TAMPA, Fla. — The summer of 2016 was a strange one in the NHL. And it led to arguably the worst July 1 of the salary-cap era.
The league was just getting back to business as usual after the half-season of 2012-13, with the cap ceiling going from $64.3 million to $69.0 million to $71.4 million. Teams easily projected it rising substantially into the future, and it just so happened that a couple of teams had some space and were willing to spend.
That created such a skewed market that it’s still hurting teams today.
It has to start in Edmonton, with Peter Chiarelli being the butt-end of so many free-agent jokes over the past decade. Wanting to add some grit — or something — to Connor McDavid’s flank, Chiarelli signed Milan Lucic to a seven-year, $42 million deal. Lucic lasted three years, 104 points in 243 games with a minus-24 rating, before Ken Holland brought some sense to the organization this summer. He traded Lucic within Alberta to the Flames — wait, you can do that, Islanders and Rangers? — in exchange for James Neal, a bust to a lesser degree with four more years left on his deal at $5.75 million per. Now Lucic has no goals and three assists in his first 19 games in Calgary, adding a two-game suspension for his sucker-punch to Blue Jackets forward Kole Sherwood on Nov. 2. Splendid.
Believe it or not, the Islanders were actually a hot topic during the lead-up to this summer, and Garth Snow was able to put a strange bow on his tumultuous 12-year tenure. He wanted to keep two-way center and roster cornerstone Frans Nielsen, but low-balled him in negotiations. When Nielsen came back from Detroit having agreed to a six-year, $31.5 million deal, Snow matched it — but the stand-up Nielsen kept his word to the Red Wings. For a franchise that has taken a nosedive, Nielsen had 43 goals, 109 points and a minus-31 in 247 games.
Snow also let Kyle Okposo walk out the door, signing a mega-deal with the Sabres, six years and $42 million. Okposo has sadly dealt with more concussion issues, and is now working his way back in a limited fourth-line role of a revitalized team. Not exactly a good return on $7 million per year.
Snow also let fan-favorite Matt Martin walk out the door for a ludicrous four-year, $10 million deal he signed with Lou Lamoriello’s Maple Leafs. Martin was often a healthy scratch for head coach Mike Babcock, and returned to Long Island with Lamoriello before this past season to finish out his contract.
Snow’s attempt at replacement was signing Andrew Ladd to a horrific five-year, $38.5 million deal. Ladd has hardly been able to stay on the ice due to injury, and when he has played, he hasn’t played well. He was put on waivers Thursday so he can stay with AHL Bridgeport after he proved the five-game conditioning stint wasn’t enough down there to show he’s ready for a NHL return. Welcome to exile.
Some of the other gems of the day: Loui Eriksson to Canucks for six years, $36 million; David Backes to Bruins for five years, $30 million; Darren Helm to the Red Wings for five years, $19.25 million; Troy Brouwer to the Flames for four years, $17 million; James Reimer to the Panthers for five years, $17 million; Dale Weise to the Flyers for four years, $9.4 million.
It wasn’t a totally lost day, though. The Rangers stole Michael Grabner on a two-year, $3.4 million deal. And the Lightning signed goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to a three-year, $10.5 million extension (that eventually resulted in an eight-year, $76 million extension for the terrific netminder), plus they locked up perennial Norris Trophy candidate Victor Hedman to an eight-year, $63 million deal.
No wonder the Lightning have been good every year since. They won the free agent day that lives in infamy.
The Don Cherry Divide
It was only a matter of time until Don Cherry was fired. Everyone knew it when Leigh Montville in 1993, and everyone was just waiting for the day. The political divisiveness that crosses the American-Canadian border led to Cherry finally saying something that was too much, calling immigrants “you people” and telling them to buy the poppy lapel pins to support veterans.
To be honest, it’s hardly the worst thing the openly xenophobic Cherry has said. It was just the one that made Sportsnet realize they didn’t want to associate themselves with that type of drivel. But there remains enthusiastic support for Cherry, like from . (Also, NBC Boston needs to stop unequivocally calling Orr the best player ever. Remember Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Mario Lemieux?)
This is the divided world we live in.
Silly goals
Some fancy shenanigans are becoming more common. Like this gem from Penn State:
And this one from, from who knows where (shared by the NHL).
They’re cool, but how about a line it up and hit it as hard as you can? Atta boy, Giroux.
Stay tuned …
… is now dedicated, for the foreseeable future, to Conor McDavid highlights. He does stuff like this ALL THE TIME. It’s a joke how good he is.
Parting shot
Ice cream robbery in Raleigh! If you want to read all about it, that’s what , right?