The Rick Nash Contract
by Clint Clark on May 27, 2009 3:47 PM EDT
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PrintThis is certainly to be the biggest news in CBJ-land during this offseason. The Rick Nash contract extension. With some of the ridiculous dollars and terms that have been handed out in recent years, this could become very interesting.
There are many different possible numbers that CBJ fans have thrown out there for Rick. In my opinion I think we should be ready to hear 5 years 37.5 million. 7.5 a year.
61 is critical to the success of the team in the short and long term. Many would say that he is tradeable. Trading Nash could set us up well in the future....or bust. All-Star for All-Star trades are rare and I'm not sure there is a team or player that would make us a trade we'd like. If Nash's contract demands are outrageous, and I would not expect this, then I would trade him. By outrageous I'm talking 9+ million a year.
I think 5 years will be the term for a few reasons. I don't think Nash will want to go long long term because I think he is smart enough to want some flexibility. I don't think we want that contract either. One injuries can ruin everything. 5 years shows a significant commitment that both sides would be happy with.
5 years is good for the Jackets because at the end of 5 you can reassess his value. You can be much more accurate for your dollar.
7.5 is the dollar amount we will settle on. It is more money than Iginla, Datysuk, and right in line with Zetterberg. I'd personally hope for a little lower dollar amount, because I don't think he is worth all 7.5 million, but the Free Agent Market has been crazy.
What are your predictions on the deal? Does it get done before camp?
Over or under 5 years? Over or under 7.5 million a year?
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I would give him more years, which could help spread the money out a bit as well.
The problem I’d have with a 5 year deal is, he’d still potentially be at the top of his game when that contract would run out, and who knows what the market will be like then.
I’d like to see 7-8 years for roughly 7.5 a year.
8 years, $61 million would be 7.625 a year, but I think we’d see it front-loaded. I think the best way to manage all these contracts would be to front-load Nash and Brassard, back-load Russell and Voracek, and give Mason the same amount each year. Something like that, so it would hopefully roughly be about the same total amount spent each year, once that’s an issue in the next 2-3 years.
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Rick Nash
i would absolutely love it if Nash stayed, even for 5 more years(if he isn’t a lifer). I think it would be wrong not to sign him being that we have been trying to build our team around him since he has emerged from a rookie to our “C”. I think trading him, unless he is dealing us a short hand and wants too much, would undo the last 2 or 3 seasons of work for us. Finally got to the playoffs and I think for our team, it will only improve and get better as the seasons now move along.
Not really too knowledgeable about contracts, so i’ll leave that alone. Just hope both sides come to terms and Nash stays with the Jackets. bottom line.
I would think a 7-8 year deal is a scary proposition for both sides.
On Nash’s side: We do not have a history of winning, sure it looks up here, but will we be able to build a team around him. That is not a fact.
On CBJ’s side: 7-8 years is a long time with a lot of cash tied up if things change. Do the Rangers and Flyers regret the Briere, Drury, and Gomez deals? With emerging young players and potential cap issues, 7-8 years is scary. One injury can also change everything.
If he gets another contract in his prime and he has given us 5 great years, I’d have absolutely no issue giving him a raise. At least he would have earned the contract. We’d have a better idea of what type of player Nash will be at age 32 when he is 29 instead of 24.
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I think that’s part of the advantage of a front-loaded contract.
Although there is no reason to assume he will suddenly drop off the face of the earth at age 31 versus age 29, if you front-load the contract, he could be making only a few million dollars (or less) by then. With a front-loaded contract, we could be spending less on a 32-year-old Rick Nash than we are on Freddy Modin right now (in real dollars).
I don’t see really anything scary on the Blue Jackets end. If you write contracts based on worrying about injuries, you won’t be a GM for long. That’s part of the risk you take.
For Nash, there’s a reason players try to get long-term contracts. Marian Hossa was criticized for taking a one year deal with Detroit, in the process turning down a rumored long-term deal from Edmonton (rumored over $9 million a year for 8 or 10 years). Had Hossa suffered a career ending injury this year, that could have gone down as one of the most bone-headed business decisions ever. But he’s had a great year and may very well get his Cup ring, and I’d be willing to bet he’ll look for a longer term deal next year.
Players want to have security. That’s why you might see a player take less money if they can get a no-trade clause. Players, especially once they have a family, don’t want to be bounced around at the whim of a GM, or get stuck playing in an unfavorable situation. Stability is important, and that’s why you lock down your key players at (nearly) any cost. There’s also a big difference between signing a 24-year-old Rick Nash to an 8 year deal, compared to signing a 30-year-old Drury, or a 29-year-old Briere (their age the year of the signing).
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Especially with the cap going down, look at the guys who Nash tends to compare himself to / hang around / model on: Jarome Iginla and Joe Thornton.
They’ve consistently signed 3-4 year deals for reasonable money, both to demonstrate good loyalty to the franchise, give room to maneuver for other players, and have the ability to get out at the end if needed. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to hear 4 years, 28-30 million.
I could buy that line of thinking, if Nash trusts management to put the players around him needed to win.
That isn’t meant as a slight against the team, because they’ve done a good job under current management so far, but there’s still a long way to go.
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by Andy Newman on May 29, 2009 12:04 PM EDT up reply actions
Of course, if he doesn’t trust management, he wouldn’t want to stay here.
To clarify, I mean if he trusts it would make any difference in terms of budget to sign a shorter term deal, then I could see it happening.
But if the team is always waiting for a Derick Brassard or a Kris Russell, I’m not sure if he’d bother to think that way.
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by Andy Newman on May 29, 2009 12:08 PM EDT up reply actions
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