The storm before the storm: Gomez a Hab, Bouwmeester says yes, Heatley says no

by James Mirtle on Jul 1, 2009 12:47 AM CDT Comment 21 comments

Well, that was an interesting night in the newsroom.

As of 5 p.m. on June 30, nothing had yet happened outside from a few routine re-signings, but with a few balls in the air, the Habs swung a big-time deal with the Rangers to land Scott Gomez, his behemoth contract and various prospect flotsam in exchange for Chris Higgins and top prospect Ryan McDonagh.

At 8:33, the Flames announced they had signed defenceman Jay Bouwmeester, one of the top free agents, to a five-year, $33-million contract that makes him the fifth highest paid blueliner in the league this coming season.

Just after 10:30, TSN reported that the Senators and Oilers had an agreement to swap Dany Heatley to Edmonton for Andrew Cogliano, Dustin Penner and Ladislav Smid pending Heatley waiving his no-trade clause.

After the hockey world hung tight for about an hour and a half, just after midnight, Bob McKenzie followed up by saying that Heatley had, in fact, turned down that trade.

Nutty.

Keeping in mind that there'll be a ton more activity coming tomorrow, here are some brief thoughts on everything that went down:

Gomez for Higgins

Habs GM Bob Gainey is taking a ton of heat for this deal already, a lot of which can be fairly attributed to the fact he's now got a $5- or $6-million player making $7.3-million a season the next five years on his cap. That said, Gomez is a terrific player in the right circumstances, one of the premier setup men in the league, and if Gainey can follow this up by adding a scoring winger and re-signing Alex Kovalev, I think Gomez could flourish. He never appeared comfortable in New York under Tom Renney's defensive system, and last year's scoring marks should be considered the very low end of his abilities.
Still not sure why the Habs had to give up recent first-rounder McDonagh though.
Before we go too over the moon for what Glen Sather pulled off here, do note that the Rangers have exactly five forwards signed and four of them are Sean Avery, Aaron Voros, Patrick Rissmiller and Artem Anisimov. There are six RFAs on the roster, none of whom is a first-line centre, and this could very well again be a low-scoring team barring a significant free-agent addition. (In other words, there might be no winner in this deal if neither team can land another big fish.)

Bouwmeester back to Alberta

Remember all that talk pre-all-star game about how Bouwmeester would never go to a Canadian market because of the media attention? After talking to him that weekend in Montreal, here was my take: "I disagree that he'll avoid playing in a Canadian city at all costs. Bouwmeester may not enjoy being poked and prodded by the media, but he's learned to live with it. I think he goes to one of the highest bidders come July 1."
I don't know how on earth Brian Campbell is five years older than Bouwmeester, less talented, and yet making $600,000 more a season than him — but good on his agent. The Blackhawks will have some serious salary cap pain next summer.
This tells me Bouwmeester really wanted to play in Calgary — and apparently he has a home and a lady friend in the city. Often these types of factors are the deciding ones.
The Flames are currently dropping $36-million on Bouwmeester, Iginla, Jokinen, Langkow, Phaneuf and Kiprusoff, meaning their remaining 14 players will have to average $1.49-million. If I'm Darryl Sutter, I attempt to deal either Jokinen or Sarich (or waive Kipper) and keep the big guns on the blueline.

Heatley and the bonus

There has to be some way to force players to either (a) honour their contractual commitment to a team or (b) not be able to veto deals when they're the ones requesting a trade. Heatley put the Sens in a terrible position by asking (publicly, no less) to be moved with his July 1 bonus date approaching, and if he now is going to turn down deals, it's going to become increasingly difficult for GM Bryan Murray to get anything resembling fair value for his top player.
How bad would it be if the Sens had to pay Heatley's $4-million bonus before making a trade? Well, his contract was heavily front-loaded, with Ottawa paying out $10-million in Year 1 of a six-year, $45-million extension he signed in 2007. If Murray pays the bonus, it'll mean Ottawa forked out $14-million — 31 per cent of the contract — for only one season under those terms, and the acquiring team will get Heatley for just $31-million over five years (about $6-million a season instead of $7.5-million).

That's it until the morning. If you're not already following my account on Twitter, I'll be very active there on July 1 and recommend you sign up.

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as a canucks fan, the thing that bothers me about the bouwmeester deal is that sutter has really put himself in a tight place cap-wise, but some goddamn team is going to utterly bail him out by trading assets for somebody like sarich.

by passive_voice on Jul 1, 2009 1:21 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

There has to be some way to force players to either (a) honour their contractual commitment to a team or (b) not be able to veto deals when they’re the ones requesting a trade.

