Chicago Blackhawks Sign Marian Hossa To 12-Year Deal

by Brad Lee on Jul 1, 2009 2:19 PM CDT Comment 42 comments

The Blackhawks realize there's a salary cap, right? And that Brian Campbell and Cristobal Huet make too much money already? And 12 year contracts for 30-year-old forwards might not be a good idea? Oh, and those guys named Kane, Versteeg and Toews will all want raises in a year or two, right? Right?

Apparently the Hawks think that to get past the Conference Finals, they needed to commit more than $5 million a year of their salary cap for the next 12 years to the most ridiculed star player in the league. Amazing. No wonder they couldn't re-sign Matt Walker. Marian Hossa is good, but was he worth this?

Who would have thought that the Chicago fucking Blackhawks would be the most aggressive team in free agency two years in a row, throwing around big contracts to the splashiest free agents on the market. Is Rocky Wirtz that determined to prove he's not his dead father, "Dollar" Bill Wirtz? We get it, Rock. Dad's dead. Home games are on TV. We know. The team is willing to spend to compete. Bully for you. But damn, this still looks risky and maybe a little foolish. The fallout could be serious.

One wrinkle is the structure of the deal. TSN says more than $59 million of the money is in the first eight years of the contract, meaning that less than a million dollars a year remain on the deal during the last four making it a prime situation for him to walk away and retire or be bought out from his contract at a pretty small penalty to Chicago. But eight years is still pretty damn long.

Look, we get that Hossa is an all-star talent. He's good with the puck, is a gifted skater and makes the Hawks the No. 1 rival for the Red Wings in the Western Conference (sorry Sharks). But that status is guaranteed for about one season. That's when the salary cap could go down because of reduced league revenues due to the economy. Pair that with big raises for young star players and the Hawks could be looking at some very difficult decisions.

From our perspective as Blues fans, it makes the Central Division that much more competitive -- possibly the most difficult division in the NHL. But the drama this could create for the Hawks is so juicy. I can't wait for Kane and Toews to hit RFA status and see the Hawks not be able to match. Blues, keep some cap space open for that day, please. Remember, the Blues wanted to trade all three first round picks to move up for Kane three drafts ago. Or, I'm sure T.J. Oshie would do whatever he could to bring his Fighting Sioux brother down I-55.

Our friends at Second City Hockey were on the verge of passing out from the news. From their running commentary today:

I'm literally at a loss for words now. It's all so scrambled. Hossa at a tick over just 5 million is a fine number, and if I was willing to go that high for Havlat, you'd have to be for Hossa who's simply a better player. But 12 years? Unless it's totally front-loaded? We'll need details. I think people also need to widen the focus past Hossa's playoff performance last season. As I've said, the year before he was a mastadon (yeah, i did), and had two years in Ottawa where he was a point-per-game in the playoffs. Maybe this deal signals the end of Patrick Kane here, though I don't know that it does. If Buff can be jettisoned, possibly Sharp might have to go to (McClure just had a stroke) the core can be kept.

So Blues fans, what do you think? Let us know down below.

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Comments

I WOULD

take Kane, Sharp, and Havlat anyday

Pujols takes out "I" in BIG and "A" in MAC, previously considered to be an unyielding, consonant threat

by DESTROYER on Jul 1, 2009 2:24 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Thanks Blackhawks . . .

for PROVING it’s been no fluke you haven’t won a cup since ’61.

Egads. Even as a rival fan, I shake my head at the mere stupidity of this deal.

"The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, a man is lucky to get out of it alive." -- W.C. Fields

by Donut King on Jul 1, 2009 2:32 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

im stunned

i guess taves and kane arent in the long-term plans for the hawks. win now and everoyne will forget about them. silly, silly contract. didnt they learn from campbell that you dont NEED to make a splash in the FA market.

id be happy with either kane or taves wearing the note. taves would be awesome — former teammate of TJ and, according the 06 draft show i watched this weekend, friend of the EJ. fuck and yes.

by averagejoe on Jul 1, 2009 3:01 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

this is the one thing that could have been worse than him staying in detroit.

