While there has been discussion of whether Brad Richards contract with the Rangers was a circumvention of the cap TSN’s Gord Miller is reporting that the Max Talbot’s five-year contract to Max Talbot is the one that was seen as violating the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. The violation makes Talbot an unrestricted free agent again.
Article 50.7 of the CBA says that a player cannot have their salary decrease from one season to the next by more than half the amount of the first two year’s salaries. Talbot was scheduled to make $2.5 in his first season, and $2.25 in the second season. Given those two salaries he would only be allowed to have a $1.1875 between any two seasons. The problem with the contract he signed with the Flyers is that he goes from a salary of $2.25 in the third season to $1 million in season four. The decrease of $1.25 million violates the allowed $1.1875 million he would be allowed.
The simple solution for this would be to change the his first year salary to $2.25 million and making year adding 250K to any of the last three years and the contract would be within bounds.
It will be interesting to see what punishment the NHL will levy against the Flyers for what obvious was not an intentional violation of the CBA, but rather an embarrassing blunder to the organization.
