Player contracts

[Franck]

Is it just me or are the player contracts in EHM a bit short?
For instance Crosby followed up on his rookie deal with a two year, $3.4m contract, now wouldn't a 5, 6 year deal have made more sense? Infact I don't think I've seen any player sign a long contract in my game yet.

[bruins72]

The love of long term contracts is more common in the NHL now. When the latest version of EHM came out, you didn't see as many 5 or 6 (or in some cases 10) year deals given out. The game wasn't programmed to offer them out.

[johnny_rudeboy]

I once managed to sign Staal when playing as the Leafs to a 10 year deal with 2,5m a year... I only played half that season before I started a new save. Would have been fun to see the team building one could do with one of the leagues best players signed on the cheap.

[helmespc]

4 years is about the highest I've seen... I did manage to sign a franchise d-man for 5 years once.... he had very high loyalty and ended up playing his entire career for me.

[johnny_rudeboy]

I get lucky from time to time with long term cap friendly deals. In my latest save I signed Pouliot to a 5 year deal (c/h 1.8m) And he will still be a RFA when that contract is up. But he didnt sign the first deal I offered him. We negotiated for the whole season. He asked for less then 1m but only 2 years. Well, I like signing my players to long term deals.

[russman]

The problem with long term deals though is if you ever want to move that player it can he more difficult. Also you can get stuck with the guy long term, maybe past his prime.

[helmespc]

Indeed, russman.... additionally.... older players are more likely to go for longer deals as far as I can tell... younger players seem to like to keep their options open.

I did just get a 22 year old d-man to sign a 4 year deal for me... he's in his 3rd year in the league and consistently puts up an 7.90+ average rating. He signed a 4 year 4m a year deal for me. So it happens...

[Shadd666]

I once managed to sign Staal...

Which one?

The problem with long term deals though is if you ever want to move that player it can be more difficult.

Well, not necessarly difficult, but costly... Just look at the Isles with Yashin

[bruins72]

4 years is about the highest I've seen... I did manage to sign a franchise d-man for 5 years once.... he had very high loyalty and ended up playing his entire career for me.

This might be the key. High loyalty and low greed ratings factor into negotiations.

[LoXish]

I signed Forsberg for a 6 year deal as a UFA when I first started my franchise...

And I got Kahnberg locked for 8 at 2.5 million which was a steal

[johnny_rudeboy]

I signed Petrecki to a 8 year deal c/h @ $2m at the start of his rookie season, yesterday. Even if he doesnt progress the way I am hoping he will (he was great in the AHL and in the juniors) and dont become the #1-2 d-man he is projected to become, it is still not to much money for a 5-6 d-man.

[Shadd666]

2M$/yr for a 5-6 Dman is a huge overpayment and a big waste of salary cap space. It should become a normal deal if he becomes a 3-4 Dman. And a little steal if he becomes a 1-2 Dman.

As he'll probably be way more years in a 5-6 role than in a 1-2 role (if he turns out to become one...), this deal is a bad one overall.

Plus, i don't see the point of signing a long-term contract with a guy who still has plenty of seasons as a RFA. You should have waited to see how he devellops before thinking about a long-term deal, and eventually lock him once he effectively became something very valuable to your team. Now he can sleep during 8 years and count is millions without doing anything if he doesn't want to, and you'll have no way to ship him out.

Bad deal.

I don't like long-term deals in general, but this one looks to be a highly bad one to me.

Well, that's the way i see it...

[johnny_rudeboy]

Well it is a big risk with him, that´s for sure. I see it like this. If he turns out the way me and my staff hope he will, then I save 2-4m a year depending on how good he become. If he doesnt , then he will be over paid with about 1-1.5m each year.
I actually pay him 2.6m and not 2m as I said first. So from my point of view I stand to win more then I stand to lose so I take the gamble. He have so far managed to play one season in the NHL, was involved in about half the games during that season. He aint putting up great numbers or getting that good ratings but he doesnt make any mistakes either.

