Carolina Hurricanes re-signed Rod Brind'Amour to a five year deal

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes agreed a five-year $18 million contract with captain Rod Brind'Amour on Friday, ensuring the veteran forward finishes his career with the National Hockey League club.

The Professional Hockey Writers' Association selected Brind'Amour, 35, as the 2005-06 recipient of the Frank J. Selke Trophy for the Best Defensive Forward at Thursday's NHL Awards.

The deal will pay the veteran centre $4 million in each of the first three years, and $3 million in each of the last two years.

During the regular season, the Ottawa, Ont., native played in 78 of 82 regular-season games and scored 31 goals and 39 assists (70 points) to rank tied for second on the team in goals and fourth on the team in points. Brind'Amour's 19 power-play goals ranked tied for first on the team and eighth in the NHL.

The Ottawa native had 12 post-season goals in Carolina's run to its first Stanley Cup, which it won with a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game Seven of the final series on Monday night.

Personal Opinion...I think they couldn't go wrong with this...as dedicated as he has been to the team plus his playing ability.

Source

• http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=sportsNews&storyID=2006-06-24T011105Z_01_B545159_RTRIDST_0_SPORTS-NHL-HURRICANES-COL.XML

Date

Fri 06/23/06, 5:48 pm EST

ChachiOSUDraft Pick

1272 days ago

Score -1

Greta move by Carolina to lock him up.

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Madproof9Red-Shirting

1272 days ago

Score 0

It's an alright move, way too long of a contract though. He won his cup, and he is getting old. He'll probably retire after one or two more years (even if he says he won't), and leave the Hurricanes in BIG trouble with the salary cap.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1272 days ago

Score -1

Hockey players tend to last a long time, a few reach their 40s. Perhaps he'll just have a reduced role when he gets older, hence the reduced money.

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ChristofMVP

1272 days ago

Score 0

Brind'Amour is the heart and soul of the team. This contract is not guaranteed, so it doesn't matter how long it is. It does not give the Canes big trouble with the salary cap.

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Madproof9Red-Shirting

1272 days ago

Score 0

What do you mean it's not garunteed? With the contract, if he decides to retire, they still apply his salary that he would be making, and put it against the cap, even if he has already retired. If he retires after next year, then he will still count against the salary for the next 4 years.

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ChristofMVP

1271 days ago

Score 0

Are you sure about that? I heard that buyouts can still occur during the offseason.

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Madproof9Red-Shirting

1271 days ago

Score 0

I don't think so, I think that complete buyouts, where it didn't count against the cap, were only allowed last year, because of the sudden new rules. Starting this offseason, if a player is bought out, the salary he would have received is still counted against the cap. I'm 90% sure that is the rule.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1271 days ago

Score 0

If he decides he's going to retire, can't they do something sneaky, and sign him to a one-day contract, hence buying them out of the five-year deal, and stopping any cap penalties?

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Madproof9Red-Shirting

1271 days ago

Score 0

I'm pretty sure there is some stipulation about re-structuring contracts that doesn't allow for it. There has to be some loophole somewhere to get out of it, but I'm not exaclty sure.

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