Parise and Suter BOTH sign with WILD

Yeah. There is a buyer waiting in the wings already from all accounts...he just wants to own it outright with Vanderbeek removed from the equation. I still think Vanderbeek can pull it out. The problem is that Chambers(the partner who wants out) got into the deal with the major intention of putting a stadium in Newark. Since he accomplished that he has withdrawn support and hindered Vanderbeek, who has tried in vain to outlast his combative partner. It's a shame because Vanderbeek is a tremendous Jersey guy and has done a lot to promote youth hockey in the state. The stadium is a mini HHOF of Garden State hockey. So yeah, the situation in Phoenix is totally different because prospective buyers keep getting scared off because they either want to move the team or keep it there and Glendale fights either way. But the important thing is that financials were not a factor for Parise. He wants to go home. Good luck and God bless.

Offside: A Sports Law Blog: Parise & Suter Contracts - A Circumvention of the CBA?

Not that anything will come of it but here is a writer who actually fleshes out my initial emotional reaction regarding cap circumvention. Food for thought.

Didn't the NHL institute some rule to combat this, where the cap hit was somehow altered towards the end of the contract? I think I recall Zdeno Chara's contract has a bit higher cap hit up front and drops down towards the end. Maybe I'm way off here.

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Originally Posted by jerseydevil

Sorry Ranma, but if I had a nickel for everytime somebody said, "this is the end for the Devils"...

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I'll admit I am biased given my aforementioned bitterness over the engagement with Kovalchuk but I was trying to be respectful and mostly objective with my "potshot" at the Devils organization. Not only do I hate how that contract played out for the Kings but I think it set a bad precedent for the league...but I digress.

In any case, speaking again as an outsider, I just find it hard to believe that the Devils can continue being resilient given their limited resources due to that bad contract that I feel was foisted upon your organization by ownership. As you mentioned, the Devils have continued to be an impressive organization making the most out of their resources but I just think it's at a breaking point. If they can get over the hump during the tough times ahead and continue to conduct business as usual in spite of the naysayers such as myself, then it will be all that more impressive a feat. You obviously have astute and resourceful leadership in Lamoriello to right the ship, but the hits the Devils are taking is something I feel most organizations would have a tremendously difficult time to recover from.

I wish you and your dedicated fanbase the best...except with regards to Kovalchuk. :3smile:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ranma

I'll admit I am biased given my aforementioned bitterness over the engagement with Kovalchuk but I was trying to be respectful and mostly objective with my "potshot" at the Devils organization. Not only do I hate how that contract played out for the Kings but I think it set a bad precedent for the league...but I digress.

In any case, speaking again as an outsider, I just find it hard to believe that the Devils can continue being resilient given their limited resources due to that bad contract that I feel was foisted upon your organization by ownership. As you mentioned, the Devils have continued to be an impressive organization making the most out of their resources but I just think it's at a breaking point. If they can get over the hump during the tough times ahead and continue to conduct business as usual in spite of the naysayers such as myself, then it will be all that more impressive a feat. You obviously have astute and resourceful leadership in Lamoriello to right the ship, but the hits the Devils are taking is something I feel most organizations would have a tremendously difficult time to recover from.

I wish you and your dedicated fanbase the best...except with regards to Kovalchuk. :3smile:

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Was hardly the first contract to do this. For some reason it's the only one the NHL chose to look at though. When it happened it still blew me away that they were willing to totally ignore the same thing going on with Luongo, Hossa, and I believe it was Franzen(?).

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Originally Posted by SmytheKing

Was hardly the first contract to do this. For some reason it's the only one the NHL chose to look at though. When it happened it still blew me away that they were willing to totally ignore the same thing going on with Luongo, Hossa, and I believe it was Franzen(?).

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I think the third one was Heatley...Compared to the Parise/Suter two-fer it isn't as bad as it was originally considered. And it certainly isn't as bad as Luongo/DiPietro's, and that Kovy character turned out to be a pretty decent player. If things do not change, Minnesota just proved that the ridiculous is going to be the norm rather than the exception.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jerseydevil

Sorry Ranma, but if I had a nickel for everytime somebody said, "this is the end for the Devils"...

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You may need a bigger piggy bank. :) I kid... I kid.

There are some rumblings that Zajac may want to test free agency. That would not help things along but I have a great deal of respect for Lou. Oates is gone, Robinson is gone. Is this related to the ownership situation, DeBoer getting his own coaching staff, or teams pillaging a SC finalist?

I see some challenging times ahead for the Devils.

Zajac would be a tremendous loss from what I've seen.

Was surprised to open my paper this morning and see that Robinson was coming to the sharks. Should be interesting times here.

I still think the Devils biggest issue will be getting used to a world without Marty and the way he plays the puck. It's going to put a serious amount of mileage on their D by comparison to now when he finally hangs them up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jerseydevil

Sorry Ranma, but if I had a nickel for everytime somebody said, "this is the end for the Devils"...

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Yeah, sorry, but I'm still on vacation, and I won't be chiming in about their demise.

I'll say this, that Lou will keep patching something together, but the minute he leaves, its curtains.