I am all for long term contracts. I try to sign my core and key players to 3-5 years deals all the time. Then I fill out the holes with young energetic players or older vets on 1 year deals. This way I manage to cut of 0.5m - 1m from every ones salary´s (atleast I belive that...) and I can this way keep more skilled players togheter on the same team for longer periods.

[Shadd666]

Of course, if and when he'll be a n°1-2 Dman, you'll be on the winning side, and by more than you're actually on the loosing side.

But let's say he spends 3 more years as a 5-6. With barely a 2M$ overpayment, that's 6M$ lost. Then 2 years as 3-4. At 2.6M$, he is still slightly overpaid by 0.5-1.0M$, so it's about 1.5M$ lost, for a total of 7.5M$ lost. Then he is a n°1-2 for the 3 remaining years, deserving 5M$ per year (which means a true n°1, not a n°2). You save 2.5M$ per year, for a total of 7.5M$ over those 3 years. The exact same 7.5M$ you lost within the first 5 years of the deal. So it ends with no benefit.

And this is only IF your guy devellops into a true n°1 defenseman! If he never delivers, you'll loose 16M$ on this contract, which should have been employed more wisely. Too much of a gamble IMO.

I can understand long-term deals on players who are already top players (Ovechkin, and such), although i'm not a big fan of it, but long-term deals on prospects is the best way to kill your cap space on both short-term and long-term basis. Short-term for sure, and a high risk on long-term.

[vilifyingforce]

Well, in my experience a true #1 would want way north of 5 million per. I wouldn't do a deal like this either though... Either way when this contract ends he's gonna probably want huge money. I'd rather wait until they start becoming an impact player then lock'em up for 4-5 years.

[johnny_rudeboy]

Time will tell if I did the right thing or not. But yes, 2.6m for a 21 year old playing on the 2nd or 3rd d-pair is perhaps overpayment. But my ass. GM rank him as my best defense man and second highest prospect in the system (only Tavares is above him). And guess what, I will try and sign Johnny to a long term deal as well...

We all use different strategy´s and isnt that what makes the game so fun that you can try different approaches from time to time. Some saves I trade everything that isnt nailed to the floor to get a cup winning team in a season or two. Other times I build through the draft. Most of the times I do something in between. But the strategy I have had most success with is drafting well, signing those players to long term contracts then fill the holes in FA or via trade, then pick up 1 old player (30+) who is a star or close by, at the trade deadline to use for a cup run. I can do that since I use to have a couple of millions of free cap space.

[Shadd666]

The difference between your D guy and Tavares is that Tavares has an impact on the team straight after the draft. Therefore, signing him long term makes some sense. The risk he turns to be a bust is so close from nothing that it's not really a gamble to lock him on a long-term deal. Not what i did with him so far though, but i could understand this strategy with someone who already have a really big impact.

But with a depth Dman who has yet to prove anything at the NHL level and is a RFA, i don't see the point. You can easily lock him 2 years for really cheap at the start of the season. In 2 years, he won't have reached his maximum potential, and therefore won't ask too big bucks. In the same time, it gives you 2 years 'to see' what he can really deliver on the ice, and eventually think about locking him on a lifetime long-term deal. And if he fails to impress in those 2 years, you don't end with a 2.6M$ deadweight for the remaining 6 years of his contract...

So even with a long-term deals strategy, i would be more cautious... You want big bucks? Okay, then prove me you deserve it and come back later on.

Oh, and while i'm at it, the fact that your AGM ranks your Dman as best defenseman and second best prospect doesn't mean a lot... All depends on how good your AGM is... And even with a good AGM, you can have some weird stuff... For example, Seabrook is ranked as only the 3rd-4th defenseman in my team while he just won 3 consecutive Norris trophy and 2 consecutive Hart trophies... I also have Chris Dingman ranked lower than Eric Godard while he is doing a way better job and is in fact my best left winger in terms of average rating... So don't count too much on your AGM He can give you valuable infos, but don't forget what your coaches and scouts have to say... And most importantly, don't forget to have your own opinion on a player Then mix all of that, and you still don't have the truth Truth is on the ice. Nowhere else.

edit: @dybbuk: I said 5M$ for a true n°1 because you can find some guys doing a n°1 job at this price, and sometimes even at 4M$. Then, of course, it can go way higher And sometimes without such a high difference on the ice...

