Hockey's most and least valuable 2007
Andy Holloway and Phil Froats
Canadian Business Online, April 24, 2007
There's no question that Sidney Crosby is the most exciting player in the National Hockey League, and probably the most valuable player, as well. With 36 goals and 120 points, Crosby helped the Pittsburgh Penguins return to the playoffs for the first time since 2001. If you were to start a team today, you couldn't go too far wrong making the 19-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S. your first pick. And with his cost of $5.1 million (including rookie signing bonus averaged over three years), Crosby's not a huge hit ? at least for now ? against the salary cap.
Ah, the salary cap. The great equalizer in the NHL. No more can teams buy their way to the top. Not that some teams were able to do that anyway (Hello, Toronto Maple Leafs and your 40 years of futility). But today's NHL team is just as much a function of salaries as it is players. Each team had roughly $44 million (all figures in $US) to spend in 2006. Some, such as the Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks, spent it unwisely. Others, especially the Penguins, Anaheim Ducks and Buffalo Sabres, were penny-pinching marvels.
Consider that the Penguins spent about $37 million to earn 105 points. That's $351,603 per point, making it the most cost-effective team in the NHL. (It should be pointed out that the salary figures contained on our charts reflect the current value of all player contracts on a team, not the actual amount paid under the cap, nor do they include performance bonuses.) At the other end of the spectrum, the Flyers spent $723,815 for each of its 56 points. The best-spending Canadian team was the Ottawa Senators at $430,201 a point, followed by the Vancouver Canucks, Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames, Leafs and Edmonton Oilers.
It should come as no surprise then that some of the most valuable players for the buck also come from playoff-bound teams that have spent wisely. Take Thomas Vanek. Sure, the Sabres left-winger doesn't get the ink that teammates Daniel Briere and Chris Drury get, but not only did he lead the league in plus/minus ? a telling statistic for anyone looking for an all-round player ? but he also managed to score 43 goals and total 84 points. All for a salary of under $1 million. That works out to $11,219 per point, or just $685 per minute spent on the ice.
If you just look at cost per point, then the Colorado Avalanche's Paul Stastny and Andrew Brunette, along with the San Jose Sharks' Milan Michalek, would fill out your forward line. On defence, looking at cost per point and plus/minus, you'd likely end up with Tom Preissing and Christoph Schubert of the Ottawa Senators. Not exactly an all-star lineup, but you'd have a solid performing line plus plenty of leftover cash to buy a superstar or two.
Plus/minus stats aside, you can't go wrong with Dion Phaneuf, the second-year Calgary Flames defenceman. Not only does he come in at a bargain $232 per minute on ice, his 50 points ranked him 16th on the defencemen scoring list. Let's compare him to Maple Leaf Bryan McCabe ? a.k.a. the human pylon. McCabe slightly outscored Phaneuf with 57 points to finish 10th among defenders, but each minute he spent on the ice cost $3,250, or roughly 14 times what Phaneuf received. McCabe is also one of the worst defensive defencemen in the league, with a plus/minus hovering around zero despite all his points, while Phaneuf was a plus 10. Of course, Phaneuf is still under his rookie contract. But when that expires, he can easily make a case to get more than McCabe's salary of $7.15 million.
But, let's face it. It's hard to win the Stanley Cup without a solid goalie ? no wonder the Leafs haven't won since 1967 ? and there are quite a few in the league. Analyzing just goals against average and save percentage, Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils and Roberto Luongo of the Canucks stand out among starting goalies, given how much time they spent on the ice. Even though they are two of the highest-paid goaltenders in the league, each is in the middle of the pack when it comes to how much each minute they played cost their respective teams. But don't forget about old man Dominik Hasek of the Detroit Red Wings. He gets paid a bargain $750,000 (plus bonuses) and ranked among the leaders in goals against average and save percentage.
The best value, though, has to be Peter Budaj of the Colorado Avalanche. He turned in a solid performance this season at a cost of only $188 a minute of ice time. The most overpaid? Budaj's teammate, Jose Theodore, who cost the Avalanche $3,146 for each minute he played. Other washouts include Andrew Raycroft of the Leafs, Dan Cloutier of the Los Angeles Kings and Marc Denis of the Tampa Bay Lightning ? all non-playoff teams.
Of course, you can crunch the numbers yourself on the spreadsheets available here to download and come to your own conclusions. Have fun, and let me know what your starting lineup would look like.
