Today concludes my week long guest Cupcaking for Ms. Sandie and naturally, it's by far the most boring of them. Enjoy!
Dater did a mailbag over at Sports Illustrated full of mostly meh stuff but there was one question I really liked so I figured, eh why not.
Hey, Adrian, here's a solution for the long-term contract dilemma. For any deal over five years in length, the cap hit is equal to the amount that is actually paid each year, not the average of the contract. That way, a hugely front loaded deal won't work as well because you won't be able to use "low paying" years at the end of the deal to lower the average.
Shea Weber apparently was not the happiest guy to hear the news of Suter abandoning him to play with Tom Gilbert.
"He's still in disbelief," Kevin Epp told ESPN's Pierre LeBrun on Thursday. "They were so close this year in terms of the team's chances. They really had a shot. Shea believed there was a good chance that Ryan would stay there. So right now, Shea is still processing this news."
Missing out on the real big fish this year, the Flyers turned to the state of New York to fill some of their roster holes.
The Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday signed forward Ruslan Fedotenko and defenseman Bruno Gervais. Terms of the deals were not released, but ESPN.com is reporting Gervais' contract is for two years at $825,000 per season, while Fedotenko will make $1.75 million on a one-year pact.
As free agency this year has shown every one, the bigger markets are no longer shoo-ins to win the off-season sweepstakes anymore as both small-time Minnesota and Edmonton walked away big winners.
Money will always play the biggest role in free agent negotiations, but players are realizing the money is going to be similar no matter where they go. It wasn't money that sealed the deal for those two players, who could have received the same contract elsewhere. It was about Parise's parents, who live in Minnesota, being able to attend his games, and it was about Suter's wife being from Minnesota. It was about the friendship between Parise and Suter.
Bobby Ryan apparently should be more coveted than Rick Nash because of a higher ceiling (????) and more efficient shooting.
Last season, both Nash and Ryan played all 82 games, with trade rumors serving as a possible distraction at various points throughout the season. Nash scored 30 goals, his fifth straight season and seventh overall reaching the benchmark tally, while Ryan netted 31 goals for his fourth straight campaign over 30. In addition to scoring one more goal than Nash, Ryan did it on 102 fewer shots on goal—of the 30 players in the NHL who scored 30 or more goals, Nash was the only one to do so with shooting accuracy of less than 10 percent.
And just for our good Professor Fauxk, I leave you with the link to Washington's latest re-signing.
The Washington Capitals secured centre Mathieu Perreault's services for two more seasons on Thursday, signing him to a two-year contract extension worth US$2.1 million.
In 120 career games with the team, the five-foot-ten, 185-pound centre has posted 27 goals and 26 assists for 53 points. He had his best season in 2011-12, notching 16 goals and 14 assists for 30 points in 64 games.
/drops mic