I dont know why everyone has their panties in a bunch thinking one year down the line in terms of re-upping kane and toews, they’ve got plenty of space next year and with hossa signing for 5 mil that gives the hawks an easy comparison for the kane and toews contracts. its not like hossa isnt going to get to 80+ points on this team, so youre not going to have a guy being way overpaid, if anything this could lead to a little normalization in the hawks world in terms of salary.

Sharp is locked up until 11/12, they may have some trouble with versteeg now, but even if someone else signs him they get compensation for it, you could even question how much they need versteeg now and how much of his success was due to playing with kane and getting top line ice time.

So yeah, it was funny how he didn’t win the cup when he jumped ship in Pitt, but he’s still a good player. The term of this is nuts and even though it doesnt say so on nhlnumbers yet im sure its pretty front loaded making buying him out an option late. Its going to be a rough ride in the central this year.

by bzgea2 on Jul 1, 2009 3:13 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

According to Capgeek

Chicago has a current cap hit for 09-10 of $49,530,541 with $7,269,459 to play with and 5 roster spots open, giving them $1,453,892 per each empty roster spot remaining. I’m guessing they gap up their D-corps (with only 5 guys for 7 spots right now) with minor-leaguers and journeymen for a year or two, to save the space for Toews and Kane next year (and hopefully they don’t get Polak to sign a sheet).

By front-loading his lengthy contract, the Hawks were able to sign him for the money he wanted now and reduce the cap hit of the first several years substantially, but obviously this will come back to bite them down the road.

And likely Toews and Kane will be offered similar long-term deals, much like Detroit handed out to Datsyuk, Franzen, and Zetterberg (who post similar numbers, to some extent, though one could argue about their respective ceilings). Chicago should and likely will have the cap space.

http://www.capgeek.com/charts.php?Team=11

http://www.stlouisgametime.com/

by cold on Jul 1, 2009 3:25 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Wrong

The cap hit is the annual average of the contract, wether it is front loaded or not. They just said good bye to either Kane or Toews.

by MMouse on Jul 1, 2009 5:02 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

technically speaking they did reduce the cap hit of that first few years, he’ll be making more than his cap hit of 5.23 million. i think its for 53mil in the first 7 years of his deal, roughly 7.5/yr they will actually pay out. the last five years of his deal they will actually pay out 1.95mil/yr but the cap hit will remain 5.23, though it is likely he could be bought out (i think) at that point.

more than likely we’ll see this kind of trickeration with Kane and Toews too sometime this year. as blues fans from an economic stand point we better hope they can figure it out, because thats us in like 2 years.

by bzgea2 on Jul 1, 2009 5:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

No

They spread the cap over more years, so it restricts them when they are paying a geriatric Hossa a million bucks but taking a cap hit of 5 million.

In the short term, Hossa gets his large, desired salary up front, but the Hawks take a SMALLER cap hit than the 8 million he is getting paid, which helps them to re-sign Toews and Kane next year.

It’s possible they could buy him out later OR they are just gambling on the fact the salary cap will go up in general, and alleviate some of the cap restrictions.

http://www.stlouisgametime.com/

by cold on Jul 2, 2009 10:14 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

BULIN WALL

COLLAPSES IN CHICAGO, SIGNS IN OIL TOWN EDMONTON!!!

Pujols takes out "I" in BIG and "A" in MAC, previously considered to be an unyielding, consonant threat

by DESTROYER on Jul 1, 2009 3:27 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

4YRS 15MIL

Pujols takes out "I" in BIG and "A" in MAC, previously considered to be an unyielding, consonant threat

by DESTROYER on Jul 1, 2009 3:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Backes - Toews - Oshie

Holy-shit-goddamn that is a sexy thought
JOHN DAVIDSON and Co. read this post and others please

Fuck Detroit

by DasBlues74 on Jul 1, 2009 3:30 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I think that sexy car they’re driving needs a goalie, and Huet ain’t it.

Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.

by Dominik on Jul 1, 2009 4:41 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs

+1

by tbell61 on Jul 1, 2009 5:00 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

yep.

by MMouse on Jul 1, 2009 5:02 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hossa for that long?

Stupid.