From a legal standpoint, it’s basically impossible to do either of those things in a way that would prevent this type of Dany Heatley situation. I might do a write-up on this tomorrow for S7S. But basically, Dany is still honouring his contractual commitment — he’ll play for the Sens, he’d just rather not — and if he didn’t outright request a trade, then he’d just imply that through other means, which would be hard to invoke a rule about.

This is just a lesson for GMs to recognize what they’re doing when they hand out NMCs like candy, something Ottawa has been far too liberal with. Also, GMs will likely be a little more cautious about setting up contracts with bonuses that pay half their yearly salary as an advance.

by DarrenM on Jul 1, 2009 2:49 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I think GMs need to add something to the NT/NM clauses; if the club wants to move you, the clause kicks in; if you ask for the move, the clause is out. Sure, some players could precipitate a move through their performance but in reality I think competitiveness is part of their genetic makeup.

This situation is creating damage well beyond the Senators…the conduct of his agents is in question, the whole issue of NT/NM clauses is getting much more scrutiny, how to handle players who think they are bigger than the game/team. Let’s hope some good comes out from all this (and none of it to Dany – he deserves nothing from this selfish behaviour).

by hockeycountry on Jul 1, 2009 7:18 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

That seems very fair. It is supposed to protect the player in a sense, so if the player initiates a trade request any and all say he would have had over it should be void. That is certainly the assumption that the players forced out of Tampa would take, I believe. They were under the assumption that a no-trade clause meant they couldn’t be traded if they didn’t want to be – not that they couldn’t be traded until the team management browbeat and threatened them into waiving it so they could be moved.

"A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with." -- Tennessee Williams

by Baroque on Jul 1, 2009 7:37 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

wouldnt surprise me if this entire structure was something the League wants addressed in the next CBA. But even then, no matter how much the League tries to limit the options of the GMs, they will still find a way to put themselves in these difficult binds.

Glen Sather is a Hockey Genius.

http://glensathersucks.com/
http://twitter.com/ThGeneralissimo

by poploser on Jul 1, 2009 8:57 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

This tells me Bouwmeester really wanted to play in Calgary — and apparently he has a home and a lady friend in the city. Often these types of factors are the deciding ones.

If having a lady friend in the city is a reason to move there, why does Montreal get shunned by free agents consistently?

Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.

by saskhab on Jul 1, 2009 3:50 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Becasue the players’ girlfriends don’t want guys to move to Montreal to be closer to their lady friends? ;)

"A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with." -- Tennessee Williams

by Baroque on Jul 1, 2009 7:38 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Heatley issue finally resolved

What Melnyk needs to do with Heatley is to let it be known publicly that he will be sent to Binghampton this Fall.

Mess with his head all summer and hope that Heatley doesn’t report to camp. That way, he can suspend the guy and not pay him a dime (after being extorted for today’s $4M, of course). If Heatley does report to camp, then follow through on the threat and try sending him to Binghampton. If anyone tries claiming him off waivers, simply take him off the waiver wire and put him in the Press Box until something changes with the claiming team’s situation, then waive him again. Gerber made $3.7M to alternately sit in the Press Box and play in Binghampton, but Heatley’s $6M salary would be tougher to swallow.

So you get the people behind MakeItSeven to launch a campaign, sponsored by Labatt’s and Home Hardware, aimed at raising the money to cover the cost of keeping Heatley in the AHL.

People in Ottawa would surely contribute, as would the residents of upstate New York. Finally, Chuck Schumer could use his power and influence for good and not evil, though the Sabres might not like having an attraction so close to their territory. The folks at PPP would be happy to support such a fine cause, as would Habs fans, who would mail in their donations in the form of four American quarters.

So get on it, you MakeItSeven people. Call it BlackballedInTheBing.

by TD O'Dell on Jul 1, 2009 4:45 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

As a Sabres fan, I’d rather have Heatley rot in Binghamton….and yes, I’d pay to make that happen.

by Afino on Jul 1, 2009 6:33 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just get Heatley a “lady friend” in Edmonton. Can we include them in the next CBA? It’s almost as good an idea as Burke wanting to retain a portion of salary to facilitate big ticket trades.

"Without good hard work, it is impossible to reach the pinnacle of success." - Anatoli Tarasov

by PRC on Jul 1, 2009 8:06 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Have you ever seen Heatley? Getting him a lady friend might cost more than paying his bonus and trading him.

