Friday, November 02, 2007

A contract worth noting...Jason Spezza


TSN.ca reports that Jason Spezza has inked a seven-year extension for $49 million, with the deal front weighted in signing bonuses ($40 million total obligation for years 1-5).

For those of you lighting candles that Alex Ovechkin's deal gets done soon, it's a deal worth noting. So, for those of you keeping score, that's two big, front-loaded contracts bestowed upon Senators, Dany Heatley having signed one (six years/$45 million -- $26 million of it in years 1-3) a month ago.

The cap hits for the big contracts look like this:

Jason Spezza: $7.0 million
Dany Heatley: $7.5 millon
Sidney Crosby: $8.7 million (coincidence, right?)

All are front loaded (Crosby gets $36 million in years 1-4 of his five year deal).

That $7.5 million cap figure seems as good a place as any to settle for Ovechkin, given what his cohorts have signed for. The trick is going to be the years. That Alexander Semin has signed a two-year/$9.2 million deal that is back-loaded ($5.0 million in the second year) also might suggest that the stream of payments could be an issue.

Nothing ever comes easy, much as it might look that way just looking at the numbers.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous2:33 PM

    My guess is Alex Ovechkin will get 8 million for 8 years, evenly distributed.

    Similarly to Crosby's coincidence.

    ReplyDelete