will be less than 5 but not more than 7... hopefully it will be similar to Datsyuk.

[Fire0nIce228 1]

So what was to stop the Pens from offering Sid some crazy long contract like that? Is it because the cap goes up the league max for salary can go up therefore when this contract is up he'll get a new one for more, even though he didnt take league max as is?

I mean, they could have given Sid league max now, for 10 years, and in a few years if the max goes up, he'll be a 'bargain' considering he'll be below the max you could pay him given his talent/skill level.

It isn't like the Pens couldnt trade Sid even if he was at max, anyone would pay it to have him just like AO.

As is, I don't know if I'd sign Richards for that much for that long.. I wish there was some way they could limit the length of a contract, personally I like seeing personelle changes, trades, new signings etc. If contracts go the way of long term like this, there will be less moves etc.

[Adam91 0]

It is always a risk to pay for potential, Richards has had an excellent 30games, its almost like the Flyers were waiting so desperatly for this to happen to him, they threw the money at him as soon as they could

[Ultimus 0]

So what was to stop the Pens from offering Sid some crazy long contract like that? Is it because the cap goes up the league max for salary can go up therefore when this contract is up he'll get a new one for more, even though he didnt take league max as is?

I mean, they could have given Sid league max now, for 10 years, and in a few years if the max goes up, he'll be a 'bargain' considering he'll be below the max you could pay him given his talent/skill level.

It isn't like the Pens couldnt trade Sid even if he was at max, anyone would pay it to have him just like AO.

I think the Pens would love that considering they will likely have to pay him max, however I don't think Sid would do that knowing when he signs it might be for 8+ million a season (when ever his contract is up and however much the cap is then) *edit* Duh forgot he signed the new deal. So it will probably e 10+

He won't sign for a long term deal... I don't think he would sign more than a 3-5 deal. Unless he signs a huge hometown discount and short term contracts he knows he would get max every time his contract is up... Under the new cap he can't renegotiate to get more $$$. Plus I think he would sign for a cup contender if it isn't happening in Pitts.

[TheBert 0]

I know that it's the AVERAGE HIT that goes against the salary cap, but it's pretty reasonable to expect Philly to front-load the contract like they did with Briere, right? This makes contracts cheaper to buy out near the end?

[Ultimus 0]

Yes, it would be less towards the end if it was front loaded. Its to confusing to explain so I will post the link http://www.nhlscap.com/cap_faq.htm check that site out.

[Eazy_b97 1]

So what was to stop the Pens from offering Sid some crazy long contract like that? Is it because the cap goes up the league max for salary can go up therefore when this contract is up he'll get a new one for more, even though he didnt take league max as is?

I mean, they could have given Sid league max now, for 10 years, and in a few years if the max goes up, he'll be a 'bargain' considering he'll be below the max you could pay him given his talent/skill level.

It isn't like the Pens couldnt trade Sid even if he was at max, anyone would pay it to have him just like AO.

As is, I don't know if I'd sign Richards for that much for that long.. I wish there was some way they could limit the length of a contract, personally I like seeing personelle changes, trades, new signings etc. If contracts go the way of long term like this, there will be less moves etc.

There wasn't anything stopping Pitts from doing so, but now that he is re-signed they might not be allowed to negotiate until the final year (after Jan) of his deal. I believe that's a new CBA issue. Crosby is making 8.7 for his new deal, and probably expect the cap to rise in enough to get a pay increase later. Signing the deal also limits the players options to move around, Richards essentially sold off his UFA rights.

I know that it's the AVERAGE HIT that goes against the salary cap, but it's pretty reasonable to expect Philly to front-load the contract like they did with Briere, right? This makes contracts cheaper to buy out near the end?

Most likely, and it would be cheaper to buy out if it's front loaded.

[mik3 1]

I don't even dislike Richards, but is he someone you really want to lock up for 12 years based on two ok seasons and a good 30 games?

[mack 44]

Well what other homegrown Flyers have been worth anything multiyear? Gagne, but not only is he more useful when paired with Forsberg but he's taken on Forsberg's durability.

[The Fresh Young MikeyD 0]

So what was to stop the Pens from offering Sid some crazy long contract like that?

As far as I know there's absolutely nothing preventing the Pens from offering Crosby a contract at the current league maximum for a long time like this Richards' contract. Now his salary cannot be more than 20 percent of the cap, but that's in the year the contract is signed. So if he signed for this year's maximum ($10.06 million) for the entire length of the contract and the cap falls below what it is now ($50.3 million) during any length of the contract it's possible that he could take-up more than the team's 20 percent of the cap. I believe there's nothing in the cap that addresses this potential problem.

