Everybody wants to be the Detroit Red Wings these days. Problem is collecting the kind of talent assembled by the Stanley Cup champs is not a simple matter. So some teams are doing the next best thing and trying to create a similar committee-like management structure.
The Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks are the latest organizations to move toward the Detroit model, thanks to significant front office changes.
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| Steve Tambellini (left) is now GM of the Oilers and Kevin Lowe is president of hockey operations. (AP) |
Free-agent frenzy: One general manager said he expected a "nuclear bomb for salaries" to go off when the free-agent market opened July 1. He wasn't wrong, although not particularly prescient, because the situation was all but inevitable. The pickings in this year's crop were relatively slim, which meant that many players had more bargaining power than they probably deserved.
(There was some irony in the best player available signing at a discount. Then again, Marian Hossa won't starve on $7.4 million for one season with Detroit and he might win a Stanley Cup.)
The rest of the pack, meanwhile, did pretty well for itself with deals worth more than $400 million handed out in the first two days. However, many deals were questionable, not just for the dollars but the terms. If one thing became apparent this July, it's that many general managers are no more rational now about spending then they were before the lockout which makes you wonder what the work stoppage was really all about.
To Russia with Love: When Bobby Hull jumped to the upstart WHA back in the early 1970s, it was a very big deal. Not so with Jaromir Jagr heading off for the greener pastures of Russia's hockey league this summer. Like Hull, Jagr is seen as the marquee player who will give the new league instant credibility. But whereas some genuine NHL talents in their prime followed Hull, Jagr doesn't have the same pied piper quality.
More important, NHL players are paid a lot more now than back then. Still, the Russian league has some deep-pocketed investors with egos, so it can't be dismissed entirely as a threat. The Nashville Predators found that out when rising young star Alexander Radulov was poached a few weeks ago with one season remaining on his rookie contract, although there are still some legal remedies they are exploring. The Russian league could prove to be a viable alternative for veteran players, especially those from Europe, whose salary expectations may be inconsistent with their value in the current market place, and in large part that's why Jagr went over for the twilight of his career. He'll pad his retirement fund nicely by doing so, but leave a tainted legacy in the NHL.
Lightning strike: They've gone crazy in Tampa Bay this summer, which could turn out to be a very good thing for the Lightning. Or not.
The new owners started making splashes as soon as they took over around the NHL Draft and have been even more aggressive in July. With big name free-agent signings and trades, a major front office shakeup that pushed out the longtime GM, and a lifetime extension for the face of the franchise, Vincent Lecavalier, the organization has changed from top to bottom at a dizzying pace that has been impossible to ignore. The upshot is the Lightning looks like a better team than the one that finished 30th overall last season.
There are still question marks in goal and on the blue line, but the Southeast Division title is not unrealistic for the team. Neither is a last place finish.
Off-base owners: There were plenty of happy times around the league in July, but not so much for Gary Bettman. The commissioner had several headaches to deal with as several owners who came into the league under his watch found themselves in the midst of serious legal trouble. Among them were Anaheim Ducks owner Henry Samueli, who pleaded guilty to SEC charges of falsified corporate financial statements; Nashville Predators part owner William (Boots) Del Biaggio, who is being sued for fraud in loans he obtained in part to help finance his purchase of the team; and Mike Shanahan, a former owner of the St. Louis Blues, who was indicted for corporate stock fraud.
But the biggest ownership problem for Bettman continues to be Rangers boss Jim Dolan, who is fighting to gain control of the team's website. Dolan agreed to league rules about website uniformity when the lockout ended, but has changed his mind and has attempted modifications. The league has taken the Rangers to court and has threatened to take the franchise away from Dolan, but the owner isn't backing down. It's not the kind of story the league wants to be around when people in New York start paying attention to hockey again in the fall.
Location, location, location: Meanwhile, as several franchises in non-traditional hockey markets continue to struggle, the league never stops hyping new ones as potential solutions. That's why whenever there are whispers about expansion or relocation, it's places like Las Vegas or Kansas City or Portland that tend to top the list.
Never a Canadian city, you might have noticed, despite the fact that the six franchises north of the border contributed about 28 percent of league revenues last season. That's nothing to sneeze at for a league with a revenue sharing system and a big reason the NHL Players Association would like to see some more franchises in Canada. Significantly, union chief Paul Kelly came out in favor of the notion a couple of weeks predicting rabid markets like Winnipeg, Quebec City and Hamilton could be successful. That would be good for everybody, right?
Waiting for Mats Godot: Maybe this is really only a big deal in Toronto where the tea leaf reading industry about Mats Sundin's future can weather any economic downturn. Notice how the same thing isn't going on in Colorado where Joe Sakic continues to ponder his future in solitude? But in Leafs nation, the future Hall of Famer from Sweden remains issue No. 1, as it does in a few other places where Sundin would create a major impact. Sundin just isn't sure if he wants to put his 37-year-old body through it any more though, so he has left $20 million over two years from Vancouver on the table and has not accepted offers nearly as lucrative from the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers.
That's why in Toronto they keep thinking -- or is it hoping? -- that Sundin might actually re-sign with the Maple Leafs despite the best efforts of still interim general manager to kick him out the door. Sundin's agent says the player will make up his mind next and let several of his suitors start making more definitive plans for the season. Or maybe he won't.
The executive suite: We mentioned the Detroit management model earlier, which is a committee type set up that involves several high-end hockey minds. The success has been palatable over the years, because the Red Wings, in large part thanks to their scouting and development, have remained an elite organization through free spending or salary-capped times.
In Detroit, the team is led by GM Ken Holland and includes his predecessor Jim Devellano, his longtime assistant Jim Nill, former captain and franchise icon Steve Yzerman, and until the end of July, Scotty Bowman, the coach with the most Stanley Cup wins. Bowman is now with the Chicago Blackhawks, where he will act in a similar advisory role in a committee setup to GM Dale Tallon and his assistant, Stan Bowman, who is Scotty's son.
The Oilers, meanwhile, moved in a similar direction on the same day, with GM Kevin Lowe moving upstairs to become president of hockey operations and Steve Tambellini coming in to replace him, while former VP of hockey operations Kevin Prendergast becomes assistant GM. This is the shape of things to come in the NHL, but the unfortunate thing is we may never get to hear a comment about Lowe from Brian Burke again.
