[Signing] Flames sign Knight(2yrs, $3.75Mil AAV), Ramo(2yrs, $2.75Mil AAV),Nemisz (1yr, 2way)

[Huntingwhale]

Let the competition begin...indeed.

Glad to hear the Joni Ortio was upset by the moves and concerned about his position. Hope that lights a fire under him.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Regarding Ortio:

I can't believe he's getting upset. Ortio needs to first prove that he can play in North America before he complains about goaltender depth.

With that said, I'm kind of excited for the Heat to move on from the Taylor/Irving realm as much as I liked Danny. I want Ortio to come into Abby and make that team his.

[FlamesAddiction]

I missed it. What did Ortio say?

He should be happy though. If Kiprusoff was staying, he would be in a worse position. Now all he has to do is beat out a bunch of other unknowns.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I missed it. What did Ortio say?

He should be happy though. If Kiprusoff was staying, he would be in a worse position. Now all he has to do is beat out a bunch of other unknowns.

Feaster said Ortio and his agent called him and were upset because of Feaster signing Berra, Ramo and Joey. Ortio was concerned about where he fit in the organization I guess.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

Feaster said Ortio and his agent called him and were upset because of Feaster signing Berra, Ramo and Joey. Ortio was concerned about where he fit in the organization I guess.

The MacDonald signing puzzles me a little. He is not part of the future and playing him now certainly doesn't help any of our young goalies develop.

I suppose he is insurance in case Ramo AND Berra are so bad that we let in 5+ goals every night, but that doesn't seem likely.

[killer_carlson]

Anyone else have raised eyebrows at the salary for knight?

That seems about double what i would have expected.

[Fire]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

Anyone else have raised eyebrows at the salary for knight?

That seems about double what i would have expected.

His base salary is under a million. 3.75mil is the average if he hits all his bonuses in which case he will deserve the 3.75.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

Anyone else have raised eyebrows at the salary for knight?

That seems about double what i would have expected.

Pretty much the same contract Bozak received coming out of college.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

Anyone else have raised eyebrows at the salary for knight?

That seems about double what i would have expected.

Its just the entry level max, he makes about 1 million plus bonuses

[killer_carlson]

I didnt realize that number includes bonuses.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

How do you know that Ramo has more upside? Just because Feaster called him the best goaltender not in the NHL?

Let me see if I am understanding this question.

Are you seriously asking how someone knows that a 26 year old goaltender that has been the best of the best in the KHL for the past few years has more potential or "upside" than a 30 year old goaltender with a degenerative hip problem and at times a very nasty attitude?

Yeah... how would he know.....

[Ashasx]

I think it's odd that Knight got all bonuses possible, yet Drouin only got A and B bonuses.

Feaster does like to overpay, even if it's not base salary.

[the2bears]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

I think it's odd that Knight got all bonuses possible, yet Drouin only got A and B bonuses.

Feaster does like to overpay, even if it's not base salary.

If he earns the bonuses, will you think he's overpaid? I'd be shocked if he achieved them, and very happy. It would be vastly in excess of my expectations.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

I think it's odd that Knight got all bonuses possible, yet Drouin only got A and B bonuses.

Feaster does like to overpay, even if it's not base salary.

Tampa is also much closer to the salary cap than the Flames... doesn't suprise me that Drouin took less .5k less than rookie max to get on the team.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Tampa is also much closer to the salary cap than the Flames... doesn't suprise me that Drouin took less .5k less than rookie max to get on the team.

With the bonus cushion, that shouldn't make a difference.


Where did the Drouin numbers come from? The Tampa press release for the signing doesn't mention a dollar figure. I wonder if CapGeek just entered the numbers wrong? It seems odd that they would have gone $550,000 less than the maximum, a number that is less than 1% of a $64 million cap.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Tampa is also much closer to the salary cap than the Flames... doesn't suprise me that Drouin took less .5k less than rookie max to get on the team.

There are other factors too.

