CHICAGO – The move to acquire Claude Lemieux stands as the boldest and most uncharacteristic of Lou Lamoriello’s 13-season tenure as GM of the Devils, no question about that. The question, however, is whether bringing this lightning rod back to New Jersey will be enough to undo so much of the damage that’s been created in the team’s locker room.
Make no mistake. The Devils are a fractured team, largely divided by generation, between those who once fought the good fight for their money and those who are banging their heads against the Lamoriello Wall attempting to do so now.
When captain Scott Stevens, who twice during his career personally established a precedent-setting NHL market for defensemen by aggressively seeking and receiving free-agent offer sheets from St. Louis, takes younger teammates aside to suggest that they wait their turn, as he did recently, something is amiss. When Martin Brodeur, who in 1995 staged one of the most bitter contract holdouts in Devils history, publicly casts his lot with management, as he did recently, something is amiss.
When Bobby Holik, who stayed away from training camp in 1996 until assured that he would receive a promotion from the Crash Line, puts in a phone call to Patrik Elias to urge his young teammate to sign because in his opinion the Devils’ contract offer was more than fair, as Slap Shots has learned that he did recently, something is amiss.
Lamoriello may have succeeded in gaining the loyalty of his veterans, but creating an atmosphere that promotes loyalty among teammates should be the priority. It remains to be seen what Lemeiux, a difficult medicine for some to swallow even under the best of circumstances, will be able to add to what is rapidly becoming one of the most bizarre locker room equations in hockey. *KEITH PRIMEAU continues to skate with the Canadian National Team, insisting he will never again play for Carolina even as the Hurricanes insist they will not deal him. From New York, Petr Nedved, who sat out the entire 1997-98 season and the first two months of the following year because of a similar Group II dispute with Pittsburgh, watches closely.
“I see myself,” Nedved told Slap Shots on Friday. “Let’s face it, forget free agency when it’s Group II; it isn’t free agency. So the only way a player can have any leverage is to hold out and hope that your team misses you, but really, other than a very, very few players – Jagr, Kariya, Forsberg; players like that – there is no real leverage.
“It’s very difficult. I lost; I know that. I felt I was doing the right thing but I missed a whole year of my career. Looking back, if I could have done it differently, I would have tried. I would have gone to salary arbitration. Of course, it’s easy to be smart looking back after the fact. At the time I felt I was right, so I didn’t question myself.
“But I paid the price,” the classy Ranger said. “To be honest with you, I wish Primeau the best, but I’m very, very happy not to be in that situation anymore. I’m very happy to be playing.” *MARK GANDLER, who represents wildcat-striker Alexei Yashin, insists that there is nothing in either the Collective Bargaining Agreement or Standard Player’s Contract that allows the Senators to suspend the center for the season if he fails to report tomorrow, as the team has given notice that it intends to do.
“The league is inventing a whole new body of law,” said Gandler. “There is nothing that gives them the right to do this.
“When a team signs a player, the employer assumes all the risk. It does not matter if the employee is a greedy bastard; the employer assumes the risk. Under the law, if he does not want to play, the team has no recourse.”
The NHL, of course, believes very differently. Indeed, NHL Executive VP and Counsel Bill Dailey told Slap Shots that NHL By-Law 17.7 indeed empowers the Senators to suspend Yashin.
“A player who has signed an agreement or contract with a Member Club and who refuses to fulfill or carry out its provisions may be suspended by the Member Club by notification thereof to the Commissioner,” is how the By-Law reads.
Gandler and the NHLPA (always ready to push the envelope) contend that while Ottawa may suspend Yashin for his failure to report, they cannot prohibit him from rejoining the team. They contend that the team is obligated to accept Yashin and fulfill its end of the contract whenever the player decides to show up, even if it’s on the final day of the season. Dailey concedes that there is no direct precedent here.
Clearly, this is on its way to arbitration. Incredibly, Yashin and the NHLPA may win on points of law. IT ISN’T only the Players’ Association that seeks to push the envelope. Every contract negotiation, it seems, has become a pitched battleground in the war between management and labor. Slap Shots has learned that within hours after reaching an agreement on a two-year, $5.4 million deal with Bill Guerin on Monday night, Edmonton GM Glen Sather tried to slip a clause into the contract stating that the winger would begin to be paid only when coach Kevin Lowe deemed him to be in game shape.
Guerin balked, and properly so. Finally, after already having announced the signing, the Oilers relented. *HOW DIFFERENT would it have been on Broadway had the Avalanche not matched on Joe Sakic? Or would he too have shrunk in a Ranger uniform?
Money issues aside, there haven’t been many better trades within the last year than Mike Milbury’s acquisition of Brad Isbister from Phoenix for Robert Reichel, now have there?
Snapshot: The Calder Race: 1. Alex Tanguay, Colorado; 2. Brad Stuart, San Jose; 3. Peter Schaeffer, Vancouver; 4. Martin Biron, Buffalo; 5. Steve Kariya, Vancouver.
Are we missing anyone? Oh, right; Pavel Brendl. *FINALLY, who’s next, Neal Broten?