In an age of free agent overspending, three d-men have fallen victim to common sense.
One area where many NHL general managers have failed regarding the current collective bargaining agreement is their inability to hold down costs they can actually control - namely with restricted free agents.
Even though they hold the hammer in negotiations because players really don't have many options when they are RFAs, many teams opt to pay their young players much more than they need to. Guess they just want to keep peace and harmony in the family.
So it's interesting that, as we enter the final year of the CBA, three teams appear to be playing hardball with their young defencemen.
In Los Angeles, the Kings have not yet come to an agreement with rising star Drew Doughty and the negotiations don't seem to be going all that well. Kings GM Dean Lombardi has drawn a line in the sand and appears not to be anxious to hand the young defender one of those long-term, big-money packages that have bit so many of his fellow GMs in the butt the past few years.
Doughty might not be blamed for thinking, "Why me? Why now?" On the other hand, the second overall pick from the 2008 NHL Entry Draft did take a step back last season after a wonderful sophomore campaign the year before. Doughty went from scoring 16 goals and 59 points in 82 games in 2009-10 (a season when many suggested it was only a matter of time before he was awarded the Norris Trophy as the league's best defenceman) to 11 goals and 40 points in 76 games. To his credit, Doughty's season did get progressively better after a horrible start, but when your numbers go down, it's hard to imagine being in much of a position of strength when it comes to negotiations.
There has already been plenty of talk that Doughty could miss the start of training camp, if not the start of the season.
There hasn't been the same type of contentious talk where the Schenn contract is concerned. In fact, both sides have indicated it's just a matter of time before a new deal is agreed upon. That said, it would appear Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke is following a similar route as Lombardi in that he is not going to hand over a whack of money to a guy who is good at this stage of the game, but not necessarily great.
What is Schenn's upside? He broke into the NHL as a teenager and looked okay, but took a step back in his second year. Last season Schenn was steady and showed signs of being a decent top-4 defender. He is not likely to ever play on the team's top defensive pair, but if he continues to improve as he did last season, he'll be a good foot soldier for a long time.
With that in mind, Burke can't be blamed for being reluctant to sign the 21-year-old to a deal that overpays him. He may earn a long-term contract down the road, but for now, as Burke tries to get his team back to the playoffs, it makes sense to save a little money for other pieces of the puzzle.
The Zach Bogosian situation is interesting. When the Massena, NY, native joined the Atlanta Thrashers three years ago, he made an instant impact scoring nine goals and 19 points in 47 games as an 18-year-old. He improved to10 goals and 23 points in 81 games the next season and was a rising physical force at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds.
However, Bogoisian did not follow it up with a progression in his third season. He slipped to five goals and 17 points in 71 games and wasn't nearly as physical as he was the year before. Also, after being plus-11 in his first NHL season, he slipped to minus-18 in his second year and minus-27 last season.
A good source in Atlanta suggested Bogosian's play was hampered by the fact that he was replaced on the power play by newcomer Dustin Byfuglien and Tobias Enstrom. Both of those players are very likely to man the point on the power play moving forward as the franchise attempts to establish itself in Winnipeg which means Bogosian will have trouble putting up the type of numbers he did in his first two years in the league. That in itself may affect his desire to sign long-term with the team.
Regardless, Bogosian, like Doughty and Schenn, appears to have a very bright future no matter where he lands. But in a day and age when some general managers are over paying certain players, they seem to be the victims of a little common sense.
Go figure.
