alex o

seems smart to me

I can't think of a more deserving player. He's payed his dues, proving he's capable of putting up numbers in strong defensive division, while still hustling back to play D, himself.

Or am I thinking of Zetterberg?

He saved a nice chunk by representing himself.

agreed. With the salary cap in place and especially for a guy like Ovechkin it's not necessary for an agent to negotiate for him. I assume Leonsis just handed him a blank check and told him to fill it in.

Living in Charlottesville means that DC is the closest NHL city. Good to see their star signed till 2021. Crosby vs. Ovechkin matchups in DC have been fun and I've seen most of them live.

I just dont agree with these massive length of these contracts...13 years is a lifetime, literally in hockey...The contract can turn out to be a disaster for the franchise 5 or 6 years down the line...Who knows what the cap will be then...

Having said that Ovechkin deserves the money and congrats to him for arranging a better deal than even Crosby.

That's certainly up for debate.

Wait until we see how Washington fills the holes around him.

I wonder if all those rumours about him being interested in Toronto, and possibly going to Nashville and Montreal were planted to get a better deal...

They did it just to toy with your emotions Serge lol.

I'm a little surprised to see many of you aren't horrified. I don't really have a lot of respect for the kid, in terms of his ability to work with a system that could produce cups. Maybe I'm way off.

I kind of think he will blow his legs out a la Bure, but Washington had no choice in the matter. Leonsis would have had to face a lynch mob if he had let Ovechkin go.

Crosby will be making more money in 5 years.

how...???Only through a renegotiation can this happen....Unless you mean non hockey income, ie commercials

I wonder if the Caps will be able to keep him for the entire contract, or have another Jagr-ish episode.

I think the maximum player salary will go up by then.

well I think he means when his contract ends which is in five years.....

I loved him in the interview he gave after. He doesn't care about the money, he knows he'll be rich enough, he just wants to play hockey. He's a classy guy and definetly deserves the money.

He's possibly leaving alot of money on the table, who knows how high teh cap will be in 8 years, but 9 mil a year for 13 years is a sweet deal.

What kind of commission would an agent have made on this deal?

Fan 590 this morning calculated about a quarter million per season saved from negotiating the contract himself... yikes. Do ya think Meehan is enjoying his morning coffee today???

I think it's 10%.

Being Russian though he probably has to send back 25% of all his checks to the Russian Mofia.

10-Jul-07 Re-signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins to a five-year contract extension.

I'm hoping Crosby's love affair with the number 87 will mean he doesn't want to mess with 8.7million per year salary.

Depending on where the salary cap goes (ie stays stagnant) I wouldn't be all that surprised if he stakes a similar amount of cash.

$8.7 million, $87 million...what's a decimal point here and there?

-The US Government

Yay another Russian gets a ridiculas contract. I can sort understand that Washington needed to get a deal done but this is ridiculas. Not only did he get max money but he got a ridiculas term. If this was Ovechkins best offer I wait till summer and match. I will go on record and say the Capitals wont get as far as the Eastern finals for the duration of this deal.

WTF is "ridiculas"?

Perhaps in a few years later this will seem like a bargain. But for now it just looks greedy, why not take 7-8m at a shorter length and give your team some cap space to bring in some better players. 9mil is a lot for one player, no matter how good.

If the Capitals didn't have him, there'd be zero reason to go see that team play. I doubt Semin and Nylander together could interest anyone to care about that team, except maybe their relatives. They've had a stagnant fan base for a while, now, and I don't blame them for throwing this much cash to keep the "face" of their team. It just seems like a very... "blah" team.

I like the way Leonsis explained it:

"So the question was, would you sign Alex Ovechkin for seven years for $10 million a year six years from now? And the answer is yes," explained Leonsis. "So that's how we came to six years at $9 million and seven years at $10 million. That was the thought process."

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=227072&hubname=

Plus, it'll look like a bargain in about 7 years when Crosby is making $15 million a season.

Such is the problem with evaluating a 13-year deal that lasts until a player is 35 years old: It's anyone's guess just how long said star remains happy, healthy and productive. How, exactly, do you measure longevity, and when does the average hockey star "hang 'em up?"

(... snip ...)

In terms of production and longevity when it comes to 50-goal men, they represent the average.

Average age they last played 60 games in a season: 33.3
Average age they last scored 40 goals in a season: 28.5
Average age they last scored 30 goals in a season: 30.5

For every Messier, there's a Cam Neely — and it's actually quite sad how many 50-goal scorers never even made it to age 30.

Eleven of the 69 former 50-goal men (16 per cent) played their last 60-game season before their 30th birthday.

However, times have certainly changed and there is much more emphasis placed on nutrition, off-ice and off-season training than ever before. Guys like Chris Chelios and Rod Brind'Amour will move closer to being the norm rather than being freaks in the near future.

At least giving a 13-year deal to a 22-year old 50-goal scorer makes more sense than a 5-year deal to a 34-year old (allegedly) 40-goal scorer.

I think the reason for this is that there arent as many 50 goal scorers like they were in the 80s and early 90s....Most players didnt play the age of 32 -33....

Now you look at guys like Sakic(mostly last year), Alfredsson and Sundin..Not only are they playing but are dominating the game in their mid to late 30s..

Than you have Chelios who is on his own planet..

Lol nice.