Nine days have passed since Pierre Lacroix resigned as the Avalanche general manager, and no successor has been named. That suggests the importance of thinking things through to get the right man for the job, because general managers are more important than ever in the new salary cap era of the NHL.
Michel Goulet, the Avalanche assistant to the president, appears to be the front-runner, but whomever Lacroix chooses to succeed him must be strong in math and accounting skills in addition to knowing hockey personnel inside and out.
“As a GM now, when you want to make a trade you have to put on your trade hat, then put on your salary cap hat,” Lacroix said recently. “If either of them don’t fit, then you can’t do it.”
Fortunately for whomever takes over as the Avs’ general manager, he will have Greg Sherman around to help with the math. Sherman’s title is Avalanche assistant general manager, but he also is the team’s “capologist.” It was Sherman’s job this past season to keep Lacroix informed of the team’s salary cap position, and make sure incoming players’ contracts would fit under the league-mandated $39 million ceiling.
Sherman, who has a degree in accounting from the University of San Diego, called it a season of “adjustment” for the NHL’s 30 teams in the first year with a cap.
“There was definitely an adjustment period for all teams, but I think it became (easier) as time went along,” Sherman said.
Sherman said NHL general managers and assistant general managers got a crash course from the league last summer on the collective bargaining agreement as it pertained to the cap and had update meetings throughout the season. There will be another meeting soon. It is expected the cap will rise at least 10 percent for next season based on NHL revenues.
That would give the Avs more to spend on their unsigned players – such as Joe Sakic, Rob Blake and Alex Tanguay – and perhaps a free agent or two from other teams. The Avs owe roughly $19 million to players for next season, with goalie Jose Theodore scheduled to make $5.33 million. The new GM could buy out contracts of players such as Patrice Brisebois ($3 million) or Pierre Turgeon ($1.5 million), but two-thirds of the salary it would take to buy them out would count toward the 2006-07 cap number.
“Obviously, you have to be very careful of the money you spend now,” Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said. “You can’t just buy away your problems now. But I think it’s always been about making smart personnel decisions, no matter how much money you have. I think you’ve seen some teams in recent years that had huge payrolls that didn’t do much, and vice versa.”
Holland said there were a couple of times he was left scratching his head about what he could or couldn’t do this season regarding the salary cap. That is why the Red Wings hired lawyer Ryan Martin and gave him the title of director of hockey administration.
But the more fitting title would have been capologist.
“You definitely need a person who knows all the numbers and CBA backwards and forwards,” Holland said. “But like I said, it always comes down to making the right choices. But we all have the same budgets now, so it’s that much more important.”
Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