Andy Holloway and Phil Froats
Canadian Business Online, April 24, 2007
There's no question that Sidney Crosby is the most exciting player in the National Hockey League, and probably the most valuable player, as well. With 36 goals and 120 points, Crosby helped the Pittsburgh Penguins return to the playoffs for the first time since 2001. If you were to start a team today, you couldn't go too far wrong making the 19-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S. your first pick. And with his cost of $5.1 million (including rookie signing bonus averaged over three years), Crosby's not a huge hit ? at least for now ? against the salary cap.
Ah, the salary cap. The great equalizer in the NHL. No more can teams buy their way to the top. Not that some teams were able to do that anyway (Hello, Toronto Maple Leafs and your 40 years of futility). But today's NHL team is just as much a function of salaries as it is players. Each team had roughly $44 million (all figures in $US) to spend in 2006. Some, such as the Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks, spent it unwisely. Others, especially the Penguins, Anaheim Ducks and Buffalo Sabres, were penny-pinching marvels.
Consider that the Penguins spent about $37 million to earn 105 points. That's $351,603 per point, making it the most cost-effective team in the NHL. (It should be pointed out that the salary figures contained on our charts reflect the current value of all player contracts on a team, not the actual amount paid under the cap, nor do they include performance bonuses.) At the other end of the spectrum, the Flyers spent $723,815 for each of its 56 points. The best-spending Canadian team was the Ottawa Senators at $430,201 a point, followed by the Vancouver Canucks, Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames, Leafs and Edmonton Oilers.
It should come as no surprise then that some of the most valuable players for the buck also come from playoff-bound teams that have spent wisely. Take Thomas Vanek. Sure, the Sabres left-winger doesn't get the ink that teammates Daniel Briere and Chris Drury get, but not only did he lead the league in plus/minus ? a telling statistic for anyone looking for an all-round player ? but he also managed to score 43 goals and total 84 points. All for a salary of under $1 million. That works out to $11,219 per point, or just $685 per minute spent on the ice.
If you just look at cost per point, then the Colorado Avalanche's Paul Stastny and Andrew Brunette, along with the San Jose Sharks' Milan Michalek, would fill out your forward line. On defence, looking at cost per point and plus/minus, you'd likely end up with Tom Preissing and Christoph Schubert of the Ottawa Senators. Not exactly an all-star lineup, but you'd have a solid performing line plus plenty of leftover cash to buy a superstar or two.
Plus/minus stats aside, you can't go wrong with Dion Phaneuf, the second-year Calgary Flames defenceman. Not only does he come in at a bargain $232 per minute on ice, his 50 points ranked him 16th on the defencemen scoring list. Let's compare him to Maple Leaf Bryan McCabe ? a.k.a. the human pylon. McCabe slightly outscored Phaneuf with 57 points to finish 10th among defenders, but each minute he spent on the ice cost $3,250, or roughly 14 times what Phaneuf received. McCabe is also one of the worst defensive defencemen in the league, with a plus/minus hovering around zero despite all his points, while Phaneuf was a plus 10. Of course, Phaneuf is still under his rookie contract. But when that expires, he can easily make a case to get more than McCabe's salary of $7.15 million.
But, let's face it. It's hard to win the Stanley Cup without a solid goalie ? no wonder the Leafs haven't won since 1967 ? and there are quite a few in the league. Analyzing just goals against average and save percentage, Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils and Roberto Luongo of the Canucks stand out among starting goalies, given how much time they spent on the ice. Even though they are two of the highest-paid goaltenders in the league, each is in the middle of the pack when it comes to how much each minute they played cost their respective teams. But don't forget about old man Dominik Hasek of the Detroit Red Wings. He gets paid a bargain $750,000 (plus bonuses) and ranked among the leaders in goals against average and save percentage.
The best value, though, has to be Peter Budaj of the Colorado Avalanche. He turned in a solid performance this season at a cost of only $188 a minute of ice time. The most overpaid? Budaj's teammate, Jose Theodore, who cost the Avalanche $3,146 for each minute he played. Other washouts include Andrew Raycroft of the Leafs, Dan Cloutier of the Los Angeles Kings and Marc Denis of the Tampa Bay Lightning ? all non-playoff teams.
Of course, you can crunch the numbers yourself on the spreadsheets available here to download and come to your own conclusions. Have fun, and let me know what your starting lineup would look like.
