If someone said you could get Thomas for a 2nd before he decided to take the year off I would have called them crazy. It would still be an awesome deal for the Isles if he actually showed up.
Not really, since they would have had to pay Cammallari in real dollars. The key to this deal is the fact that Islanders get articfical cap dollars without actually having to spend any money for this year. The Isles are probably hoping he doesn't ever report, just so they can keep carrying his artifical cap hit forward to be able to reach the cap floor through the rest of his contract.
For every season he doesn't report they can add a year to his contract. The only way the Islanders really get screwed by this is if Thomas reported with a week left in the season or something like that. Then they're out an asset and a second rounder as well as their cap inflator for the next 9 seasons.
The Islanders bought themselves a lower salary cap floor for life, or until Tim Thomas runs out of money at the age of 65 and decides to report to the Islanders Camp in 2038, to collect his week's worth of grocery money.
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That's supposing the Islanders want to win. Didn't they fire their last coach who got them into the playoffs.
This is also very true. Even with Thomas/Nabokov they arent going to win though. They'll win more than they would without him, but probably not much and almost certainly not enough to be significant.
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True, but the NHLPA has shown that they would rather get as much money in the system as possible, then worry about escrow later. This deal effectively takes $5 million out of it.
How does this trade take $5M out of the player's share?
They get 50% of HRR regardless. I'm not following.
This would have happened in the old CBA as well. Very rare situation.
Agree its a rare situation, but you go to wonder now that teams have their eyes opened to this it will somehow show up again.
All a GM needs is a 35+ player who is willing to collude with him.
For example, take Jason Arnott and the Dallas Stars as a hypothetical situation. Suppose Arnott tells the Stars that he plans on retiring next year regardless of this season's outcome. Joe Nieuwendyk says great I will sign you to a two year deal and just don't report in the 2nd year. Now the Stars have a contract they can use to reach the floor without paying money like the Isles have with Thomas.
All the while, Chan continues to not care what direction his team takes, and isn't willing to actually make an attempt to be competitive by acquiring a real player(s).
This is hilarious. Clearly its a loophole for the Isles to reach the floor and save some $ at the same time. Absolutely hilarious. I know others are upset with them for doing this, but I just love the drama. Awesome.
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How does this trade take $5M out of the player's share?
They get 50% of HRR regardless. I'm not following.
It doesn't. Without Thomas, players would get more back next season in their escrow payment. It takes money out of player's pockets though if you assumed that without Thomas the Islanders would pay $5 million to someone else (or multiple players).
How does this trade take $5M out of the player's share?
They get 50% of HRR regardless. I'm not following.
Not out of their share, but out of circulation.
Think of the NHLPA's option to inflate salaries by 5% in the last CBA. That didn't affect their share, but it did affect how much money the owners were paying, before escrow.
From an escrow perspective, the union was better off not using the inflator, because in most seasons, they simply gave that 5% back to the owners on top of what escrow would have been. But the union would rather have as much money in the system as possible up front, and spread the escrow hit across everybody.
"As long as a Player has an active contract that he has the right to return to absent unusual circumstances, our view is that he remains a "hockey asset" that a Club has a right to trade or acquire."