[johnny_rudeboy]

But Petrecki loves me



I understand your reasoning and play after that from time to time as well.
And I might have fallen for the coaches praise of him in training camp, his value of 15 in determination and most technical and physical attributes along with him having above 8 in match rating in the OHL and then the same for his one season in the AHL. I have only played one more season with him since my last post on here and he did well but nothing to really get excited about. He is still mostly playing on the 3rd d-pairing.
I now have to resign Pouliot who´s 5 year deal end after the current season, he is comming off a 37 goals season. He have been making 1.5m but now he dont wanna talk about a new contract (RFA still) and the AGM (or who ever it is that suggest players salary´s) belive we can sign him for one more year for 5m. I wish I made his contract a couple of seasons longer.

[Shadd666]

There's a well-known trick: wait until he leaves as a RFA... wait 2-4 more weeks to let him beg for a contract, and you'll have him for 2-3M$ instead of 5M$ Or trade his rights away to get some reasonnable return at a good price.

I always offer the price i think the player deserves. If i can't agree with him on the salary, the door is wide opened for his selfish ass. Simple as that

[vilifyingforce]

edit: @dybbuk: I said 5M$ for a true n°1 because you can find some guys doing a n°1 job at this price, and sometimes even at 4M$. Then, of course, it can go way higher And sometimes without such a high difference on the ice...

Oh for sure. In 05 I just traded Kovalchuk (6.25 mill) for Tuomo Ruutu (@1.6),Kulyash(@1.0),Picard(the defensemen @.5),John Grahame(@2.1) @ 2 1sts.

Ruutu for Kovs is a drop, but, I'm hoping not a noticeable one when compared against everything else I got.

[Leafs_fever]

I just inked a 20 year old Carey price to a 9 year deal @ 2.5 Million per. He isn't quite starter quality yet, but he's one of the best 20 year old goalies I've ever seen. I'd be amazed if he isn't a dominant goalie by the time he's 24 or 25.

[Shadd666]

Leafs_fever: ...and you should end with a huge deception... or not... Price is now 26 in my game, and not yet a true starter. He shares the duty with Esche, and both of them combine for just 1.8M$.

With me, Price barely reaches the .900 mark in the regular seasons. Not reality better in the playoffs, except in his rookie year, when he had a playoff campaign over .920 and 6 shutouts, including one in the Finals, for our 16th victory of the post-season.

Thanks god i never gave him a 2.5M$ cheque...

[vilifyingforce]

Leafs_fever: ...and you should end with a huge deception... or not... Price is now 26 in my game, and not yet a true starter. He shares the duty with Esche, and both of them combine for just 1.8M$.

With me, Price barely reaches the .900 mark in the regular seasons. Not reality better in the playoffs, except in his rookie year, when he had a playoff campaign over .920 and 6 shutouts, including one in the Finals, for our 16th victory of the post-season.

Thanks god i never gave him a 2.5M$ cheque...

For 9 years?!? Ouch.

[batdad]

IN 2011-2012 for me Carey Price had 18 shutouts, won the Vezina and every other goalie trophy available. OF course I have managed to have Petr Budaj win the Vezina and get 16 shutouts and have Ray Emery also do the same. And in my current season in 3 games Leiland Irving has 2 shutouts. Price has 4 shutouts in 13 games.


See


So Shadd I would say that Leafs_fever has a good deal there. Of course I am an EHM god, unlike your more mortal self.

[vilifyingforce]

But how much money does he want? And does batdad consider himself the negotiating god as well? Perhaps you see yourself as a gm version of scott boars.