The fallout from the new NHL established after the CBA was put into place was that teams with high payrolls would lose players to get under the salary cap. The avalanche who were a major player in escalating salaries are not susceptible to the new operations as they are now finding it hard to keep their players.The website, The Fourth Period, reports about a Denver Post article that says that former Calder candidate and young Slovak superstar Marek Svatos has stalled with contract talks.
"We're at a point where it's tough to say where it goes from here," Svatos' agent Rich Evans told the Post. "(Talks) could have gone better; otherwise, we'd have a deal by now."Svatos was on a serious tear last season before suffering a season ending shoulder surgery while being on pace for the top rookie trophy honors. The only question now is will the Colorado Avalanche spend to keep him happy and use up the $5.2 million left on their cap room.
Svatos, 24, earned $450,000 (league minimum) last season and was tendered a qualifying offer of $495,000 by the Avs to retain his rights. He opted against filing for arbitration.
I think this has been quite the karmic payback to a franchise that was one of the worst offenders in inflated salaries. Now teams in smaller cities can collect players like Svatos to redistribute the talent when it was only afforded to 5 or 6 teams.
Listed as a restricted free agent, I expect Svatos to sign with Colorado and have trade talks and rumors attached to him before the all star game.
[Via: Denver Post & The Fourth Period]
No comments:
Post a Comment