Beating Me Is Tougher Then A Dog In A Bathtub. Confused? Check out this link for an explanation:

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by Answer Man on Jul 1, 2009 5:10 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Way to go, Wirtz:

Let's go Blues!!!

by Milo. on Jul 2, 2009 8:01 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

MAN

Hope Hossa is giving Chicago the reach around at least on that one. 12 years? Holy crap.

Barret Jackman is my hero.

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.

by BluesTiger on Jul 1, 2009 5:19 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

just because someone signs a 12 year contract doesnt mean theyll play through the full 12 years, people. didnt we just buy mckee out of a 4 year deal? remember that?

by bzgea2 on Jul 1, 2009 5:34 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Glass Jay's buyout

… was for the final (single) year of his contract.

If the Hawks decided that they could remove all their Hossa-related cap-crunch problems by keeping him on the roster for 11 years and then buying out #12…. well… uhh… oooookay.

by BleedBlue42 on Jul 1, 2009 5:59 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

they can buy him out with more than 1 year left, unless I'm mistaken.

Contracts can be bought out for two-thirds of the remaining value for players over the age of 26, and one-third of the remaining value for players under 26. Players who are bought out cannot return to the old team for at least one year.

http://www.stlouisgametime.com/

by cold on Jul 2, 2009 10:18 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly. The Islanders bought out Yashin with 23 years remaining on his 100-year deal.

As many have pointed out, this isn’t a 12-year deal at top salary; so if you want to sign Hossa for a whole lot of years at a pretty penny, the Hawks structured it wisely.

The question is (are): Is Hossa worth that commitment? (The Hawks are already a good team — Has Hossa shown himself to be the type who pushes a good team over the top?) Is this the hole that team needed to fill? Does he deliver enough of what Havlat does not to justify the difference in price and term?

Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.

by Dominik on Jul 2, 2009 10:31 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hossa

Hossa is certainly an upgrade over Havlat. He tends to stay much healthier than Havlat has in the past, although he is a couple years older.

The way his contract is structured, the Hawks and Hossa certainly think he has around 7 good years left, which is pretty optimistic, but not out of the question.

One interesting thing I noticed in his stats line is his power-play production over the last year declined from his peak points seasons http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/1640/career;_ylt=Ap.D3hgGnEEDxjLMls6EzwlivLYF. While in Ottawa and especially Atlanta, he thrived on the PP, accounting for 40-50% of his point totals. In Detroit, he only had 23 out of 70 pts on the PP, around 33%. Utilizing him on the power play will be key for Chicago in maximizing returns.

His contract puts him at 37 years old in 2016, with 7.5 million left on his contract over 5 years… a buyout at that point gives him a buyout of $5 million ($500,000 a year for 10 years). (changes in buyout rules in a new CBA don’t affect contracts made beforehand, right?). If the Hawks wait one more year, he has 3.5 million left over 4 years, giving him a $2.33 million buyout (~$291,000 a year for 8 years).

Hossa Contract
2009-10 — $7.9 million
2010-11 — $7.9 million
2011-12 — $7.9 million
2012-13 — $7.9 million
2013-14 — $7.9 million
2014-15 — $7.9 million
2015-16 — $7.9 million
2016-17 — $4 million
2017-18 — $1 million
2018-19 — $1 million
2019-20 — $750,000
2020-21 — $750,000

http://www.stlouisgametime.com/

by cold on Jul 2, 2009 11:07 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

That all being said, I don’t know if a buyout necessarily makes sense unless he has a severe drop-off in production and the cap savings are worth it (which they very well may be)

http://www.stlouisgametime.com/

by cold on Jul 2, 2009 11:14 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good stuff. Without question, Hossa is an upgrade (although Havlat’s all-around game fit fantastically in Chicago this year … a responsible “third-liner” with that production? Excellent.). But Hossa’s shrinking performance in the spotlight this postseason would have made me hesitate.

I was more referring to the opportunity cost between the term given to Hossa versus what Havlat could have been signed for — but that was before I realized Havlat had signed for six years.(!) I was thinking he was after three. Looking at Havlat’s contract now (6 years, $30M), if that’s what he wanted from Chicago, their choice is a no-brainer, given injury and production history.

I’m not convinced Havlat is injury prone — he had some pretty freak injuries — but his health record is still enough for me to shy away from a six-year commitment. At these terms, I’m glad the Blues are steering clear of big deals to guys with major question marks.

Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.

by Dominik on Jul 2, 2009 2:46 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

God this was retarded.

What is it about Marian Hossa that make teams go full retard? They’re going to have to clear out space big time to keep their young guys. I really don’t think that Soupy has made a good impression at all – they’re kicking themselves for that 8 mil a year (that’s what you get when you pull a fast one on the Thrashers – thanks for saving us the dough, Chicago). Huet is a likely goner too if they need to keep Kane and Towes.

I hate to say this, but I could see a salary dump going to ATL in the form of Huet for Lehtonen. One of our goalies is on the market, and he’d get us the most. We would probably get someone (who knows who) in addition to Huet, so that would make it a little easier for the Hawks to breathe.

In general, though, I don’t think that they’re that bright, and they’re going to have problems a few years down the line.

Reporter: There`s a "stamp out the Beatles movement" underway in Detroit. What are you going to do about it?

Paul McCartney: We`re going to start a campaign to stamp out Detroit.

by hildymac on Jul 1, 2009 7:25 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

kanes cap hit: already 3.725
toews’ cap hit: already 2.80

its not like theyre going from nothing to five million next year, they are both already over half way there, in kane’s case a jump to hossa’s salary is 1.5 mil more and toews is 2.4 mil more, so if they make as much as hossa in their next deal they need to find 3.9 mil in cap space for the bump. its not that much for three guys who will give you 80+ points a year potentially.

its not as crazy as everyone is making it out to be.

by bzgea2 on Jul 1, 2009 7:36 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Obviously

you’re making too much sense and justifying this for the Hawks. If we accept your line of thinking, then I think the next thought to set in will be panic.

I think you make some good points, but the Hawks still have a shitty goaltender who makes way too much money. And Campbell. Don’t forget that dissapointment.

www.stlouisgametime.com

by Brad Lee on Jul 1, 2009 8:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

oh yeah, no, theyre fucked in net and the soups turned, im just saying locking down kane and toews isnt really going to be that difficult for them.

by bzgea2 on Jul 1, 2009 8:37 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not sure Campbell was that big of a dissapointment

I mean he had to have scored more goals then our entire defense last season.

What it does mean is we could go after Barker on an offer sheet or one of their other players sure. But I’m telling you this 12yr contract is a scam, a smoke screen. If it isn;t then fuck the Hawks are a bit dull minded.

by Henry Miller's Used Penis on Jul 2, 2009 2:22 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

yeah, he scored 7 goals last year, man. on top of that he didn’t score for like the last 50 games of the season or something.

by bzgea2 on Jul 3, 2009 6:25 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

My $0.02

I think this clears the way for us to go after Havlat. I think he could fit into the mix fairly well.

by Liut! on Jul 1, 2009 9:01 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

he gets hurt too often.

by bzgea2 on Jul 1, 2009 9:14 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

And . . .

he just signed with the Wilds.

"The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, a man is lucky to get out of it alive." -- W.C. Fields

by Donut King on Jul 2, 2009 12:09 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm really actually kind of interested in the twitter drama from last night...

It’s like As the Indian Tuns.

http://twitter.com/martinhavlat

Someone’s piss-ed… apparently he wanted multi-year and they offered him 1 year since they oversigned Hossa.

Reporter: There`s a "stamp out the Beatles movement" underway in Detroit. What are you going to do about it?

Paul McCartney: We`re going to start a campaign to stamp out Detroit.

by hildymac on Jul 2, 2009 10:29 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah I caught that too . . .

THAT will either be . . . totally unexciting, or better than any episode of Desperate Housewives (which admittedly, I’ve never seen a damn one of that show’s episodes).

"The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, a man is lucky to get out of it alive." -- W.C. Fields

by Donut King on Jul 2, 2009 10:00 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Desperate Wild(s)

If Koivu signs there with his bro, I expect him and Havlat to have nightly chocolate and pedicure bitch sessions about their former teams.

Reporter: There`s a "stamp out the Beatles movement" underway in Detroit. What are you going to do about it?

