The NHL is "becoming more like the NBA with top players forgoing longer, big-money contracts to pick their preferred destination, a trend that has added a new wrinkle to free agency," according to Stephen Whyno of the AP. Stars GM Jim Nill said, "It's their opportunity to go where they want to go and sometime you might have to take a little bit less money to go there. Do you want to go to a good team? Is it a city you want to go to? Is it where your family wants to be? ... It's players finding the right fit for where they want to be and having money that they can live with." Rangers D Kevin Shattenkirk "turned down" offers of seven years and more than $30M from several suitors to instead sign with the Rangers for $26.6M over four years. Rangers GM Jeff Gorton "praised Shattenkirk for leaving money and years on the table." Even Devils GM Ray Shero "gave him credit" for signing in N.Y. "because it was 'where he wanted to be.'" The NHL's "hard salary cap and players re-signing to so many long-term deals means 'super teams' like in the NBA won't happen." But where and who "matters more and more to hockey players than simply home much and for how long." Sabres GM Jason Botterill said, "Players have priorities on where they want to play: family reasons, where teams are, whether they're on the verge of winning a Stanley Cup or rebuilding situation. I think that happens every year" (AP, 7/5).
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT? In DC, Isabelle Khurshudyan wrote the Capitals are "weathering an offseason of salary cap constraints, forced to part with some valuable players, and unlike other teams who have been in a similar situation before," the team does not have a Stanley Cup to "help justify their moves." Capitals GM Brian MacLellan said, "We spent the last three years building that team to where it was last year, and we maxed it out, both player-wise and salary-wise." Khurshudyan noted while this was "always expected to be a difficult decision for the Capitals with half the roster in need of a new contract, the result has been unexpectedly costly" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 7/3). USA TODAY's Kevin Allen wrote because of salary cap issues, the Capitals have "become the biggest losers of the offseason." They "simply don't have the cap space to plug their holes." Entering yesterday, the Capitals "only had 15 players signed on their roster" and $8.6M left under the salary cap ceiling (USATODAY.com, 7/4).
