Sunday, September 04, 2005
The Name's Bondra, Peter Bondra
Peter Bondra may not finish his career with the Washington Capitals, after all.
After making a public counter-proposal to the Capitals 1yr/$1.5mil offer, hokej.sk reports that the Capitals have turned down Bondra's counter-proposal for more money and another season. Bondra also wants a 'no-trade clause', which the Capitals are refusing to include in their offer.
I am amazed that Bondra hasn't been scooped up by some team yet. Even at 37, he could still help many teams as a 2nd line winger.
People were saying Bondra was finished after the 99-00 season in which he had just 38 points in 62 games. Bondra then went on to pile up 256 points in 312 games over the next 4 seasons. After a year of rest (in which he played just 6 games for his home town of Poprad), Bondra could still have his noted wheels all revved up to score another 20-25 goals.
At the same time, I think Bondra and Winter may not realize that Bondra just isn't worth more than $1.5mil in today's market and at his age and productivity level. If superior players aren't getting a lot more than $1.5mil (think Ray Whitney and Cory Stillman) and a similar player like Tony Amonte can't get more than that, than why would other teams give Bondra more money and a no-trade clause?
...or maybe he'll have a second career as a goon?
After making a public counter-proposal to the Capitals 1yr/$1.5mil offer, hokej.sk reports that the Capitals have turned down Bondra's counter-proposal for more money and another season. Bondra also wants a 'no-trade clause', which the Capitals are refusing to include in their offer.
"We don't consider one year at $1.5 million to be very serious," (Bondra's agent) Rich Winter added. "We should probably convene a conference call with all of the decision-makers in the next 48 to 72 hours because Peter would like to move this process forward."
I am amazed that Bondra hasn't been scooped up by some team yet. Even at 37, he could still help many teams as a 2nd line winger.
People were saying Bondra was finished after the 99-00 season in which he had just 38 points in 62 games. Bondra then went on to pile up 256 points in 312 games over the next 4 seasons. After a year of rest (in which he played just 6 games for his home town of Poprad), Bondra could still have his noted wheels all revved up to score another 20-25 goals.
At the same time, I think Bondra and Winter may not realize that Bondra just isn't worth more than $1.5mil in today's market and at his age and productivity level. If superior players aren't getting a lot more than $1.5mil (think Ray Whitney and Cory Stillman) and a similar player like Tony Amonte can't get more than that, than why would other teams give Bondra more money and a no-trade clause?
...or maybe he'll have a second career as a goon?
Comments:
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I tried to make this comment yesterday, but Blogger ate it....
Bondra seems to be looking for the same thing that Stillman got. He just wants to feel like the team wants him to be there.
Cory stillman made $2.75M in 2003-04, and will be taking a $1M paycut to play for the Hurricanes. The thing that got him was that we aggrssively courted him, and we gave him three years with a no-trade. This shows that the club is committed to him, and not just using him as a means to an end or as roster filler. We extended our commitment to Stillman by granting him an A for the front of the sweater.
I honestly don't see what the hold-up is with the Caps-Bondra ordeal. Leonsis should just offer him the no-trade and include a couple more years. Although, as you say, he's not as productive as he was when he was younger, he's still a great player and a great leader. He WANTS to finish his career in DC, but for some reason the Caps aren't reciprocating the amount of interest. I seriously think that the dollar amount of the contract offering isn't what offended Bondra, and this could be resolved rather easily.
Bondra seems to be looking for the same thing that Stillman got. He just wants to feel like the team wants him to be there.
Cory stillman made $2.75M in 2003-04, and will be taking a $1M paycut to play for the Hurricanes. The thing that got him was that we aggrssively courted him, and we gave him three years with a no-trade. This shows that the club is committed to him, and not just using him as a means to an end or as roster filler. We extended our commitment to Stillman by granting him an A for the front of the sweater.
I honestly don't see what the hold-up is with the Caps-Bondra ordeal. Leonsis should just offer him the no-trade and include a couple more years. Although, as you say, he's not as productive as he was when he was younger, he's still a great player and a great leader. He WANTS to finish his career in DC, but for some reason the Caps aren't reciprocating the amount of interest. I seriously think that the dollar amount of the contract offering isn't what offended Bondra, and this could be resolved rather easily.
Bondra is not the type of player you give a no-trade clause to, even though he's been a Capital for most of his hockey playing career.
Bondra is very old and very risky. The Caps are nowhere near the playoffs, and Bondra is not going to help them improve all that much to warrant a significant investment. The only thing Bondra would be good for is to teach the youngsters some tricks and to reach out to the Caps fans would probably want him back.
If the Caps are out of it...and they will be...the Caps are going to want to flip Bondra to a contender for something to help them in the future.
I can understand that Bondra doesn't want to move around, but he shouldn't be expecting a no-trade contract at this point of his career. Cory STillman, at his age, isn't nearly the same risk to give this to...plus his salary isn't killer.
ramble ramble... Bondra probably doesn't realize what point of his career he is at and that many GM's don't value him all that highly anymore.
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Bondra is very old and very risky. The Caps are nowhere near the playoffs, and Bondra is not going to help them improve all that much to warrant a significant investment. The only thing Bondra would be good for is to teach the youngsters some tricks and to reach out to the Caps fans would probably want him back.
If the Caps are out of it...and they will be...the Caps are going to want to flip Bondra to a contender for something to help them in the future.
I can understand that Bondra doesn't want to move around, but he shouldn't be expecting a no-trade contract at this point of his career. Cory STillman, at his age, isn't nearly the same risk to give this to...plus his salary isn't killer.
ramble ramble... Bondra probably doesn't realize what point of his career he is at and that many GM's don't value him all that highly anymore.
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