Wings fans have been lamenting and speculating on the status of Chris Chelios’ and Darren McCarty’s contracts, wondering why they would not take the deals Ken Holland offered.
Well, Cats and Pajamas, it ain’t all about the money. D-Mac ain’t shopping and he’s as loyal and ready to play for the Wings as he ever has been. And this probably applies to Chelios too, which means I probably have to stop being mad at him for the Chicago comment…(maybe)
I have some really good news for those who want both D-Mac and Cheli back in the fold, as I have learned while in Detroit. News that that clarifies the hold up or “holdout”.
For those of you who don’t care about McCarty, well perhaps this blog will offer a little insight into why some of your favorite players may be in contract limbo right now.
McCarty and Chelios have been offered base salaries near the bottom of the salary scale: approximately $575,000 and $750,000, respectively. Obvious reasons involve age and salary caps. Wings are brushing up against the cap ceiling of near $57 MM number right now. So what do all teams do in a situation where they want to pay a guy more than the amount available under the Cap? They supplement the compensation with bonuses.
The Wings use performance based bonuses to compensate guys like D-Mac and Cheli so as to leave salary cap room for their younger, more expensive players.
However, players relying on bonuses are a bit hamstrung right now due to the status of the soon to expire CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement). Under the current CBA, this year’s bonuses count against next year’s salary cap.
Since the Players Association has not yet announced whether it will extend the CBA, the NHL won’t allow teams to count bonuses against next year’s cap. So Darren and probably Chelios are stuck in a holding pattern waiting to see what their bonuses might do to up the ante.
“There are some clarifications (about the CBA) in there,” McCarty has said. “Guys over 35 is where I’m at and there’s some things in there that are sort of gray that affects about two per cent of us.
“I’m pretty confident something will get done in the next couple of weeks.”
If the Players Assoc. doesn’t act before camp, D-Mac (and likely Chelios) will have to make the decision to take the two-way contract offered. However its important to note that he doesn’t get all that money if he plays the majority of his time with the Griffens. In reality his base salary in the minors would be about $100,000, up to $575,000 if he spends all his time playing with the Wings.
“In order to play somewhere else, it would have to be something pretty special,” McCarty said to the Windsor Star this past week.
Awww.. We know what you really meant to say Big D, that there isn’t any place as special as Hockeytown. I hope this gets done for you bro, you deserve the best!!!!!
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