The NHL kicked off free agency Friday, and the willingness shown by the Blue Jackets, Sabres, Panthers and Flames to “spend and then spend some more if necessary is a good sign for the league,” according to Larry Brooks of the N.Y. POST. The NHL, “instead of seeking to use the next round of labor negotiations to pound every team down to the lowest common denominator by reducing the cap and eliminating critical tactics such as front-loading on long-term deals, should be seeking ways to direct more revenue to small-market teams with small-minded owners who live for charity and sympathy.” Overspending “for overspending’s sake, which is what it appears the Panthers did to reach the floor, is silly,” but Panthers GM Dale Tallon “seems to recognize that the onus is on management to build a winner in order to get people to come to the building.” The Blue Jackets also have “come to the conclusion that the only way to attract fans and generate revenue is by investing in the payroll to build a winning program after 10 years,” as demonstrated by the June acquisition of C Jeff Carter’s $58M contract that runs through ’21-22, and GM Scott Howson’s Friday signing of D James Wisniewski to a six-year, $32.5M contract. Brooks: “What Friday demonstrates and what last week’s trades demonstrate, is there is money after all in the pockets of those small market owners. Some are even willing to spend it in order to try and win” (N.Y. POST, 7/3).
BUFFALO'S BILL: In Buffalo, Mike Harrington noted Sabres Owner Terry Pegula is “currently on the hook for more than $62.9 million in salaries” following the Friday signing of C Cody McCormick and addition of LW Ville Leino. Capgeek.com reported that at the start of Friday, the Sabres “were ahead of deep-pocket teams like” the Capitals, Penguins, Flyers and Canucks. The Capitals subsequently “surged ahead of the Sabres on Saturday night with the signing of free-agent goalie Tomas Vokoun.” The Sabres on Friday spent a total of $30.6M, “as part of their whole-new-world approach.” That number “was topped only by the $56.6 million doled out by the Florida Panthers -- who needed to spend wildly simply to approach the NHL’s salary cap floor -- and the $33 million the desperate-to-do-anything" Blue Jackets gave to Wisniewski (BUFFALO NEWS, 7/3).
ON THE PROWL: In Miami, Israel Gutierrez wrote, “So here are the Panthers, looking like winners, even if it’s only July,” and that thought alone “should be comforting and even exciting to a fan base that has experienced an NHL record playoff drought of a full decade.” Gutierrez: “It takes bold moves like these, especially in a town where the Panthers have to scream just to get noticed, for this franchise to regain relevancy” (MIAMI HERALD, 7/3). In St. Louis, Jeff Gordon wrote there are “always owners willing to eschew fiscal responsibility and spend like intoxicated sailors on shore leave.” Tallon “got the green light to spend crazy money.” Noting Tallon’s team “was well below the salary floor,” Gordon asked, “But is that any excuse to give huge dollars to second-tier players?” Tallon will “end up with a payroll that his market cannot support” (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 7/5).
DOLLARS AND SENSE: The VANCOUVER SUN’s Iain MacIntyre wrote under the header “Do Any Of These Deals Make Sense?” MacIntyre: “A lot of deals signed the last four days will haunt teams beyond next season” (VANCOUVER SUN, 7/5). THE HOCKEY NEWS’ Ken Campbell wrote, “If throwing more than $400 million at 58 players in just the first two days of free agency is any indication, the NHL owners almost certainly once again need to be saved from themselves.” Campbell: “July 1 and 2 of the year 2011 could very well be remembered as the tipping point for the next lockout. Like all tipping points, it won’t have been the sole factor, but it will simply have been the one that removed all shadow of a doubt. … This battle will pit owner vs. owner, with the big-money owners in one corner and those who are losing their shirts in the other. The ones who are losing money are being forced to spend money they don’t have and they’re sure to take that battle with them into the next CBA” (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 7/3). In N.Y., Jesse Spector noted the NHL’s CBA “expires next summer, and there is every expectation that the owners will cry poverty, and the players will dig their heels in under the leadership of” NHLPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/3).
