Penguins Re-Sign Lovejoy and Wallace
Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins
Jul 15, 12:24 PM | Hype this story!
The Pittsburgh Penguins today announced the signing of defenseman Ben Lovejoy to a one-year contract and forward Tim Wallace to a two-year contract.
The Post-Gazette is reporting both contracts have a $500,000 cap hit and are two-way deals that pay them $75,000 per season in the AHL.
Lovejoy is expected to compete for an NHL roster spot in training camp after a strong season in the AHL that saw him finish with 31 points in 76 games.
His NHL experience is limited (two games), but he was one of several players promoted to the NHL for the Stanley Cup run, an experience that surely helped him learn the rigors of playing at the highest level of competition.
Wallace, meanwhile, projects to remain in the AHL, at least for the early part of the season. His game is tailored more to an agitator’s role. He appeared in 16 games with the Penguins last season, recording two points (both assists). In the AHL, he totaled 19 points in 58 games while playing primarily on the third line.
Comments
No, I'm Steve!
Jul 15, 02:55 PM
Homegrown depth is good. Neither should have to contribute much unless injuries strike, with Lovejoy obviously the more likely of the two to get any significant playing time.
Ray aka WildcatRay
Jul 15, 03:01 PM
Good news, indeed!
bag o' pucks
Jul 15, 04:34 PM
I still think Lovejoy makes the club out of camp as the seven. Wallace is a depth guy, probably $.5M per year with a raise in his AHL salary, similar to the deal Letestu inked.
Pens open this fall on home ice against the Rags. I was kinda hoping for a home opener against Philly so the Cryers could watch the banner being raised. But, the Rags are a decent consolation.
Albert
Jul 15, 05:04 PM
Terms on Lovejoy?
scruff
Jul 15, 05:38 PM
Anyone with an idea why Lovejoy was only signed for 1 year? his call or pens?
Zach Henderson
Jul 15, 09:20 PM
My guess is that since he’s clearly not in the top 6 this year, they gave him 1 year on a 2-way deal, with a gentleman’s agreement that unless he regressed, he’d be signed to a one-way next year to replace one of the spots potentially vacated by Eaton or McKee in the top 6.
Complete speculation, though.
Moq
Jul 15, 09:49 PM
I think you can approach the eventual agreement from both sides, and conclude that it’s a decent compromise. Lovejoy probably wanted an one-way deal, and therefore less interested in a longer two-way proposal. Shero may have wanted to examine the NHL qualities of Lovejoy before granting a longterm and more expensive contract. But now he gets a year of further study at neglible risk and cost, unless Lovejoy really excells and increases his worth.
All in all, my speculation ends in something close to the speculation by Zach.
tom c
Jul 15, 10:12 PM
i see where carolina signed alberts for two years…..i liked him better than mckee….
bag o' pucks
Jul 16, 04:08 AM
Matt, PPG is reporting that both deals are for $.5M/per year. Smart move for Lovejoy, really, even though it’s quite a paycut (in terms of his NHL salary from last season). He wouldn’t have made the team at his qualifier of $.9625M, but he could very well make the team at half a mil.
DS
Jul 16, 04:19 AM
I don’t understand: why are we allowed to sign players (who are still RFAs as far as I know, not UFAs) for less than their qualifying offers? I’m not complaining, but how does the CBA allow that? (and we did make them QOs, right? this isn’t like Anaheim and Christensen)
Moq
Jul 16, 08:40 AM
The qualifying offer is a valid player contract for one year, so Lovejoy just had to sign it. But I suspect it’s usually a formality to precede a negotiating process, perhaps with the expectation of getting better pay, a one-way deal (guaranteed NHL salary), and/or more than one year.
In Lovejoy’s case it was probably a two-way QO with a minor raise in NHL salary and an AHL salary identical equal to his previous maximum (the AHL salary is not required to increase with a percentage). Lovejoy haven’t played enough NHL games to force a one-way qualifying offer.
The NHL salary of the QO would have been – and here I disagree with Pucks – closer to $0.7M. According to the CBA, the increase has to be based on the previous Paragraph 1 NHL salary. I fairly certain that excludes the bonus part. Lovejoy made $0.637M the previous season. That triggers a 10% raise and the result is close to $0.7M. The previous AHL salary is unknown to me, but probably less than $75,000 agreed upon this time.
All in all, I think Lovejoy took less in NHL salary to increase the number of days in the NHL, and got something extra – perhaps quite a bit – in the AHL to compensate for that. Depending on the distribution between NHL and AHL, that might consitute an actual raise. The promise of a more lucrative contract if he performs well is probably there as well.
That’s my speculation anyway.
bag o' pucks
Jul 16, 11:12 AM
@Moq, I neglected to check if his 08-09 cap hit ($.875) included bonuses or not. I’ll go with your totals. But, as I initially stated it’s certainly a decrease in salary intended to make his cap hit less and thus increase his chances of making the big club. And gentleman’s agreements, or promises, are really a non-factor. Lovejoy’s next contract will be based on his performance this season, and nothing else.
Pens1967
Jul 16, 06:08 PM
P-G reported there was discussion about a multi-year deal, but in the end, Lovejoy and Shero preferred a 1 year contract. I’m guessing Lovejoy wants a chance to go somewhere else if he doesn’t think he can crack the Pens’ defense next year. Shero was probably just as happy. Personally, with a 2-way contract, I see Lovejoy starting at WBS rather than be a healthy scratch for most games.
bag o' pucks
Jul 16, 07:04 PM
If Lovejoy starts the season in WB/S, it would most likely mean that the Pens made it through camp and exhibitions without any injuries on the blueline. That would be a boon in and of itself.
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