If reports on the negotiations are accurate, this mess has its roots in the infamous rookie salary cap.
Gaborik's salary last year - the third season of his entry-level contract - was $1.075-million, the maximum allowable under the cap. But NHL deals are never quite so simple. The rookie salary structure allows for the awarding of bonuses on top of base salary. Gaborik's contract, like many rookie deals, was loaded with bonus clauses. Leading the team with 65 points, he cashed in, walking away with $4.4-million. He did the same the year before.
So this week, Gaborik offered to play for $4.4-million. "Rather generous, don't you think?" one can imagine his agent saying. "A 30-goal player, and he's not even looking for a raise!"
That's not how they do the math in Risebrough's office. The team argued that its three-year offer, averaging just over $3-million annually, represents a considerable hike on Gaborik's "real" salary.
After that, it's simply a case of each side using whatever leverage is available. The team lets the jock sit; the jock withholds his services.
It all adds up to another example of how the current collective bargaining agreement plays to the worst instincts of NHL owners and general managers. The rookie salary cap was supposed to act as a restraint on player income - especially young players who have yet to take an NHL shift. But the players knew what they were doing when they signed off on this one. Give a hockey team a loophole, and that team will fill it with cash.
If the Wild did not want Gaborik to market himself as a $4.4-million dollar player, they should never have allowed him to become one. The player is being asked to take the hit for his employer's poor judgment.
A similar quarrel will unfold over the next ten months, as NHL owners ask the players to agree to a salary cap in the next CBA. "Help," they are begging the players. "Please help save us from our foolish ways." Marian Gaborik does not seem especially keen to do so, and you can bet his peers feel the same as he does.
