The Club | Other team expenses, the explanation of the penalty if Weber retires and… foreign players in junior hockey

Another fine batch of questions. We are waiting for the next ones at sports+leclub@lapresse.ca.

Other expenses

Response from Guillaume Lefrancois:

Hello, Mr Veilleux. It is very difficult to assess where the Canadiens stand against the rest of the NHL, as this data is not published or compiled systematically, and each team has a different way of presenting its resources on its website. The other difficulty is that the Canadian is currently in transition in the administration. We will most likely have a more accurate portrait at the end of the summer, when Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton will have had time to hire more resources, for example people who are currently finishing the season in other organizations.

That said, when Marc Bergevin was hired, he expanded the team’s hockey administration and added resources for player development. When he was hired, Gorton spoke of the need to « modernize » the Canadiens, because essentially, since the hirings of the early Bergevin era, the increase in resources had slowed. Gorton took a first step by hiring Adam Nicholas to prepare development plans. We guess that a data analysis department will be created next summer. The Canadiens invested very few resources in this area before, while the New York Rangers, for example, had four known employees for this department under Gorton.

Calculation of bags

Response from Miguel Bujold:

Hello, Mr. Gagné. In the NFL, if two (or more) players are clearly contributing to a quarterback sack, they will get 0.5 sacks. In the CFL, only one player receives credit for a sack, so there is no 0.5 sack.

The origin of junior players

Response from Katherine Harvey-Pinard:

Hello, Mr. Roy. As you probably know, the QMJHL is part, along with the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and the Western Hockey League (WHL), of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). Every year since the early 1990s, the CHL has held an international draft, which allows each of the 60 teams on the circuit to select up to two players from outside the United States and Canada. To answer your question, I contacted the commissioner of the QMJHL, Gilles Courteau, who explained to me that it was “at the request of the NHL” that the European draft was set up at the start. The main argument of the National League was that it would allow the best European players to adapt earlier to the North American level of play. The Canadian League had accepted on the condition that it be the one that regulates everything. It was she who then established the maximum number of European players per team at two.

The jokes in baseball

Response from Alexander Pratt:

A million times agree with you. Even better: Major League Baseball executives think the same thing. Since the start of the season, tests have been underway in the minor leagues. Pitchers are entitled to 14 seconds between 2 pitches if the bases are empty, and 18 seconds if there is a runner. The first results, published in mid-April, are encouraging. According to ESPN, matches played with the dial now last 2h 39min. Those without a dial? 2 hrs 59 mins. Expect this new rule to be implemented in the major leagues in 2023.

Again the Weber file!

Response from Mathias Brunet:

It’s a good question that bothers many fans. It seems to have been taken for granted that Shea Weber will never return to the game and he is left to live out the rest of his quiet existence in his corner of the country in British Columbia. The former captain of the Canadian is therefore unofficially retired, but it is not officially announced since he still had, at the start of the 2021-2022 season, $ 12 million to receive over five years of contract. And he is entitled to receive them since any NHL agreement protects players in terms of salary, in the event of an injury. Jonathan Drouin had also inadvertently mentioned his retirement during an interview in recent months. Everyone around CH knows that he will never come back.

Response from Simon-Olivier Lorange:

In 2012, the Nashville Predators signed Weber to a 14-year, $110 million contract. The average annual value of this agreement is $7,857,143, which is equivalent to its “weight” on the payroll. However, the actual sum paid to him was not divided equally between the 14 seasons, but rather as follows: 4 x 14 million, 2 x 12 million, 4 x 6 million, 1 x 3 million and 3 x 1 million. Consequently, during the first six years of the contract, the team benefited from a much lower sum, on its payroll, than Weber’s actual salary. At the end of the contract, it is the opposite: the player weighs more heavily on the wage bill of his club than in real dollars. The penalty imposed in the event of premature retirement prevents abuse. Let us prove it by the absurd. Fictitious case: next summer, the Canadian hires Patrice Bergeron and offers him 15 million for 5 years, but pays him 12 million the first year. Its impact on the wage bill would however only be 3 million. If Bergeron retired after a penalty-free season, the Canadian would have been quite a bargain.