I am not a fan of what I will call the circumvention contract.  The work stoppage hurt the NHL in so many ways, and the worst being the fact that we lost casual fans.  These types of inflated contracts promote finding ways around the CBA to spend big money just like teams did before the cap.

Hockey is a better game now.  Teams are faster, and play as a team. Losing Forsberg to Philly hurt a lot as an Avs fan, but the reality was we had to pick him or Sakic.  Now after a losing season we got Duchene, have hoarded draft picks and ended up with Jones, Stewart, Galiardi, Yip, Shattenkirk, and Gaunce.  Not to mention others that haven't made their way up.  Teams have to understand that you have to lose in this day in age in order to win in the future.  Teams have Windows of opportunity for the cup, and at that point pick up the big free agent to push yourself over the top.

Mark my words, this contract will hurt the Devils for years to come. It will be somewhat of a stumbling block for the foreseeable future. It will also be a leverage point for many other FAs next season, which could put the hurt on many teams to come.

Brian Campbell's ridiculous contract is the best example.  The Hawks are not nearly the team they were last season because of Campbell's monstrous contract.  Toews, Kane, and Keith are worth locking up for the long term.  Campbell not so much, he should have at most gotten 4 years.  The Hawks firesale will come back to hurt them this season, and I predict it is a fight for them to even  make the playoffs, especially if Niemi can't be resigned.

When the dust settles from the Grievance from the PA as well as the next CBA we will see that this type of contract is not good for the NHL.  It will be outlawed, the players will protest, but life will go on.

The ultimate end result will be more guys retiring at age 35 with more and more 18 year olds breaking into the league.  At 35, they will sign bloated contracts in Russia, proving that this is a young mans game and Siberia is where the egotistical players who couldn't force a big FA contract go.

Written by :

Scott Reekers