Paul McCartney: We`re going to start a campaign to stamp out Detroit.

by hildymac on Jul 3, 2009 11:30 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

LOL Seriously

This contract is an attempt to walk around the cap. I haven’t seen the lay out but I’ll bet it is heavily front loaded for about three to four maybe even five years. Then it dramatically goes down. What will happen is Hossa will retire long before the contract is complete. It’s actually a briallient move if it was done this way.

I am envious of the Blackhawks. Huet had a bad year but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him rebound, he’s no Theodore.

What have we picked up so far Conklin. Not shabby but sort of, because the Blues don;t have the balls to put an offer down on Harding because of some gentlemen’s agreement. Fuck that. Oh and we didn’t go after Anderson???? Fucking eh.

We should have picked up Conklin last year.

If the Blues are smart they’ll say fuck you Roman Polak and sign Schneider and Beauchimen and bring in the other kids as required. Fucking ridiculous. Montreal goes about and makes some dumb moves and then still manages to make some great signings. We don’t go sniffing around some of rivals’ players like Sullivan or something and they go right back.

I believe full heartedly in the youth movement. But if there’s something special to be had the Blues best make a move on it and grow some balls.

Bottom line is when you don;t make sacrefices, when you don’t take risks what reward do you think you’ll get? But hey let’s not pick up a supposed number one draft pick for a shitberg like Brewer but sign him for four years and grossly over pay him while doing it and throw in a NMC because he went a stretch where he was actually a plus player and racked up some points.

by Henry Miller's Used Penis on Jul 2, 2009 2:19 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Exactly

With the money Hossa is making in the first few years, he is essentially being signed to a MAX contract (~8 million), but with a much smaller cap hit.

http://www.stlouisgametime.com/

by cold on Jul 2, 2009 10:19 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

sorry

a MAX contract is around 11 million a year now.. 20% of the teams salary cap

http://www.stlouisgametime.com/

by cold on Jul 2, 2009 10:20 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I have read some of the details of the contract

And despite the attempt I think the Blackhawks shot themselves in the foot a bit with this one. It’s frontloaded all right but in the first eight years. LOLLOLOLOLOLOL HA HA. Stupid fuckers.

But not the worst signing in the world. They gave up Havlat and picked up a guy who averages 70 plus games a year 29 plus goals the last eight, topping 40 a couple of times, three of last four years a plus player with good size he uses effectively.

The Hawks might move some players here and there but they’ll be able to afford their core.

Thinking about Kane playing on a line with Hossa is pretty sick. The unfortunate part is that if Sharp becomes available I doubt they’d even consider trading him to us.

by Henry Miller's Used Penis on Jul 2, 2009 12:33 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

If the Blues are smart they’ll say fuck you Roman Polak and sign Schneider and Beauchimen and bring in the other kids as required.

I’m sorry, but that’s just plain stupid.

You want to send a solid young defenseman packing because he wants a few more bucks, and at the same time, you want to bring in a 40-year-old who will want at least five times what Pola’k is asking for… and is so soft that butter picks on him?

I’m really, really curious as to your justification for this statement, oh Organ of a Dead Writer…

"If we do not prepare for ourselves the role of the hammer, there will be nothing left but that of the anvil."

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by Tomorrows Blues on Jul 2, 2009 4:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

God, NO SCHNEIDER.

I don’t care how much people think he sucked last season just because he was on the Thrashers.

The team played BETTER without him. That stretch in November-December where he missed a bunch? Yeah, we had a solid winning record. We trade him to the Habs, and all of a sudden we go on this absurd uptick that was only made better by dumping Nic Havelid.

Trust me, he’s excellent on the PP and still has a killer shot. Those don’t help a bit when you have someone turning over the puck (which led to his -12 rating last season) constantly, floating here and there, and not making any sort of contact at all (he had 64 PIM all season total). Polak’s young, up and coming and can only get better. Yes, Schneids might look better when you compare the stats for the year, but you also have to look at potential as well as age.

And Schneids is NOT worth around the $5 mil a year or whatever his hit is – that’s as much as we spent on him. Salmela wound up being 10x better, and cost a tenth of that.

Reporter: There`s a "stamp out the Beatles movement" underway in Detroit. What are you going to do about it?

Paul McCartney: We`re going to start a campaign to stamp out Detroit.

by hildymac on Jul 2, 2009 6:18 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs