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Saturday, September 27, 2008
Salary cap helps Thrashers improve
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a league without salary caps Mathieu Schneider would never have become a Thrashers defenseman. But the NHL does have a cap, and the Anaheim Ducks couldn’t handle Schneider’s $5.625 million salary, and neither, it appears could a lot of other teams.
“It’s proven to be more difficult to move players than I envisioned,” Ducks general manager Brian Burke told reporters on Friday. “You’re talking about a good hockey player in Mathieu Schneider, a good person. But getting teams to take on that salary was difficult. So, to me, it’s a relief. And it’s the right thing to do for Mathieu. I wasn’t comfortable making him swing in the wind. I don’t like that a player’s fate hung in the balance for a few days like that. At least now there’s some certainty in his life as far as what happens next. It was a good day.”
Even the Thrashers, who eventually grabbed Schneider, were patient enough not to claim him off waivers and instead wait until they could not only acquire him but ship players, and their salaries, to Anaheim. The waivers opportunity came up last week, and even after that the trade talk wasn’t instant.
“Atlanta just came into the picture in the last couple of days,” Schneider said.
Schneider hasn’t been working out with the Ducks. He never reported to camp, at Burke’s request. But Schneider said that won’t be an issue and that he has plenty of time to be ready for the regular season. “I’ve been skating for a few weeks,” he said. “It’s not really a concern of mine.”
There’s not much doubt he would have preferred to stay with the Ducks, but that was never an option, not in this day of the salary cap, with the Ducks needing to make space for Teemu Selanne.
“It’s been a real interesting summer,” Schneider said. “I’ve known for some time I was going to be moved. … We all have to live with the [salary cap] system. I was one of the players who voted for it.”
