Quote:
Originally Posted by FAN
There's a difference between sending down a player deemed not good enough to be on the roster and "hiding" money the way the Rangers hid Redden, the way the Sharks absorbed Malakhov's contract, the way Canucks absorbed Reinprecht's contract, and the way some teams used LTIR room to add salary. For what it's worth, the Flames simply have not "hid" money for cap room purposes or for asset acquisition purposes the way some teams have.
Having someone pick up Hagman on re-entry waivers actually saves the Flames money because Hagman lost his place on the Flames and having someone pick him up saves the Flames from paying him. Kotalik is the same deal, except he wasn't picked up. The Kronwall example is like the PLLL example. I wouldn't even consider sending down a player making near minimum on a one way contract to be "hiding" money. Helping a player get a contract in Europe usually saves the team from paying his salary or at least the full amount of it.
Feaster said many things including saying the 2nd was for Byron. There's also the rumor that the Flames refused to keep part of Bouwmeester's salary in return for a prospect like Rattie.
So it saved the Flames money to have Nilson play in Europe.
Flash Walken said the owners had no problems spending to the cap, the owners just seem to have a problem paying a player to play somewhere else. That's not unusual. Different people have different values. Some care about where the money is spent while others just care about the final budget. Personally, I don't think less of the owners for not willing to take on the salary of a player that will not be playing for the Flames, but I have a problem if the team throws away assets just to get rid of salary.
I don't think the owners are cheapskates at all and I don't think that tag has been placed on the Flames' owners. They've been willing to spend to the cap which as a fan I'm very thankful for. With that said, there's no telling how hard Darryl had to fight for many of those expansions. And I think you are wrong about the exceeding salary cap by millions by hiding players on the Heat part. The Flames didn't add salary when they sent Kotalik or Hagman down, except for the cost of calling up a player on a two-way contract.
There are owners who simply open their check book and tells the GM to simply do what needs to be done, just win me the Cup and there are owners who need to be explained the reasons for the increased costs. The Flames' owners seem to be the type who needs to be convinced to spend. We need to have our own AHL affiliate? Why? Ok. We need to increase the number of scouts? Why? Ok. So we want to re-sign this player? Ok. You want to make this offer to Brad Richards? That's a lot of upfront money. Ok. We will be paying for Kotalik to play in the AHL next season as well? No. Find a way to get rid of his salary.
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This is the very first I have heard about the refusal of the Flames in retaining a part of Bouwmeester's salary for Rattie. As far as I remember, it was 100% fan speculation on what that return would look like. I have not read a single media statement from any source - even the usual suspects of rumor mongers - saying that Rattie was ever on the table, and it fell through because of the Flames' refusal to retain salary. I think this was 100% pure fan speculation on forums as many posters wanted Rattie as part of the return.
Cap space avoidance - weren't the Flames one of the very first teams to start using these front-loaded contracts? Kipper's first year on his new contract paid him almost 3 million more than his cap hit. Flames were a cap team every year of Kipper's contract if memory serves, and only in the past year of his contract was it lower (and then, only marginally so - the remaining year is the year it got drastically lower).
My Nilson example. By your take on it, the owners were not willing to pay Nilson's contract, so sending him to Europe was in a way 'subsidizing' it. Well, if they were so intent on getting rid of his salary, why wouldn't they put pressure on Sutter and have Nilson packaged up with something like a 2nd or 3rd (or whatever his salary was worth - can't remember off-hand) and get it completely off the books?
Brad Richard's Pitch - They out-bid New York Rangers. They OUT-BID THE FRICKEN' NEW YORK RANGERS. What would he be getting paid.. 12 million the first season? Flames would have still been a cap team, with another salary that far exceeded the cap hit.
Kotalik was traded to get rid of the salary - you can't hide players in the minors in the off-season, but the NHL gives you 10% tagging room. This is why Kotalik had to be traded (and Regehr) while taking minimal return. They needed to fit Glencross, Tanguay and the Brad Richards' contract within the confines of it.
What was the reason Kotalik went to the minors? Why wasn't he simply a healthy scratch? Feaster wanted that cap flexibility to take in a player from another team that needed to unload salary (or claim someone he thought would be able to help off waivers if that opportunity arose). When Feaster asked ownership, not only did they say yes, but they volunteered Hagman and Stajan if he needed it. They were very willing to absorb salary. Just because Feaster ended up being all talk without much action, had little to do with the owners will to spend.
To clarify that Regehr/Kotalik trade: Yes, the second was for Byron OR for Buffalo to accept Kotalik.
The original deal was Regehr for Byron and Butler. Flames wanted salary cap relief and tried to add Kotalik. Buffalo removed Byron. Flames had to add a 2nd to keep Byron as part of the deal, or to have Buffalo take Kotalik (answer is both). However, the reasoning behind it was not that the owners refused to pay Kotalik in the minors, but because there was simply no way to sign Glencross, Tanguay and especially that huge offer for Richards (we out-bid NYR once again, to put things in perspective).
I am sure for anyone that really has the time and effort, they can go through the last 'x' number of years since the Flames have become a cap team, and figure out how much more Flames were spending on salaries, add up all the one-way contracts on the Heat they were holding (yes, no huge "Reddens"), and come up with a year by year number of how much the owners were spending over the cap by. Compare that with all other teams in the league and see where they rank. I am betting they rank pretty high.