Nov 1, 2012; San Diego CA, USA; Fans of the NHL and the San Diego Chargers hold a sign that reads “Lock out has got us down so we

The NHL and NHLPA have been meeting for a couple days now, saying nothing to the media except that negotiations will continue. One of the biggest things the NHL and NHLPA are still divided on is the make whole proposal – that is, players being paid what their contracts originally said they’d be paid. When put in that language it sounds simple. Theoretically, it is simple, especially considering the fact that owners signed several players to 5+ year, $25+ million contracts right up until the last CBA expired this summer. Ryan Suter and Zac Parise, after all, signed as free agents with the Wild, both of them getting $100 million contracts. It’s fairly reasonable to ask why owners would allow such contracts to be signed if they had no intention of honoring them.

But to be completely frank, that’s an ideological argument that’s not really going to get you anywhere. The truth of the matter is that make-whole is something the owners and the players have been divided on since negotiations technically began, months ago, when the NHL and NHLPA were only meeting sporadically and spending at least as much time trying to sell their version of events to the press. It’s not a foregone conclusion, it’s an issue that’s actively being debated; and it is, unfortunately, something that’s seeing a lot of bad feeling going around for both sides.

Make-whole is important. Very important. But it’s important that it be settled to the relative satisfaction of both parties. This CBA will probably only be for six or seven years, and at the end of those years, we don’t just want to be doing this all over again. It’s essential that the NHL and NHLPA get their nonsense sorted, and that they figure out what, exactly, they’re doing, so that both sides don’t hold out next time out of dissatisfaction with how these negotiations ended up. In the last 20 years, the NHL has lost, more or less, two seasons (unless this season starts with remarkable alacrity, which is pretty unlikely).

There’s always going to be protracted negotiating when the CBA’s due to expire, but negotiation can, actually, start early and go fairly smoothly. In a world where athletes sign contracts a full year before their old contracts expire, it’s certainly possible to get the CBA figured out before the eleventh hour. As encouraged as I am by the continued closed-door talks, I’ll be most encouraged if both sides compromise without entirely capitulating. That speaks to a willingness to actually negotiate, and means both sides might not be out for blood next time around.

Nov 1, 2012; San Diego CA, USA; Fans of the NHL and the San Diego Chargers hold a sign that reads “Lock out has got us down so we

Saturday night, the NHLPA and NHL had a bit of a slumber party, staying in negotiations until well after 10 PM EST. Is it cause for hope? Well, neither side stomped off in a huff to tell the media that the other side was being a great big meanieface, so cautious hope might be the order of the day. Then again, this lockout thus far has been one step forward, two steps back, with very few exceptions. Progress was most likely made; but how much remains to be seen. The Winter Classic being cancelled was likely an indication to both sides that negotiations were being drawn out to the point of ridiculousness.

It’s no secret that many people think the NHL and NHLPA are leaving the fans behind. Is it accurate? It’s true that the two sides are squabbling over what, to fans, seems like a small difference between being rich and being very rich. I think, as with most things that receive heavy press coverage, that the difference is somewhere between the two. But either way, seeing cooperation – or at least the absence of particularly public fighting – is pretty encouraging.

February 18, 2011; Raleigh, NC, USA; Carolina Hurricanes former center Rod Brind

There’s really no getting around the fact that this past summer was a redemption year for Jim Rutherford, as much as this season was meant to be a redemption year for the club’s big name players. Rutherford signed Kaberle to a whale of a contract last summer – three years, $12.75 million – that proved to be a mistake early in the going. Rutherford somehow managed to dump that contract onto the Montreal Canadiens, proving he’s got more than a little business acumen; but while that’s impressive, it doesn’t change the fact that he made the deal to begin with.

This summer, pretty much everyone who bothered to talk about the Hurricanes talked about Jim Rutherford needing to make some big changes. The departure of Erik Cole over the summer before had left a hole in the top six that no one had been able to fill, having a negative effect on Eric Staal beyond even the generally down year he had. Rutherford set out with the stated intention of getting a top six winger if at all possible. By the end of the summer, he had two top six forwards: Jordan Staal and Alexander Semin.

Many, many people have mounted arguments that Semin’s one-year, $7 million contract is bad for business. It’s certainly a bit of a gamble. But at the end of the day, Rutherford’s essentially taking money that will be given to Jeff Skinner and Jordan Staal beginning in 2013 and putting it towards a contract for someone who might prove to be a valuable addition to the team. It could be considered irresponsible in the sense that the Hurricanes have only just gotten a diversified ownership group and aren’t exactly making money hand over fist, but the old maxim that you have to spend money to make money holds even truer in sports than in most other industries.

In my opinion, the worst contract Rutherford handed out over the summer was actually the least publicized: namely, signing Joe Corvo to a one-year, $2 million deal. Yeah, okay, it’s just one year, but $2 million is a lot of money for a 35-year-old who’s bounced from team to team simply because teams don’t tend to think he’s worth keeping. He seems content enough to return to Carolina; he said the Hurricanes were like an old shoe, a comparison I’m going to go with as being a lot less flattering than he intended it to be. He’s mean to be an offensive defenseman and his numbers last year were similar to Spacek’s, but $2 million is a lot to pay for a third pair defenseman.

It’s been pointed out, and I don’t disagree, that the Hurricanes spent an awful lot of money on offense considering they regularly have some of the worst defensive stats in the league. That’s true enough; even during years when he doesn’t have a brutal SV%, Ward faces some of the most shots in the league (2,143 last year, good for second most in the league). Carolina tends to have bad goal differentials, as well. But what a lot of people overlook is that Carolina has a lot of young defensemen in the system. They’ve drafted defense in the first round often, and have a coach in the A who focuses on defense development. Whenever the season starts, the solution to Carolina’s defense problems could be homegrown.

Later I’ll take the time to break down Carolina’s spending, but for now I’ll just say: Rutherford made three deals of note this summer, and the only one that’s a really flagrantly dubious choice is the one for the least amount of money, and a short period of time. People called the Canes a team to watch this year for a reason. If only the season had started even remotely on time.