In the Crease
Posted: Tuesday December 08, 1998 05:15 PM
By Pierre McGuire
The Penguins, who are in bankruptcy, will face more tough financial
decisions after the season. With the contracts of key players like
defenseman Darius Kasparaitis and forwards Martin Straka, Stu Barnes,
Alexei Kovalev and Robert Lang expiring in June, Pittsburgh must decide how
many of these players it can afford to keep. Because Jaromir Jagr's salary
in 1999-2000 goes to $8.9 million from $5 million, expect Penguins general
manager Craig Patrick to trade pricey defensemen Kevin Hatcher, who is
making $2.9 million this season and is scheduled to earn $3.1 million next
year....
Thanks in large part to superscout David Conte, the Devils have more of
their own draft choices in their lineup (16) than any other team....
Would the Canadiens, who were 8-14-3 and in last place in the Northeast
Division through Sunday, be struggling as badly if their backliners
included Chris Chelios, Eric Desjardins, Mathieu Schneider, Petr Svoboda,
Jyrki Lumme, Lyle Odelein, Craig Ludwig and Peter Popovic? All these
defensemen were drafted by Montreal and subsequently traded, most for
little return....
The Kings, who have been hit hard by injuries (114 man-games lost), miss
21-year-old defenseman Aki-Petteri Berg, who is playing for TPS Turku of
the Finnish Elite league. Berg, Los Angeles' first-round draft choice in
1995, returned to his homeland in October after rejecting the Kings' offer
of $650,000 for this season. You can't blame him, considering the salaries
of comparable backliners Bryan McCabe ($1.4 million) of the Canucks and
Kyle McLaren ($1.2 million) of the Bruins....
The Red Wings have begun talks with captain Steve Yzerman on a contract
extension. Unlike many stars, Yzerman doesn't have any incentive clauses in
his deal for things like goals or points....
The Blackhawks are spending $750,000 on tough guys Dennis Bonvie and Ryan
Vandenbussche, both of whom have been demoted to the minor leagues. Not
many teams can afford a luxury like that.
Issue date: December 14, 1998
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