The Hockey News: Special Features: Analysis: Ovechkin deal proves owners can spend

Analysis: Ovechkin deal proves owners can spend

The new contract signed by Alex Ovechkin will keep him in a Capitals uniform for 13 more years.

Ken Campbell
2008-01-10 20:09:45

Well, isn’t this interesting. Didn’t we have a year-long lockout a couple of years ago because teams like the Washington Capitals couldn’t afford to pay runaway salaries like the one they’re going to be giving Alex Ovechkin for the next 13 seasons?

So this is what you must do the next time Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, or any one of his cronies complain about their financial state.

Ignore them, laugh at them, look incredulously at them with your mouth agape, but please don’t buy their malarkey for a second.

You could say the Capitals had little choice but to offer Ovechkin somewhere near the fully mandated $10 million and they did. After all, he’s one of the league’s most talented players and the prospect of losing him was far more difficult to fathom for the Capitals than the prospect of paying him a minimum 20 percent of the team payroll.

The cap hit will be $9.53 million, about as close as you can get without hitting double digits without the decimal point.

But they did have a choice on the term. Thirteen years is simply preposterous for any player, regardless of his star quality. And now that he’s throwing that kind of money at Ovechkin, does it make sense to stop there? Well, no it doesn’t.

Related Links

Leonsis and the Capitals will now have to join the arms race and spend to the cap. No sense in paying one of the best players in the game that kind of money and not surrounding him with any kind of talent.

In a likely best-case scenario, Ovechkin will average 50 goals and about 100 points per season through the life of this contract. Could they not have signed three players for $3 million each, which could have given them more than that?

And so it goes on. The more we see deals like this, the more two things become clear.

First, the Rick DiPietro contract is looking better with each passing deal and secondly, the league will most definitely insist on limiting the term of deals in the next collective bargaining agreement.

We can only wait to see whether it will result in another lockout.

COMMENTS (26)

Sort: Oldest | Newest | Love | Hate Filter: All | Videos

Michal Posted
(2009-04-30 05:59:38)

The one thing nobody gets in here is that there is nothing wrong with one of the best players in the game earning this amount of money. OV is irreplaceable player and offensive force. Deals with Penner, Vanek and even with Drury and Gomez, who all earn approximately the same amount as is Crosby and now Ovechkin, are the reason we miss whole season of hockey. Because it is totally different if you pay 10mil. to OV or to Vanek.

Brian Posted
(2009-04-30 05:58:56)

To put a negative spin on this is a fool's game...appropriate coming from Ken Campbell! Good move Washington!

paul barstad Posted
(2009-04-30 05:58:51)

i understand washington giving such a large contract he's one of the best up n coming players.so i guess that means he'll be the only elite player on the team.he can help sell tickets but i doubt he can single handedly bring a cup to washington.for thier sake i hope the cap gets a big time raise.

Jamie Murdoch Posted
(2009-04-30 05:58:47)

All of this talk about Crosby being able to make 15 mil in 5 years is ridiculous. The cap is not going to keep going up, because the main thing that has been driving it is a increased Canadian dollar, which helps make up for the fact that Americans don't really care about our game. With the dollar expected to stay the same or go down, the cap should do the same

Mark Posted
(2009-04-30 05:58:44)

There's just so many uninformed people on this topic; you need to understand and look at the facts. First Ovechkin is going to make 10M a year wherever he plays in the NHL each of the next 3 years - as some have said the CBA and his talent assure that. He would have gotten that in an offer sheet as an RFA and the Caps would be fools to not match it. The 13 year deal isn't a bad idea on either Ovie or Management's part. No doubt the first 6 years are already insured if the league approves the contract. Second, if he gets hurt it's not a Cap hit. Smart money says each year Managment will insure another year of the contract as long as he isn't hurt so financial risk is probably at a max of 50 of the 124M right now. Second as far as a Cap issue if he's hurt and can't play they get the Cap room back. With OV in his 13 year contract the Capitals as a franchise are worth more than with almost any other single player in the league right now so that further lessens the risk from a financial perspective if you analyze it from a business investment Net Present Value aspect. Finally, he's the foundation of the franchise and last Thursday night I bet I wasn't the only season ticket holder who decided to reup my seats next year and for the next 13 years assuming I still live here. Get over it Canadian Hockey fans and be glad the schedule change next year means that regardless of where you live and who you root for over the next two seasons every hockey fan will have the option of seeing Ovie play the game. LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!

Mavid Posted
(2009-04-30 05:58:42)

Srecko this has nothing to do with Canada, Ovechkin got alot of money, fine, but the Caps have no depth and will have to pay Kolzig. THN has great writers, and the Caps dont.

daniel viau Posted
(2009-04-30 05:58:41)

its very simple ,leonis is genious,,would cost them more to match up any offer if they dint sign him....wtg caps organisation and ty ovie

Robert Posted
(2009-04-30 05:58:41)

@paul green I love this whole ticket prices excuse... If OV had gone on the open market he would have made at least 10 mil per year. This contract was set long before the caps decided to make the commitment. If anything they are saving themselves money in the future by not having him become a UFA at the age of 27 like Crosby and get a 15 mil per year deal. The fact that you say it guarantees that they won't win the Stanley cup speaks to your ignorance because you obviously have no idea as to their farm system and prospects. Even with this deal the caps are still WAY under the cap and have much room to improve their team. By saying that signing a player to this kinda contract makes them unable to win a Cup means that Ottawa and Pittsburgh can't win cups as well since Heatley is going to be at 10mil per and Crosby is just about at 9 mil per year. How about you do some research and refrain from posting until you have at least the slightest clue about what you are talking about.

Paul green Posted
(2009-04-30 05:58:41)

This only guarantees that the capitals won't win a stanley cup for 13 years. One player can't win a cup on their own. 3 cheers for higher ticket prices and a 124 million dollar dream.

Mike Housman Posted
(2009-04-30 05:58:39)

I am sick of all this B.S. from writers and fans. The caps are paying him 9.5 mil a year for 13 years. Between inflation and where the cap is projected to go, this is going to end up being a steal in 4 years if he stays healthy. People are already projecting that Crosby will be getting a 15 mil per year deal when his contract is up in 5 years. At that point OV will be making almost 6 mil less than Crosby. Everyone complained about how the caps weren't willing to spend the money to keep OV and now that they have spent the money that he would have easily got in the open market the caps are critizied for it. Since when did every writer in the states and canada decided that the caps can do no right and will be bashed for everything they do. I guess i didn't get the memo