Eastside's Hockey Elite Collide

Lauri Korpikoski has signed a $2,100,000 per year, 3 year deal with the Phoenix Coyotes. Detailed terms of the deal were not announced.

Mikkel Boedker has signed a $3,500,000 per year, 3 year deal with the Phoenix Coyotes. Detailed terms of the deal were not announced.

Phoenix has decided to decline sending Jim Vandermeer to arbitration. He will be a UFA.

An award has been determined in the Tomas Kaberle arbitration.

PHX comps: Markov, Gonchar, Visnovsky; proposed 4.875M for 3 years + TO
Arbitrator comps: Markov, Boyle, Gonchar

Interesting case here in that Parker actually advocated a raise for his player. Every other arbitration case, except goalie cases, have seen a team ask for less money.

In any event, the one thing to keep in mind about all the players comped for Kaberle make significantly more than what Parker is asking, but are all also better. It's hard to ascertain what Kaberle might make on the open market because several teams in EHEC are strapped for cash and the odds of a bidding war decrease because of that. Nevertheless, Kaberle is what he is. A solid offensive defenseman with some defensive shortcomings. However, he had a tremendous playoff on the Stanley Cup winning Coyotes, after struggling for both myself and Washington. There's obviously a level of comfort with Kaberle in PHX. Either that or Parker's a much better GM than Tim and I.

My arbitrator proposed 5.5M for Kaberle. Quite frankly, I think this is a little high for his defensive issues and the contract length being proposed. I do, however, think that 4.875M is too low given the comparables presented and the fact that Kaberle had a legitimately good season and an excellent playoff.

I propose 5.075M. This is a reasonable enough discount to all comps that are better than Kaberle (Markov would make 6.5M without the use of the franchise tag) and rewards Kaberle handsomely for his contributions to the Stanley Cup champs. Also, with the Gonchar injury, Kaberle had an increased role and really delivered.

Parker, you can accept/reject Tomas Kaberle at 5.075M for 3 years + TO.

Yeah I'm good with that. Didn't know Markov had the franchise tag. In light of that, the salary seems fair. Phoenix accepts.

An award has been determined in the Ilya Bryzgalov arbitration.

Not much to discuss here. My arbitrator agreed with Parker's offer of 4.5M per for 4 years.

Parker, I assume you'll accept this?

An award has also been determined for Thomas Greiss.

PHX comps: Elliott, Auld, Peters; 700k for 4 years + two-way
Arb comps: Leighton, Peters, Elliott, Quick

Not a whole lot to discuss here. My arbitrator proposed 800k, saying that Elliott was the closest comp, and has slightly higher CON at 850k

I'll simply middle this.

Parker, you can accept/reject Thomas Greiss at 750k per for 4 years with a two-way.

Both awards are acceptable. My thanks to the arbitrators for their efforts.

An award has been determined in the Ed Jovanovski arbitration.

PHX comps: Ohlund, Hamhuis, Martin; 5.2M per for 3 + TO
Arbitrator comps: Gilbert, Timonen, Kaberle, Hamhuis

The difference amongst all these comps is that in a file that is lacking a fair amount of leadership, Jovo has high LE to go along with his performance ability. I think his LE needs to be strongly considered in these proceedings.

Either way, both parties agree that Jovo is overpaid for what he brings, mostly because younger options have cheaper contracts. Jovo has slight upgrades over these players, with the biggest being the aforementioned LE.

In any event, my arbitrator proposed 5.4M, so there's not really a ton of discussion that needs to take place here. There's a small gap of 200k between the two parties and because of the leadership I mentioned above, I lean closer to the arbitrator's number because Jovo is already taking a stiff pay cut. Again, he is coming off a captain year of the Stanley Cup champions. I think that warrants the smallest discount possible from the process.

Parker, you can accept/reject Jovo at 5.4M per for 3 + TO.

Blah. I needed that $200k.

Phoenix grudgingly accepts.

PS: JovoCop was only alternate captain.

Phoenix offers:

C/LW Joseph Labate
$1,500,000 per year, two-way, three year contract with $750,000 signing bonus
(salary includes slot salary for 46th pick of $1,250,000 plus mandatory POT boost bonus of $250,000)

D Brennan Serville
$1,100,000 per year, two-way, three year contract with $550,000 signing bonus
(salary includes slot salary for 90th pick of $850,000 plus mandatory POT boost bonus of $250,000)

ELCs offered.

Apparently I drafted Namestnikov in the current file. I'm okay with it, not sure how Glen thinks about it though.

CapsGM wrote:Apparently I drafted Namestnikov in the current file. I'm okay with it, not sure how Glen thinks about it though.

Commissioner fail.

It's fixed now though.

Guess I'm not used to the new and improved, "No Russians" Gaw.

There's a league-wide conspiracy afoot trying to prevent me from cornering the market on Vladislavs. It's too bad Evseev sucks so bad he's not even worth signing as farm depth.

