Gomez, Devils Far Apart
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Salary cap problems may force the New Jersey Devils to trade center Scott Gomez if the team loses an arbitration hearing set for Friday in Toronto.
Negotiations between Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello and Carlos Gomez, who has served as his son's agent, have broken off and the two sides appear to be headed for a nasty hearing with arbitrator Richard Bloch.
"Time is not on our side. We've pretty much gone where we're going to go as far as negotiations," Carlos Gomez said yesterday. "We're too far apart to even talk anymore. It is what it is. Scott knows he may end up being traded. It's disappointing, but he just wants to be treated like everyone else."
NHL sources say the Devils have offered Gomez, a restricted free agent, $4 million for the 2006-07 season. He earned $2.204 million last season, when he scored a career-high 84 points with a career-best 33 goals.
Neither Lamoriello nor Carlos Gomez would elaborate on their talks, but $4 million is believed to be 25-50 percent below what the veteran of six NHL seasons and two Stanley Cup championships could command on the open market.
Lamoriello, however, is being squeezed financially, primarily because $7.1 million used to sign Alexander Mogilny and Vladimir Malakhov last summer will count against the current $44 million salary cap, even though neither player is still in the Devils' picture.
Ready to play hardball in his salary arbitration hearing on Friday, Gomez will be represented by former NHL Players' Association counsel Ian Pulver.
Lamoriello has always waged a strong fight in such hearings and he could probably find a way to keep Gomez if the Devils get a favorable ruling in the $4 million range. But if Gomez wins and is awarded a $5 million-$6 million salary, the Devils would undoubtedly abide by the ruling and then trade him, rather than let him be classified as unrestricted and leave without the team receiving any compensation.
"Scott is ready to leave if that is what is necessary," Carlos Gomez said. "I think he's going to do well in arbitration. That's the chance the Devils are taking. Only Lou knows what he can or can't do (financially)."
"It has been a marriage made in hell with Scott and the Devils (because of salary squabbles and strained relationships with some coaches), but he wants to stay with the Devils. We want this to work out."
Source
- The Newark Star-Ledger
NJDevils Beat writer Rich Chere
Date
Tue 07/18/06, 7:35 am EST