Although revenues have risen since the CBA was signed there's no guarantee that it will continue. I know the league won't let a team start the season over the cap in any year (it voids the last contract signed and keep going until the team is under the cap). So I'm not sure what the league would do if a player took say 25 or 30 percent of the team's cap space. But if you have a player take that much cap space you better hope he can score, play goal, is a stellar defenseman and has the endurance of an EA player with the line changes turned-off because it's going to be awfully difficult to surround him with any other talent.

If he ends-up with the kind of injury Lindros did (debilitating, but not immediately career ending) the buy-out for the contract is either a 1/3 or 2/3rd of the entire value depending on his age at the time—that's a hefty sum for an owner to absorb. It's a complicated formula to figure out the exact cap hit if a buyout is necessary, but if he's getting the current league maximum over a long contract it would be quite close to the 1/3rd or 2/3rds. Now as far as I know there's no regotiating a contract so a buy-out or the player retiring is really the only I know that you can get-out-of one. So you better be sure you're happy with it once it's signed. Given that he's signed an extension I don't know if it's even possible to sign a further extension beyond that.

Another problem is a long contact makes it awfully difficult to move a player if need be and don't say it would never happeneven with Crosby. After his early success I doubt few would ever have thought Roy would've played for anyone but the Canadiens and we all know where he ended his career.

Still another consideration of these long-term contracts is that they outlast the current CBA. Now this current CBA allowed teams to get out of their own self-made mess with buyouts and some grandfathering provisions, but again, there's no guarantee that will happen in the next CBA.

The league must approve contracts too but as long as it's not violating any of the terms of the CBA I can't see it not approving one.

All of the above is why these long term contracts are extermely risky.

Plus just because the Pens offer doesn't mean Crosby has to sign.

[KingPest19 0]

I know that it's the AVERAGE HIT that goes against the salary cap, but it's pretty reasonable to expect Philly to front-load the contract like they did with Briere, right? This makes contracts cheaper to buy out near the end?

Deal pyramids up from 4.4 this year to 7.6 in year 6 and back down to 3 with signing bonuses in year 1,3,4

[Gwyren 0]

I wonder what the insurance costs for a contract like this?

[LegoDoom 0]

I don't even dislike Richards, but is he someone you really want to lock up for 12 years based on two ok seasons and a good 30 games?

He could very well be the Flyers captain for 10 of those 12 years. I'm a little skeptical also, but he's a good leader, smart player, and has certainly played well this season.

[mik3 1]

I don't even dislike Richards, but is he someone you really want to lock up for 12 years based on two ok seasons and a good 30 games?

He could very well be the Flyers captain for 10 of those 12 years. I'm a little skeptical also, but he's a good leader, smart player, and has certainly played well this season.

Probably. This deal in five years will either look like a steal or a bust.

[atomicpunk5150 2]

I don't even dislike Richards, but is he someone you really want to lock up for 12 years based on two ok seasons and a good 30 games?

He could very well be the Flyers captain for 10 of those 12 years. I'm a little skeptical also, but he's a good leader, smart player, and has certainly played well this season.

I agree with most of that. Richards brings A LOT of intangables that don

't always show up on the score sheet. He is a leader in every sence of the word with his play on the ice as well as his duties off the ice.

The pts will come as he runs the point on the PP. He is also great on the pk. At 5.75 per cap hit he just needs to be an 80 pts guy that plays defence and leads.

The risk is with an injury that is just lingering. Not enough to go on LTR, but enough to make him not an elite player. Several great players have gone into the tank after 30.

[chippa13 1844]

12 fucking years? wtf is going on NHL??

This prevents teams like Edmonton from driving up salaries with crazy offer sheets for restricted free agents.

I think we're going to see more of these deals for pending RFA's, at least until Lowe is fired in Oil country.

[Chadd 916]

12 fucking years? wtf is going on NHL??

This prevents teams like Edmonton from driving up salaries with crazy offer sheets for restricted free agents.

I think we're going to see more of these deals for pending RFA's, at least until Lowe is fired in Oil country.

Any GM in a similar situation is likely to lash out in a similar way. When you draft and develop poorly, you better be excellent at trading or you're going to have to sign free agents. When you're in a city like Edmonton (or montreal) that most players want to avoid, you're stuck going the RFA route and that can get crazy.