Signed: Labate, Serville

Serville boosted once.

Phoenix offers default entry-level two-way contracts to R/L Chris Brown, L/R Quinton Howden, and C/L Max Gardiner.

Apparently I did this and never responded.

Contracts entered.

Hey, the Brown/Gardiner/Howden contracts never made it into the sim. I'd still like to offer those three entry-level two-way contracts, as well as an entry-level two-way deal for D Justin Weller.

OK, so apparently I didn't do this.

It'll go in for tonight's sim.

Contracts entered.

Phoenix offers a default entry-level two-way contract to G Mike Lee.

Contract offered.

Phoenix offers a default entry-level contract to G Matt McNeely.

Matt McNeely will consider your offer.

Phoenix offers a default entry-level two-way contract to C Vladislav Namestnikov.

Parker wrote: Namestnikov

You could've drafted him, pal.

Vladislav Namestnikov rejected the Phoenix Coyotes contract offer.

When asked why, Namestnikov said "Играть в тени Шейн Доан в? Ебать это." Asked for translation, Namestnikov shook his head. Upon a quick Google translation, Namestnikov's exact quote was "Play under Shane Doan? Fuck that."

Also, Phoenix offers a default entry-level two-way contract to L/R Gal Koren.

Commissioner (CBJ) wrote:When asked why, Namestnikov said "Играть в тени Шейн Доан в? Ебать это." Asked for translation, Namestnikov shook his head. Upon a quick Google translation, Namestnikov's exact quote was "Play under Shane Doan? Fuck that."

Now we know that's not true, because great Vladislavs think alike, and Vladislav Kartayev loves playing with Doan. Who wouldn't?

Parker wrote:Also, Phoenix offers a default entry-level two-way contract to L/R Gal Koren.

Koren contract offered. Offered him $400,000 (league-minimum) as he was a fourth rounder in the 2010 Entry Draft.

I don't mean to nag, but could that contract be offered to Namestnikov too?

Namestnikov contract offered.

Team options to be approved:

PHX D Oliver Ekman-Larsson
PHX D Toni Lydman
PHX R Mike Forney
POR L Anton Krysanov
POR D Matt Jones
POR R Stefan Della Rovere
POR C Chris Lawrence

Requesting arbitration:

PHX R Shane Doan - franchise tag
PHX D Kurt Sauer

D Oliver Ekman-Larsson
3-year contract with team option

Ekman-Larsson: 7.4M (7.2 base + 200k SK)


FWIW, in the fastsim, the CPU gave him 10.5.

I assume you're good with this offer to OEL?

Commissioner (CBJ) wrote:I assume you're good with this offer to OEL?

I wouldn't say I'm good with it, but I'll accept it.

In light of this contract award, I'd like to franchise tag OEL instead of Doan, if that's alrght.

Parker wrote:I wouldn't say I'm good with it, but I'll accept it.

In light of this contract award, I'd like to franchise tag OEL instead of Doan, if that's alrght.

OEL franchise tag price:

7.2 base * 75 (franchise tag 25% discount) = 5.4M; + 200k SK

5.6M

How many years you want for OEL? Tag = 6-10 years.

Commissioner (CBJ) wrote:How many years you want for OEL? Tag = 6-10 years.

I can always offer him another six once this contract expires, right?

I'll just give him six, unless that's not the case.

Parker wrote:

Commissioner (CBJ) wrote:How many years you want for OEL? Tag = 6-10 years.

I can always offer him another six once this contract expires, right?

I'll just give him six, unless that's not the case.

I wouldn't take 25% off the franchised price. I would take 25% off the new formula price.

But I guess I don't see why not.

Commissioner (CBJ) wrote:I wouldn't take 25% off the franchised price. I would take 25% off the new formula price.

But I guess I don't see why not.

Yeah, I figured that anyway. Six years is good.

Offered 5.5 NTC 6 years.

If he doesn't take that, I'll go max bonus and try that.

If he doesn't take that, I'll go max bonus, 5.5, take off NTC.

If he doesn't take that, well, we'll have to keep trying.

An award has been determined in the Shane Doan arbitration.

Shane Doan is EHEC's Optimus Prime and will be paid the maximum $12,000,000 per season as allowed by the EHEC Rulebook.

An award has been determined in the Shane Doan arbitration.

Terms: 2 yrs + TO
GM proposal: 5.5M per; comps: Brown, M. Richards, Iginla
Agent proposal: 7M per; comps: Koivu, Kopitar, Thornton, Vanek

For the duration of EHEC, Doan has been operating at his real life salary. His EHEC self is better than his NHL self, however, he is also the face of the NHL Coyotes franchise while the EHEC 'Yotes have some pretty good talent surrounding him. There aren't many shortcomings when looking at Doan. His CON is north of 80, his LE is one of the highest in the file, he's an 80/80 forward with a lot of his OF tied up in SH and PL rather than ST, which makes him more valuable.

