How To “CAP” The Cap.
The Devils were considered to be one of the lower payroll teams to have success in the mid 90’s and early 2000’s but to keep successful, salary had to go up and it did. By their 2002-2003 Stanley Cup run…the Devils had a payroll of just over 50 million dollars putting them in the top ten in the league in salary. Teams like the Wings and Rangers were spending over 75 million and high escalating salaries were getting out of hand. Then the lockout hit. With a new CBA, the salary cap was introduced at 39 million dollars for the 2005-2006 season. Depending on revenues during the season….the cap could go up. Contrary to most reports, it could not go down after the first season.Lamoriello was in trouble guiding his team under the cap even in 2005-2006. Even though the Devils had lost Niedermayer, there were other contracts that needed to be negotiated. Martin Brodeur’s contract was a steal at just over 5.2 million but Patrik Elias’s 1 year…4.18 million dollar contract meant Lou was going to have to make a decision the following season. Lamoriello did a lot of that so called “procrastination”. Also, the signings of Malakhov, Mogilny, and McGillis severely hampered the Devils. It was a gamble I would have never taken. If it wasn’t for Elias’s freak case of hepatitis, contracted in Russia, the Devils may have never gotten under the cap. No one will ever know what Lou would have done if Elias had been healthy. That wasn’t all….Lamoriello even managed to acquire Brad Lukowich and Jason Wiemer at the trade deadline. How, may you ask? Malakhov took an early “retirement”, Mogilny was sent down to the AHL and eventually so would McGillis. That prorated relief towards the cap enabled Lou to obtain a little depth for the stretch run….and another 100 point season.
If anyone thought Lou was in trouble for the 2005-2006 season, 2006-2007 was much worse. Though the LTIL (Long Term Injury List) was expanded and the salary cap went up to 44 million dollars, it didn’t offer as much help to the Devils as one would expect. There were players to sign, players to make decisions on, and in all honesty it came down to a ruling from the NHL…a hearing that would shape the Devils for the 2006-2007 season. That hearing was the case of Alexander Mogilny. If the Devils could get cap relief for him by putting him on the Long Term Injury List, then that might just pave the way for other signings and to get in just under the cap. Mogilny was over 35 so he couldn’t just be demoted again…that was a one time thing. His hip was deteriorating to the point where he couldn’t play. At the hearing Lou had the Devils team doctor and noted surgeon Dr. James Andrews testify. Basically, what was said was that Mogilny’s hip had slowly impacted his play at first but because of the degenerating condition, it had worsened to the point where Mogilny could no longer play at all. With the help of Andrews’ testimony, the NHL ruled that Mogilny could be placed on the injury list, freeing up his salary.
That ruling helped but still meant the Devils had to deal with the stickier situation of Malakhov. He had basically retired but his agent kept insisting he hadn’t…that Vladimir just didn’t want to play in New Jersey anymore. On October 1st, Lou had a solution that would leave the rest of the GM’s completely flustered. He traded Malakhov and a conditional first round pick to the San Jose Sharks for Jeff Fahey and the rights to Alex Koroyluk, who is playing in Russia this season. The deal not only stunned insiders but pretty much floored me. I couldn’t believe Lou had pulled this off for basically very little damage prospect wise. I thought it would have taken at least 2 or 3 high picks and maybe a player because Lou, in theory, had no leverage. However, he found a partner with his own disgruntled Russian to dance with and the deal with the Devil was done.
Now you thought this was all done…those two moves would get the Devils under the cap and all their core players signed? Well not necessarily. Scott Gomez and his 5 million dollar arbitration ruling had already been honored. and Brian Gionta was signed to a 4 year deal…worth about 12 million. Earlier in the free agent period…Elias had been signed to a 7 year, 42 million dollar contract. There were two players left after Colin White signed his 6 year deal for 18 million….those were Scott Clemmensen and Paul Martin. Seemed easy, right? Wrong. A stroke of luck occurred when Richard Matvichuk’s back surgery didn’t go as well as planned and in a freak preseason accident, Jason Wiemer tore his ACL during a game. Those two players went on the Long Term Injury List and Lou’s last hurdle was overcome. The Devils were under the salary cap. So sometimes…a magician needs a lot of skill, a lot of luck, and a few lapses in logic to truly “cap” the cap.