The year in which you are drafted can make a difference. I am not 100% sure if it dropped with the new CBA, but I do believe it did.

Another factor is the likelihood of a player achieving the bonuses. Drouin has a much better chance at reaching some of his bonuses suh as the Calder for example.

Yet another factor is the 3 year term as opposed to 2 years. What you see sometimes is a player getting a lower salary in the 3rd year of an ELC to bring down the cost of a qualifying offer.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef

The year in which you are drafted can make a difference. I am not 100% sure if it dropped with the new CBA, but I do believe it did.

No, it remained at $925,000 per season as the maximum ELC base salary, which is the same as players drafted in 2011 and 2012 (and it will not increase for the entire life of the new CBA).

As a 2009 pick, Knight's single season maximum was $900,000.

The maximum for "A" bonuses (individual performance) is $850,000, and the maximum for "B" bonuses (league awards) is $2 million. This is unchanged from the last CBA.


When the maximum base salary is combined with all maximum bonuses, Knight's maximum cap hit was $3.75 million. Drouin's maximum is $25,000 more, or $3.775 million.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by getbak

With the bonus cushion, that shouldn't make a difference.


Where did the Droin numbers come from? The Tampa press release for the signing doesn't mention a dollar figure. I wonder if CapGeek just entered the numbers wrong? It seems odd that they would have gone $55,000 less than the maximum, a number that is basically inconsequential against a $64 million cap.

Sorry I wrote my previous post wrong Drouin's cap hit is $500k less then Knights'. Meant to write .5M. You may have a point on the numbers CapGeek cites itself as the source.

I agree that the bonus cushion may make the bonuses less consequential, but for a player like Drouin who is likely to achieve his bonuses, Tampa will want to stay as far away from using it as possible so they don't get hit with an overage next year if they can avoid it.

Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef

There are other factors too.

The year in which you are drafted can make a difference. I am not 100% sure if it dropped with the new CBA, but I do believe it did.

Another factor is the likelihood of a player achieving the bonuses. Drouin has a much better chance at reaching some of his bonuses suh as the Calder for example.

Yet another factor is the 3 year term as opposed to 2 years. What you see sometimes is a player getting a lower salary in the 3rd year of an ELC to bring down the cost of a qualifying offer.

The CBA did not allow for the rollback in any salary so the NHL minimum or ELC max base salary is the same as last year.

The base salary difference between Knight (2009 draft pick) and Drouin (2013 draft pick) is $25k/yr.

Also pretty sure bonuses do not factor into qualifying offers.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Sorry I wrote my previous post wrong Drouin's cap hit is $500k less then Knights'. Meant to write .5M. You may have a point on the numbers CapGeek cites itself as the source.

Yeah, I figured out that the numbers I was talking about were messed up and fixed my post.


I don't really understand it, but if you look at last year's first rounders, it appears that Yakupov is the only one in the top 5 who actually signed a full rookie-max contract (same with Hall and Nugent-Hopkins for their draft classes). A few players have $2.3M for performance bonuses, so there must be some logic to it that I'm missing (there's probably some of the "B" bonuses that are virtually impossible to get, so teams don't even offer them). If the players are happy, who are we to question it?


In Knight's case, as a college grad, he had the option of refusing to sign now and going to free agency in August, so offering him the maximum makes sense if it lets you get it wrapped up earlier. Plus, in Knight's case, it's unlikely he'll earn any "A" bonuses (which pretty much require a player to be on his team's top 2 lines), and he'd need to be the second coming of Joe Nieuwendyk to get any "B" bonuses.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by getbak

With the bonus cushion, that shouldn't make a difference.

Makes a huge difference. Tampa's already at the cap and still need to round out their team with a couple players. Depending on the exact makeup of the team after training camp it's likely they'll be put in a position where nearly any bonus Drouin makes counts towards next year. Taking a cap-hit of dead salary the following year isn't a favourable position (although sometimes worth it). If Drouin included another 500k in bonuses, that's another 500k cap hit they could take next year if he has a really good season.