Many NHL veterans remain unemployed as camp nears

With NHL training camps set to open in less than a month, the league’s unemployment numbers are as high as ever.

Counting a few injured players, there are 60 NHLers who made $1 million or more last season who don’t have NHL contracts.

“In my experience, this has been one of the more difficult markets,” said agent Steve Bartlett, who has been representing players since the 1980s.

The NHL salary cap rose $2.4 million this season -- from $69 million to $71.4 million -- and several teams had to deal with cap problems this summer. It was the smallest percentage increase since the cap was introduced in 2005.

“I think other teams are budget-conscious and giving younger players opportunities,” said New Jersey Devils general manager Ray Shero. “This has been slowly happening over the last few seasons.”

Bartlett estimated there are “two to three times” as many veteran free agents in the marketplace as you usually would see at this time in August.

The available free agents include defenseman Cody Franson, whose a unique commodity in that he’s a top-four defenseman who shoots right-handed. Christian Ehrhoff, who played almost 22 minutes per game last season in Pittsburgh, just signed with the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday. Lubomir Visnovsky, who has played 883 NHL games, has no deal.

And there are plenty of quality forwards, such as former Detroit Red Wings center center Stephen Weiss, Martin Havlat, Brendan Morrow, Brad Boyes, Jiri Tlusty, Tyler Kennedy, Curtis Glencross and Michael Ryder.

“There are some pretty good values out there,” said Shero, who has cap space available to make moves.

Some players who have signed have taken less than they would have earned in the past. For example, respected role player Mike Santorelli (Northern Michigan) earned $1.5 million playing with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Nashville Predators last season, and he recently signed a one-year deal worth $875,000 with the Anaheim Ducks.

The Chicago Blackhawks traded Brandon Saad (Saginaw Spirit) and Patrick Sharp this summer and couldn’t re-sign Johnny Oduya because they had salary cap issues created by new contracts given to Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Both are now making $10.5 million per season.

“It’s a piece of pie,” said Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill, the former Wings exec, about life under a salary cap. “If someone takes a third of the pie, then there is less for the other 20 or 21 players. It’s just economics. The numbers don’t add up. You have to bring in a younger guy instead of an older guy.”

The shrinking value of Canadian dollar played a role in the salary cap not rising as much as it has in the past.

Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said the salary cap is the primary reason so many veterans are looking for work, but he also says supply-and-demand economics is impacting the NHL’s system. The pool of quality players has continued to grow.

“We haven’t had expansion in 15 years, and we’ve had an influx of players,” Holland said. “Connor McDavid is showing up this season (at age 18). So he is taking someone’s spot.”

Shero said the marketplace is made more complicated by the reality that teams are still trying to move some higher-salaried players off their roster for cap reasons. Some are holding on to cap space to see whether the Blackhawks might move another veteran or some other team indicates it is willing to trade a player more desirable than those on the free agent list.

“Guys are going to go to training camp without a contract,” Shero said.

Bartlett said his observation has been that general managers are still willing to pay to tie up their top six forwards and top four defensemen, but they are opting to so use younger, less expensive players to fill out their roster.

“What they are doing is putting pressure on the middle class to accept less than they traditionally do just to say in the league,” Bartlett said.

But he still believes quality players eventually will land jobs even in this “buyer’s market.”

“As painful as this is for guys sitting on the sidelines, we will get into training camp and get into the first week of the season, and some teams are going to go, ‘Oops,’” Bartlett said. “They are going to say, ‘I don’t think we are as good as we thought we were, or that kid isn’t as good as we thought, or that kid blew out his knee.’ So there will be movement. Guys will continue to be stressed for a few weeks, but jobs will open up. They always do.”