The Club | Buying out the contracts of Price and Gallagher, the use of the name “Impact” and… the XFL!

We are waiting for your next questions here:

Buy Price and Gallagher?

Can the Canadian buy out the contracts of Carey Price and Brendan Gallagher?

Martin Laperiere

Response from Guillaume Lefrancois

Buying out Price’s contract wouldn’t make sense, as the team can currently “hide” his salary on the long-term injured list. By buying the agreement in the summer, the Canadian would be penalized 9.166 million under the salary cap for the next three seasons, without the possibility of hiding this amount *.

As for Gallagher, his contract is valid for four more years, up to 6.5 million per season. As a bought out contract remains on the payroll for double the remaining term, Gallagher would therefore remain on the books for another eight seasons. Thus, instead of disappearing in 2027, his agreement would count for 2.29 million for four more years. Knowing that the Habs don’t expect to fight for the Stanley Cup next year, it would be very, very surprising if the team bought out the contract in the summer.

* Source: CapFriendly

Still the Impact?

I notice that you often use the nickname Impact in your texts. For what ?

Louis-Philippe Barrette

Response from Justin Vezina

When Gabriel Gervais took over more than a year ago, Joey Saputo indicated that the name “Impact” could remain a “nickname” for the team. So on my side, I first use CF Montreal, but then I allow myself to use the Impact as a synonym here and there. It allows you to diversify the choice of words and to wink at the history of the club during its 30^e anniversary.

The thirst for victory

I know that a professional, in all sports, is first of all a competitive being and that he wants to win night after night. If, in garage leagues, elite players want to be surrounded by high-level players, what about at the professional level? In other words, can an elite player, say Nick Suzuki, be torn by his desire to win at the expense of a worse pick in the next draft? If Suzuki had jumped for joy when he learned of Dach’s arrival last June, how could he be indifferent to the possible arrival of Connor Bedard in the next draft?

Pierre Charron

Response from Katherine Harvey-Pinard

Let’s be honest. I don’t believe an elite player in a rebuild can be “indifferent” to the arrival of a generational prospect who could ultimately help his team win top honors. Will said elite player diminish his efforts to allow his club to increase its chances of winning the lottery? I doubt. Basically, I imagine it depends on his personality. If a player decided to offer less effort when he is paid millions of dollars to play, even if it pleased some supporters, let’s say it would say a lot about his identity… Right? ?

Strategies in the NFL

I like to watch NFL games, but I’m not an expert on the strategies deployed during a game. My question is, who makes the decisions to call the games? Is it the quarterback or the head coach?

Gilles Morin

Reply from Nicholas Richard

Usually, it is the offensive and defensive coordinators who call plays during games. However, it is the head coach who has the last word. Nevertheless, renowned head coaches like Bill Belichick or Andy Reid control just about everything. Except that normally, if on a fourth down the offensive coordinator wants to go for a ground play for a short win, but the head coach finds it best to go for a punt, it’s him who has the last word. Almost all quarterbacks execute the plays prescribed by their coach. Tom Brady was probably the last of the Mohicans to decide for himself, by majority, which plays were made. In Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers also obtained this privilege. However, most young quarterbacks like Josh Allen, Joe Burrow or Patrick Mahomes are at the mercy of what their coach decides. The case of Mahomes and Reid is interesting, because the two have been together for so long that we saw last season that Reid gave his quarterback a little more freedom. Every relationship is different, but as a rule, in today’s football, the coaches decide and the quarterbacks execute.

There…. XFL?

What is the XFL? I watched a few games. Huge empty football stadiums, scores that struggle to exceed that of an offensive hockey game, some strange regulations. Who are the owners and players of this league?

Raymond Deneault

Response from Alexander Pratt

To follow well, take a pencil and a notebook, because it is a bit complicated. The XFL is a minor football league, which was first in operation for one season, in 2001. By the admission of the promoter, Vince McMahon (WWE), it was a colossal failure. McMahon resurrected the league in 2020. But what else happened in 2020? Oh yes. The great containment. After only five weeks of games, the league had to cease its activities. The circuit, in bankruptcy, was bought for only 15 million, in August 2020, by a consortium of business people including actor Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) and his former spouse, producer Dany Garcia. Games resumed in February 2023. The players are pros who fail to secure starting positions in the NFL.