Brown is a very close comparison. If applied to the formula instead of his bargain NHL deal, Brown would be making around 5.75M. Richards makes 5.75M and that's a very close comparison. Kopitar is a pretty close comp as well, except for Kopitar's added value by playing center with a 90 FA attribute and 99 HI, which really makes him a valuable player in EHEC, and likely more valuable than Doan. Thornton isn't a bad comparison, all things considered. His elite PL is canceled out by Doan's higher CON and better defense.

To me, Doan falls somewhere between the 5.75 that Richards makes and Brown would make and the 6.7 that Kopitar makes. I believe that Doan is closer to Richards than Kopitar and his age should be a factor here, even though we don't follow EHM's absurd retirement plans, there's a chance for some regression. Agent comp Joe Thornton was awarded 6.7 in arbitration last season, but that was with the knowledge that San Jose would be using the franchise tag on him, which likely caused the arbitrator and I to rule on the higher end of the spectrum.

Considering that Doan's option is nearly guaranteed to be picked up, this contract would take him up to age 39.

Given that Doan brings a lot of intangibles to the team, always gives a solid effort, and is just a year removed from a Stanley Cup run, I feel that $6,500,000 is a fair result for Doan, especially because there should be very little regression during this contract.

Parker, you can accept/reject the award.

An award has been determined in the Kurt Sauer hitman-for-hire arbitration.

Terms: 2 yrs + TO
GM proposal: 1.6M per; comps: McLaren, Boynton, Robidas
Agent proposal: 2.625M per; comps: Jackman, Allen, Mitchell, Scuderi, Commodore, Regehr

Man, what a tough case. As Sauer's agent correctly points out during his briefing, unrestricted free agent defensemen like Scott Hannan, Adam Foote, Danny Markov, and Henrik Tallinder were all paid handsomely on the open market. Outside of McLaren, the GM's comps are better offensively and are relative bargains compared to some of the defensive contracts around the league. Recently, I awarded Jackman $3.4M in arbitration, which the GM declined. Jackman was playing at a very inflated salary, however, his agent made a very good case and there was only a slight decrease in salary.

A lot of defensive defensemen around the file are signed to inflated FA deals or playing at inflated real life salaries. That makes it a very difficult case to evaluate. Considering that Sauer played just 35 games, but clearly made an impact by injuring several opponents, his value is really difficult to quantify. If we're looking at this realistically, the question we have to ask is: Would Sauer go to another team to make more money or stay with Phoenix, a team that is good enough to win the Stanley Cup?

Another point to examine is that Sauer did not play well in the postseason, posting a -4 in 12 games with limited ice time.

Looking at the big picture, it's hard to say Sauer played well enough for a raise or poorly enough for a decrease and the sample size we have to look at for this season and last season is rather slim. With a full season in 2009-10, he played extremely well and chipped in a little offense with 12 assists to go along with a +17. In knowing that he's going to see limited ice time, it only seems fair to leave him at his 2011-12 salary and see where he ends up in the future.

I award Sauer $1,750,000 for two years plus a team option.

Parker, you can accept/reject this award.

Offered OEL 6-year, max bonus at 5.5M per.

Guy wants 8. We'll see if we can get this done. Like Shea Weber last year, I wanted players to have to agree to a contract. Arbitrations are different, I enter those manually. We'll see what happens with OEL.

Commissioner (CBJ) wrote:Offered OEL 6-year, max bonus at 5.5M per.

Guy wants 8. We'll see if we can get this done. Like Shea Weber last year, I wanted players to have to agree to a contract. Arbitrations are different, I enter those manually. We'll see what happens with OEL.

It's going to be difficult to get any franchise-tagged players to accept their contracts since they're considerably below market value, and much longer term (less average annual value for the signing bonus) than normally offered. Is there any negative to entering franchise-tag contracts manually as well?

As for the arbitration, I'm good with both. Doan's fair, and I was pretty sure all those overpaid bums were going to screw up my case for Sauer's pay cut anyway. Still cheaper to keep him than to let him fall into the wrong hands.

Parker wrote:It's going to be difficult to get any franchise-tagged players to accept their contracts since they're considerably below market value, and much longer term (less average annual value for the signing bonus) than normally offered. Is there any negative to entering franchise-tag contracts manually as well?

Not necessarily, no. To be honest, I don't even remember why I wanted them to agree. I'm sure it's written somewhere. Buried among all my other monologues on league issues.

As for the arbitration, I'm good with both. Doan's fair, and I was pretty sure all those overpaid bums were going to screw up my case for Sauer's pay cut anyway. Still cheaper to keep him than to let him fall into the wrong hands.

Contracts entered.

Commissioner (CBJ) wrote:To be honest, I don't even remember why I wanted them to agree. I'm sure it's written somewhere. Buried among all my other monologues on league issues.

With ten-year franchise contracts you have to do manual editing anyway, so why not just offer OEL a one-year deal with the max bonus and then edit it to be a six-year contract?