Hockey Rants

Monday, July 19, 2004

Money Players: An Insider's Look

Have you ever wondered why some NHL GM�s throw ludicrous amounts of money on free agents, and why players sell themselves out so heartlessly to the highest bidder? We don�t often get an inside look at the �agent� game, as it were.

I came across a nice excerpt of a book "Money Players: How Hockey's Greatest Stars Beat the NHL at Its Own Game," by Bruce Dowbiggin, which was posted on here, on ESPN.com.

This excerpt details the events of July 1st, 2002, with an insider�s look at the wheelings and dealings or agent Mike Gillis, who represents Robert �Bobby� Holik and Tony Amonte.

It also delves a bit into Gillis� background, including a legal battle with Alan Eagleson over insurance money and legal fees, which was the beginning of the end for Eagleson�s reign.

If you have some time, I would highly suggest that you give it a read. Some of the notable aspects from this excerpt include...

Easy Money - It�s just amazing how easy Gillis� job looks, as the ghastly numbers thrown about by agents and GM�s make it seem like this money grows on trees. It�s as if these parties have been desensitized to how ludicrous shelling out $7, 8 or 9 million for Bobby Holik really is.
The Market Forces at Work � Although Bettman would love to control the NHL owners and their spending habits, it�s not an impossible task without illegal collusion. With the current system in place (31 is the UFA age), and with the exception of this crazy off-season, there are few quality free agents in the marketplace, which causes the price of these free agents to skyrocket. It�s basic supply and demand, and teams have to pay a premium to attract quality free agents...or even free agents of �average� talent. Teams with high revenues with a �need� to win are not going to show fiscal restraint with a big juicy carrot is dangled in front of their face.

To quote the book: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has again promised restraint and sobriety in bidding for unrestricted free agents this summer, but Gillis knows that local market forces will cause many owners once more to ignore Bettman's call. He knows that a flood of platitudes and outright bribes from desperate teams will flow to his clients this day
The lack of loyalty �
Mike Gillis: � Maximizing compensation is the first and foremost part of my job.

Take in that quote again...Gillis isn�t interesting in merely representing his client�s interests�he just wants to get the biggest paycheck and biggest commission possible.
And what of Robert Holik? Why would he want to play with a trainwreck of a team in Gotham City?

Again, from the article: .
Holik wants to play with a winning club. The Rangers, having missed the playoffs five years in a row before 2003, will have to pay a generous premium to persuade him to help Eric Lindros, Pavel Bure, and Brian Leetch revive their underachieving team. The Rangers will have to top offers from Toronto, New Jersey, Dallas, and perhaps other teams, by a considerable margin to land him.

"I think $9 million across the board for five years would be good," says Holik matter-of-factly... Gillis -- who has negotiated these sorts of deals for Pavel Bure (who makes $10 million a year) -- reads back the figures. "Is that what you want?"
There's only the slightest pause. "Yes. I'll have no doubt about it if that's what they offer. That's what it will take."

So, forget about playing with a winning club, or for your old and successful club (who offered $8mil a year), and simply go to the highest bidder. Any time a player says �It�s not about the money,� you can understand why the fans collectively throw up their lunch.

Of course, these big insane contracts (Guerin, Holik, et al) are really biting these teams in the ass right about now, after they realized how stupid it was to pay megabucks for players in the decline phase of their career.
The Rangers Spending Habits- Glen Sather has done quite a craptastic job with the Rangers, but the Rangers have 1. lots and lots of money (Their TV deal alone is bigger than many teams� budgets), and 2. Jim Dolan

Then there's the Dolan factor. Since Jim Dolan's firm Cablevision acquired the Rangers, the chief executive has become "very, very, very, very involved" in the running of the Rangers, says former general manager Neil Smith. "Cablevision believes if every company has one CEO, we should have ten." That philosophy extends to hockey players, too, says Smith. While he tried to rebuild an aging 1994 Stanley Cup team with younger players, Smith says, Dolan was obsessed with the latest veteran free agents, whether they fit the Rangers or not. When winger Theo Fleury -- who'd already been in rehab for substance-abuse problems -- became a free agent in the summer of 1999, Dolan insisted Smith fly west to get him.
"He told me I had to come back with him," says Smith. "If I didn't, I was through." When Smith questioned the advisability of signing the emotionally volatile Fleury, Dolan replied, "It's my money." Fleury was signed, but subsequently checked into another rehab centre; Smith was fired and replaced by Sather. Clearly, Dolan has been telling Sather that he wants Holik on his team in 2002-03.

It would be hard to do a good job with a boss like that, always undermining you and telling you to make bad financial and player personnel decisions. That doesn�t excuse Sather entirely, but we can�t point the finger solely at Sather for the Rangers� spending habits.