Glen Sather is a Hockey Genius.

http://glensathersucks.com/
http://twitter.com/ThGeneralissimo

by poploser on Jul 1, 2009 8:58 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don’t let her get lasik surgery. Or corrective lenses. :)

I’m sure a way can be found.

"A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with." -- Tennessee Williams

by Baroque on Jul 1, 2009 10:46 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Buyers Remorse!

1) Just a prediction but next winter the trade rumours for Gomez and Bouwmeester will start in earnest as each team that signed/traded for these overpaid players has buyer’s remorse and their respective fan bases clamour that they are over paid/salary cap anchors!
2) Gomez at 3.5 mil would be a nice fit in Montreat perhaps, but 7+ mil for another 4 years? Bouwmeester may only be 25, but he hasn’t progressed to look like he’s gonna be the next Scott Neidermayer. At 3-4 mil perhaps it would be sensable, but close to 7 million for 5 years is insane! When will these guys (GM’s) ever learn?!?

I find sometimes it's easy to be myself
sometimes I find it's better to be somebody else

by Fauxrumors on Jul 1, 2009 8:10 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

What did you think Bouwmeester would sign for? He would have gotten more than this on the open market.

Blogging on hockey at fromtherink.com

by James Mirtle on Jul 1, 2009 10:56 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

1) Not surrised by the amount. Just saying that we wouldn’t have given it to him, and predicting that calgary will regret it before Jay’s first season is completed

I find sometimes it's easy to be myself
sometimes I find it's better to be somebody else

by Fauxrumors on Jul 1, 2009 11:08 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I doubt it myself. As it is, we got him for less than he would have gotten on the open market.

by Resolute on Jul 1, 2009 11:13 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

efore we go too over the moon for what Glen Sather pulled off here, do note that the Rangers have exactly five forwards signed and four of them are Sean Avery, Aaron Voros, Patrick Rissmiller and Artem Anisimov. There are six RFAs on the roster, none of whom is a first-line centre, and this could very well again be a low-scoring team barring a significant free-agent addition. (In other words, there might be no winner in this deal if neither team can land another big fish.)

Well said, James. Sather bought himself out of one of his binds, and landed a good prospect at the same time. Kudos are deserved for that. The key, however, will be what he does next. You don’t win in this league without well-performing centers. And right now, the Rangers have 2 centers who are 2nd-liners, at best (Drury and RFA Dubinsky). Put it this way – before he traded Gomez, Sather had 13 players under contract. He needed to fill 9 slots, with an average of 1.7 M of cap space available per player. Now, he needs to fill 10, and he’s got only 2.25 M per player available. Not a whole lot more to work with.

Glen Sather is a Hockey Genius.

http://glensathersucks.com/
http://twitter.com/ThGeneralissimo

by poploser on Jul 1, 2009 9:18 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Heatley in the AHL

I say, “bury him.” Dare him to ride the buses for the next 7 years or however long his contract is.
It’s a blip on Melnyk’s balance sheet. The Senators are better off cutting out the dressing room cancer. And Heatley will go down as “the greedy spoiled a-hole who spent the prime years of his career toiling in the minors.”
He’ll be famous for all the wrong (right) reasons.

by garth the hoser on Jul 1, 2009 9:19 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Ummm

That’ll never happen. Melnyk is not going to spend that coin to punish Heatley. It would be cutting off his nose to spite his face in a couple of ways.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Jul 1, 2009 9:24 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

On the Heatley trade

Both Sportsnet and the Score reported, on their websites and tickers, that the deal was officially done.

These same two outlets stated that the Pronger to LA deal was official.

I wonder how long it is before these two networks fire the incompetents who are responsible for this before their reputations are completely destroyed?

Following this story up to the midnight “deadline” was nothing short of hysterical. I actually feel sorry for Oiler fans.

by Resolute on Jul 1, 2009 11:18 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

McKenzie was saying as of late last night that the deal wasn’t dead-dead, that Heatley hadn’t rejected the trade so much as not endorsed it yet. So the Oilers and Sens are left hanging and probably can’t do much today when any reasonable backup plans might be out there. I’m not sure that’s a bad thing for the Oilers, entirely, because I’d be okay with standing pat on the top six and focusing on some decent two-way centres not named Shawn Horcoff, but it’s a frustrating thing either way.

SNN Sports - A theoretical Oilers blog (i.e. theoretically, I write stuff there)

by Doogie2K on Jul 1, 2009 12:09 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

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