vowswithin

"Flames coverage in Ontario"

Kingston, ON • Canada • 28 Years Old • Male

Assessing the contract: Roman Cervenka

There has been a lot of talk about Roman Cervenka and questions as to what he was offered in his contract and what it actually means to the team and cap in real world dollars. The following is my attempt to explain and debunk it.

Roman Cervenka was signed to an Entry Level Contact (ELC) with the Calgary Flames on May 02 for a total Cap hit of $3.775 million. Now since it was an ELC, the Flames went with the maximum allowed base pay of $925,000 with the remaining $2.85 million all locked up in performance bonuses.

For signing with the Flames, Cervenka receives $92,500 which he will most likely receive at the end of the year (Signing bonuses can be no more than 10% of the base).
The signing bonus is part of the $925,000 base.

The remaining $2.85 million is locked up in the following performance bonuses:

Schedule A $850,000

The following are the categories that make up the $850,000:

Goals: 20 goal minimum
Assists: 35 assist minimum
Points: 60 point minimum
Points per game: .73 minimum (note: minimum 42 GP)

* No single one of these categories can exceed $212,500


Schedule B $2 million

For the following, the league suggested is $250,000

Hart, Richard, Selke, Conn Smythe

For the following, the league suggested is $100,000:
All-star team selection

Going by the league suggested, we could come up to a value of $1.1 million, but players are allowed to negotiate with teams and these bonuses totaled $2 million.

So there we have it:

$925,000 Base
$850,000 Schedule A
$2,000,000 Schedule B
--------------
$3,775 million

To me, this is great news, as it means we pay Cervenka based on his performance and we're not just handing over $3.775 million for nothing. If Roman exceeds expectations and manages to receive a lot of the bonuses, well that means the Flames are going to receive a huge boost in production.

Lastly we look at the Cap issue: if he only gets paid $925k why are we penalized $3.775 million on the cap?

In the 2010-2011 season, Schedule A bonuses didn't count and Schedule B bonuses only counted if they earn them at the end of the season. If cap space wasn't available for them at the end of the season, they rolled over into the next season.

Because 2011-12 was the end of the CBA, all 2011-12 bonuses counted against that season cap with no carry over (since there is no 2012-13 CBA).

How the Cervenka contract bonuses affect the team are yet to be determined. If the CBA was reached today it could allow actual salary to count against the cap rather than salary and bonuses.

With a $925,000 salary and $850,000 in realistic bonuses (which would net us something like a 77 point season or 35 goals) it sure seems like a great opportunity.

What do you think: is this contract a win?

*** notes ***

It is of note that all ELC are two-way contracts, so if Cervenka flops we can send him right back down to the AHL.

Cervenkas contract has an out for him to return to Europe

Also of note, being 26, Cervenka is eligible for the Calder award.

Jamie Desrochers - Covering Flames hockey in Ontario
Follow me on twitter @vowswithinhb

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