Carolina Hurricanes Morning News: Steven Stamkos, Anze Kopitar, and Jeresy Ads
By Brett Finger
The Tampa Bay Lightning will have to dig deep into their pockets in order to sign one of the league’s best and youngest super stars Steven Stamkos, who is set to test the free agent market next summer.
More From Cardiac Cane – Hurricanes Prospect Profiles
Also, the Los Angeles Kings will hope that they can avoid a Patrick Kane/Jonathan Toews contract with their star center Anze Kopitar, and how do NHL players feel about jersey ads?
Let’s take a look at today’s news.
Hurricanes Links
- Is Warren Foegele on the cusp of becoming a top prospect for the Carolina Hurricanes? We took a look at him and previewed his 2015-2016 season. (Cardiac Cane)
- Who will man the penalty kill for the Carolina Hurricanes this season? Matt Karash discussed who may be up for the role. (Canes and Coffee)
Steven Stamkos Entering a Big Contract Year – ESPN.com
According to Craig Custance of ESPN, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Steven Stamkos have yet to begin contract extension talks. Stamkos will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2016.
The Lightning went to the Stanley Cup Finals back in June but fell to the Chicago Blackhawks.
It’s no secret that Stamkos will demand big time money and long term on his next deal, but how much is he actually worth?
More from Cardiac Cane
- 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase: Takeaways from the Canes’ Strong Showing in Florida
- Week Two Coverage Of College Hockey In NC
- Derek Stepan Ends His On Ice Career As A Hurricane
- The Southeast Rookie Showcase Will Be a Good Look at Carolina’s Future
- Noesen Ready To Provide Depth For Canes
Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane both enter the first year of their eight-year, $84 million deal ($10.5 mill AAV) this season. Could that be a sign of what Stamkos will get?
Steven Stamkos is a better scorer than either of Toews and Kane, and in a league that is fueled by elite scorers, that will be a big factor, though he isn’t the same defensive presence that Toews is. However, Stamkos has improved a lot on his defensive game over the past couple seasons.
The 25-year-old sniper hasn’t scored under 40 goals in a full season since his rookie year in 2008-2009. He netted 23 goals that season. He did score just 25 goals in 2013-2014, but he only played in 37 games due to a leg fracture.
In this day and age where salary cap space is hard to come by, it will be tough for a legitimate, contending team to push out big money and big term to a player, even a guy like Steven Stamkos who is among the most elite players in the world.
According to generalfanager.com, the Bolts are currently $637,098 over the salary cap ceiling, and with players like Braydon Coburn and Alex Killorn with expiring contracts next summer, I honestly don’t know how GM Steve Yzerman will get all these players and stay cap compliant.
Stamkos will make $7.5 million this season, and he will be in for a $3-5 million raise, especially if he has yet another remarkable goal scoring season, and there’s no reason to believe that he won’t.
"“Look at Steve [Yzerman’s] salary cap. What’s he going to do? Where does the money go?,” said one agent. “Steve Yzerman has to be sitting with the brain trust going, ‘Okay, if it’s going to be 10.5 million, what do we do?’ The other side of the question — if Steven Stamkos goes to the market, he’s getting 11 or 12, but where is he getting it from? He’s currently on a Cup contender,” whereas the team offering big money in free agency most likely isn’t.”"
This will be a very important story line to watch throughout the upcoming season.
Anze Kopitar and the Kings Kicking the Tires – ESPN.com
Anze Kopitar and Steven Stamkos are in very similar situations. They are super star players entering contract years with a team that has no cap room.
Los Angeles and Tampa Bay are in different conundrums when it comes to their cap troubles, however.
The Kings have put a lot of money into underperforming players, but they still sit with a $6+ million cap cushion currently, so they do have some wiggle room in that regard, but that space will likely be gone next summer with new contracts needed for Anze Kopitar, newly acquired Milan Lucic, and Trevor Lewis.
Kopitar has reportedly asked for Jonathan Toews money, which is $10.5 million as an AAV. Both sides (the Kings and Kopitar) have given their initial offers for a new deal.
The Slovak center, who is set to turn 28 this week, has certainly earned the right to ask for big money. He has been one of the league’s most consistant players, tallying 60+ points in every season of his career, including a 61-point rookie campaign in 2006-2007. He did tally 42 points in 47 games in the lockout shortened 2013 season, which meant he was on pace for 73 points that year in a full season.
The money problems come with guys like Mike Richards ($5.75 million AAV until 2020) and Dustin Brown ($5.875 million AAV until 2022) being drastically overpaid. However, if Richards plays in the minors this season, they will only have a fraction of his salary count against the cap, which helps.
The team will likely look to move Mike Richards by any means possible, as he is currently just dead money for the club.
Anze Kopitar, Steven Stamkos, and Eric Staal lead the way of big name forwards with expiring contracts this season.
Blake Wheeler Says No to Jersey Ads
The discussion of jersey ads has been spreading a lot since word came out about the NHL’s new jersey deal with Adidas, but how do the actual players feel about it?
Blake Wheeler of the Winnipeg Jets has made it clear that he is against the idea of putting advertisements on NHL jerseys.
Wheeler is one of the first players to actually speak out about it, and I think he shares the same opinion as most of the fans across the league.
The idea of jersey ads in the NHL has been widely frowned upon, and it is for obvious reasons. People don’t like change, especially change that is so apparent.
In other professional hockey leagues, like Sweden and Switzerland among other countries, jerseys are littered with ads, so bringing that to the NHL not only makes the jerseys look bad, but it also takes out a unique part of the North American game.
I think putting ads on jerseys wouldn’t severely hurt the fan’s view on the NHL, but I still think that the negative opinions on it would still be there. Ultimately, if they keep the ads to a minimum, fans will likely get over it and get used to it in time.
According to reports, the NHL may use the 2016 World Cup of Hockey as a way to test the waters with jersey ads.