First, a piece of National Hockey League salary trivia: With the free-agent season about to open on Sunday, the second-highest-paid player right now is defenceman Kimmo Timonen of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Really.
Now, this is only because of a technicality. When the Flyers negotiated that landmark six-year, $37.8-million (all figures U.S.) with Timonen last week, they front-loaded the deal, meaning he will earn considerably more in the early years of the contract and less down the road.
Timonen's contract carries an annual salary-cap charge of $6.3-million, but his salary for the 2007-08 season - the actual dollars in his pocket - comes in at $8-million. Only New York Rangers winger Jaromir Jagr, operating under terms of the prelockout, rolled-back contract he signed with the Washington Capitals, earns more at $8.3-million.
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The Flyers structured the Timonen deal that way, partly as a means of circumventing the NHL salary cap. In terms of dollars paid out to players (as opposed to their salary-cap "value"), the Flyers' payroll could be well above the expected 2007-08 salary cap of $48-million to $50-million, depending upon how they structure their contracts between now and September.
No, this is not illegal and yes, there is a price to be paid for the strategy in the future.
However, if the intent is to load up the lineup this year, after a dismal season in 2006-07, then paying bigger dollars up front is one way of fast-tracking their turnaround - and never mind the consequences next decade.
This is all a lengthy preamble to the hot-button topic making the rounds of NHL player agents now, as they position their clients for free agency.
They wonder: What might a team bid for one of the premier free agents come Sunday (Chris Drury, Ryan Smyth, Scott Gomez, Daniel Brière)? Could teams go to $7-million a season? $7.5-million? $8-million? Higher still?
There are compelling arguments to be made on both sides of the spending equation.
The fiscal conservatives suggest that in a year when the salary cap could reach $50-million, more teams will be governed by a second set of restrictions: Their own budgets.
If enough teams cap their payrolls in the low 40s, it may be that the anticipated free-agent frenzy will fizzle in the same way the NHL trading game failed to take off at the recent entry draft.
A more broadly held view, though, is that the old rules of supply and demand will once again rule the market.
There are probably 10 teams with the need and the cash to make a free-agent splash. And if the expected bidding war for the aforementioned four players gets overheated, the feeling is that someone will overpay to get their man.
In fact, principals of both sides of the discussion - agents and general managers - question whether the term overpay applies any more. If a team has a distinct need and believes a strategic free-agent acquisition will plug that hole, they may well believe that represents money well spent - even if it skews the market for other teams.
In some ways, that's exactly what the Flyers have done. Counting the acquisition of goalie Martin Biron at the trading deadline, they feel they've addressed three important organizational shortcomings: A No. 1 goaltender; a puck-moving defenceman; and a winger with grit and a scoring touch.
Biron's former teammate with the Buffalo Sabres, Brière, has been linked to the Flyers, Montreal Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings in the off-season. Another potential Sabres free agent, Drury, may command even greater interest, with the Kings, San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche said to have him at the top of their wish lists.
The Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings will likely make significant plays for Smyth, who is not expected to re-sign with the New York Islanders unless offered some sort of Alexei Yashin long-term, over-the-top contract (not impossible given their previous track record).
For now, it's all just an intriguing guessing game. When hunting season starts in earnest, we'll learn almost instantly who bags the biggest game - and at what cost.
This is how crazy things could get: After Sunday, somebody might even be making Kimmo Timonen money.
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