Saturday, August 26, 2006
A Looooong Summer
Kevin Allen (USA Today via Waiting For Stanley) looks at what could be an extended summer for Anson Carter:
Even though 33-goal scorer Anson Carter doesn't have a job with training camp just around the corner, he certainly doesn't see himself as being on the discount rack.Give Brisson points for being honest, though I wonder about his strategy of waiting for a player to blow out his knee before he can get his client a contract.
"I've told everyone along the way that Anson won't be a bargain," said his agent, Pat Brisson.
Brisson says the former Vancouver Canucks winger has plenty of patience, even to the point that he is willing to wait beyond the start of training camp or the regular season.
"In our game there are a lot of injuries," Brisson said. "And I might get a call on Sept. 20 or Oct. 1 when a team has a player who blew out his knee, and at that point, the price may go up. I mean that Anson needs to be paid what he is worth."
Why Carter hasn't been signed yet?
Is it because he isn't worth $3 million per season? Considering that guys like Sergei Samsonov (23G-30A-53P, $3.525 million) and Doug Weight (15G-42A-57P, $3.5 million) signed within that salary range and Kyle Calder (26G-33A-59P) was awarded $2.95 million in arbitration, it doesn't seem like it.
Is it because teams see him as a one-year wonder? I don't see why. Carter has actually been a consistent scorer in his career. Yes, he set a career-high in goals scored last season, but he still only totalled 55 points in 81 games. He scored 60 points in two previous seasons and at least 40 points in four others.
Also, his 0.68 points per game average last season is close to his 0.64 ppg career average. In fact, if you take away his disaster of a 2003/2004 season, when he played for three different teams, his career average goes up to 0.68 points per game.
Most likely, Carter hasn't signed simply because of the dynamics of the salary cap. The truth is, not a lot of teams can meet his salary demands. As it stands, 14 teams have already commited more than $41 million in salary; of the 16 remaining teams, most have key restricted free agents left unsigned and their salary commitments will easily increase to $40-41 million. Really, unless other teams trade away key players, only eight teams: the Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets (if Zherdev signs in Russia), Edmonton Oilers, Nashville Predators, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals have the cap room to sign him at his salary demands.
But will they? Will anyone?
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Comments/Questions: Feel free to post in the comments section or email me at gocanucksgo10 (at) hotmail (dot) com.
Technorati Tags: NHL, hockey, Vancouver, Canucks, Anson+Carter
3 Comments:
I would guess not. Rumors are still swirling that Detroit is talking to him, but I don't see them paying $3 million either.
I am putting moolah on Carter sitting out for quite a while.
I don't see anyone giving him $3 million either. I think that with most teams bumping against the cap, he would be more realistic to sign for $2-2.5 mil... but that could change depending on where and how much Dumont signs for.
If Nashville signs Dumont, will Detroit be tempted to be more aggressive in (clearing cap room and) pursuing Carter?
Another factor that is rarely, if ever mentioned(yet) is the racial factor.
We at FAUXRUMORS have been the only ones with that story:
http://fauxrumors.blogspot.com/2006/08/carter-and-race-card.html#links
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