Saturday, September 09, 2006
Jason King A No-Show
From Elliott Papp (Vancouver Sun):
Balej bailed first when he signed in Europe. Now King, who doesn't have a contract, is threatening to do the same. He was a surprise no-show Friday when the Canucks opened prospects camp.Given his concussion problems and that he still doesn't have a contract, I'm actually not surprised that he hasn't shown up for prospects camp, especially if he isn't obligated to be there. I'm sure he and/or his agent are thinking of the possibility of King re-injuring himself.
King apparently doesn't like the money being offered.
"It isn't something Jason is prepared to accept at this point in time," King's agent, Anton Thun, explained Friday. "We are going to be deliberating in the next 24-48 hours what his options are and what choices he wants to make."
Thun confirmed that he's looking at Europe, but also noted that King, who turns 25 Thursday, is no longer an entry-level player and thus not obliged to attend prospects camp.
"At the end of the day, he'll come in for main camp if he's under contract," Thun said.
It's believed King wants either a one-way contract or a larger minor-league salary if he winds up in Manitoba. King played just half a season in 2005-06 due to lingering concussion problems from a March 2005 injury.
When posed the question at this year's State of the Franchise, Dave Nonis was upfront and stated that King still has a long way to go to complete recovery. If King wants some sort of guarantee - the one-way contract - it's not likely the Canucks will give it to him. If he wants a higher minor league salary, the Canucks probably don't want to offer more than $75,000; King hasn't played 320 pro games yet and isn't exempt from the waiver re-entry rules.
Quick question for the capologists out there - if King does attend main camp and re-injures himself, how does his salary impact the Canucks' cap total?
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Technorati Tags: NHL, hockey, Vancouver, Canucks, Jason+King
2 Comments:
Given King's troubles getting and sticking in the NHL, he ought to be a lot more humble and accept that he needs as much work as he can get. Prospects camps aren't going to lead to life-ending concussions. King has a prime opportunity to grab a spot this year and he seems to be sabotaging his own chance.
The only thing I think of is that he's getting some bunk advice from his agent.
On one hand, I can understand that he doesn't want to put himself in unnecessary risk.
On the other hand, you're right - he's probably to his advantage that he get as much work in as possible, especially trying to get his game back to pre-concussion levels.
It'll be interesting to see if he even shows up for main camp.
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