Faceoff Factor

Because You Asked

Mike Adams | National Hockey League

Jul 17, 10:12 AM | Hype this story!

First, a thanks once again to all who have submitted questions. The response has been great so far. Keep ‘em coming, even during the dog days of summer.

Since it is the offseason and a lot of talk about signings is centered on free agents, can you give me a brief rundown of the difference between a 1 way contract and a 2 way deal? Could you explain the advantages and disadvantages from both management and the players side?—Groove- Wheeling,WV

Michael Farkas explains this difficult topic

Let me preface by debunking the long-established thought that one-way and two-way contracts have a direct effect on waiver eligibility (i.e. two-way contracts allow a player to be demoted without requiring waivers). That is false. Waiver eligibility stems from the age of the player from when they signed their first contract (and in some cases, games played applies). One-way contracts are such that a player has one salary and, no matter where they play (NHL or AHL), they get that dollar amount. When you see a “major” player get demoted, such as Denis Gauthier from Philadelphia a couple years back, he was being paid about $2.1 million per year to play in the minors. And while he did not count against the club’s Upper Limit, the Flyers still had to pay him in real dollars that figure.

A two-way contract has a salary that says, “you make this much in the NHL and this much in the AHL.” For instance, the Carolina Hurricanes have just re-signed Joe Jensen to a one-year, two-way contract. He will get $522,500 when he plays in the NHL (of course, a pro-rated portion of that) which will count against the Upper Limit, and $50,000 (or any pro-rated portion of such) when he is demoted to the AHL, which will not count against the Upper Limit.

All entry-level contracts are two-way contracts, without exception. Most regular NHLers have one-way deals, two-way deals are mainly for young players and/or fringe players. The advantage for management in a two-way contract is that they only have to pay 10% or 15% or so of his NHL salary when he is sent down. The advantage of a one-way contract for players is obviously getting a guaranteed salary no matter where they play. Philadelphia’s Patrick Thoresen left the Flyers to play with HC Lugano (Switzerland) because the Flyers were only offering a two-way deal and he wanted a one-way deal.

Hi FaceOffFactor, my favorite source for hockey information, especially Penguins! My question today is: What do you think management will do with regards to extending Michael Therrien’s contract? Does it expire after this season (2008-2009)? I was a huge critic at first, but I came around to his “ways” and like him more and hope to see him around for a few years at least.—Joyce, aka DaBich, Duncansville, PA

Matt Bodenschatz answers

Joyce (aka Dabich), thanks for the compliments on FF! As they often say with reference to the NHL, coaches are hired to be fired. But, in Therrien’s case, we could be seeing the beginning of a lengthy stand by a head coach.

Sure, he’s made some boneheaded moves in the past two and one half years, but he always seems to make a smart move to counteract his dumb ones. His line juggling early in the season seems problematic at the time, but his line combinations at the end of the season justify his early juggling.

To answer your question, yes, Therrien’s contract expires next summer, essentially leaving him in the “UFA” category, but I highly doubt he’ll enter the 2008-09 season without some form of contract extension — even if only one year — in place.

It’s easy to argue specific areas of his coaching, but it’s difficult to argue his results. This Penguins team has gone from one of the worst defensively to one of the best virtually overnight. The power play, despite being streaky, is among the league’s elite. But most importantly, it’s clear every single player on the ice last season bought into his system that preaches defense with the instinct to translate turnovers into scoring opportunities.

Last year at this time, people were calling Therrien “Coach Right Now.” This summer, I’m hearing plenty of talk that he is not only the coach for now, but for the future as well. Call him “Coach Right,” if you will.

Something that Sidney Crosby didn’t really have till Marian ##### arrived was a player at wing on the same level as the Penguins Captain. Within the Penguins current system, who do you feel are the best fits to be Crosby’s best options at wing? —Eric

Eric Godard. He’s got the hands of stone that have typified most of Sid’s wingers until ##### [Editor’s Note: our software will not allow the name of Sid’s former right winger to be published in this column] was acquired. You know, Mark Recchi, Nils Ekman, Colby Armstrong? They sure had the velvety touch, eh? Wow, I said, “eh.” I guess that’s my Canadian genes talking.

Okay, let’s get serious for a moment. There are really only two possibilities for Sid’s right wing—Petr Sykora and Miroslav Satan. And you can pretty much rule out Sykora, who seems to have some kind of weird karmic connection with Evgeni Malkin. So it really has to be Satan. He certainly has the skill to play with Sid, as evidenced by his four 30-goal seasons. The question is, does he have the mindset to play with Sid, meaning will he work hard every shift? That remains to be seen.

I suppose a darkhorse candidate could be Janne Pesonen, but I think he needs to prove himself first before he’s given that type of role.

Do you think the Pens should trade for Antoine Vermette or would he cost too much?—Gary Coles

Depends on what you mean by “too expensive,” Gary. I don’t think he would be too expensive in terms of what it might take to get him. It seems like Ottawa might be shopping him because they don’t want to pay him what he thinks he’s worth. So he might come cheap, player-wise. But the reason is his salary demands seem to outpace his production. He is looking for a long-term deal at maybe $3.5 million per. The Pens simply don’t have the cap space to ink Vermette to a deal like that. I suppose they could trade Ryan Whitney (after all, the Sens need a puck-moving defenseman) to open up some cap space. But with Whitney being part of the core, there is little chance of this happening.

What is going on in NJ? It seems Lou has finally lost it. Not only have they failed to add any kinda of an improvement on defense but now they have even overpaid for several forwards making the addition of a talented defensemen impossible. Could NJ be a possible candidate to ship Scuderi for a guy like Madden? Seems to work for both parties involved but Scuderi for Madden isn’t exactly an even trade.—Matthew

Matthew, this is about the tenth year in a row where everyone is thinking Lou the Devil has lost it. Sadly for me and the NHL, it never turns out to be true. They have this guy called Uncle Daddy in net. He is the glue that holds everything together. While his play seems to be slipping just a tad, he is still the best in the game.

Perhaps, as you point out, Brodeur’s slippage might be more due to the defense in front of him getting weaker. They have lost Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, and Brian Rafalski in the last few years.You just can’t replace that, and Lou hasn’t. And certainly Rob Scuderi isn’t an able replacement for them, either. What they really lack is a puck-moving defenseman, and that isn’t Scuderi’s forte. If they trade Madden, they will be looking a for a lot bigger return than Rob Scuderi. They will want a top 4 type of guy.