Posted at 7:00 a.m.
Here is our latest livery of answers for The Club. To send us your questions, it’s here.
Who wins what?
I would like someone to explain to me this contractual situation that we see occasionally. Corey Schueneman, of the Canadian, has just signed a two-part contract which will bring him $750,000 if he plays in the NHL and $275,000 if he plays in the American League. Yet his contract provides for a guaranteed minimum wage of $350,000. Why the figure of $275,000, if he is promised 350,000?
Francois Racine
Response from Simon-Olivier Lorange:
The Pension Plan Puppets blog, usually devoted to the news of the Toronto Maple Leafs, surprisingly contains several articles effectively popularizing the collective agreement in force in the NHL. In a post dated January 2019, we read that the guaranteed minimum wage “exists in order to improve the salary of a player who is expected to play in both leagues, or in order to induce the NHL team to remember it”. It should be noted here that a player with a two-part contract is paid in proportion to the days he spends in each of the two circuits. Let’s take Schueneman’s example again: if he spent more than half the season in Montreal, he would easily reach and exceed the $350,000 stipulated in his contract as the guaranteed minimum salary. But if he only played a few games with the CH, or if he spent the entire season with the Laval Rocket, the organization would pay him the difference so that he would receive $350,000 as planned. “It’s a bit like a signing bonus,” summarizes Andrew Zadarnowski, columnist and minor league specialist, in an exchange of messages with The Press.
Why exchange Toffoli?
By trading Tyler Toffoli to the Calgary Flames, the Canadiens let go of an “almost automatic” scorer of 50 points per season. In return, the CH received two players who will probably not reach such production (Tyler Pitlick and Emil Heineman), a choice at the end of the first round and another in the fifth round. The chances of finding a 50-point marker late in the first round are pretty slim. Why on earth let go of 50 assured points for picks or projects? I would like to understand why hockey does not apply the good old principle of “one in is better than two in the kill”.
Jean-Philippe Deschenes-Gilbert
PHOTO JEFF MCINTOSH, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Tyler Toffoli was traded to the Calgary Flames on February 14.
Response from Simon-Olivier Lorange:
What you say makes sense. However, you have to look at the context in which a transaction is made. The day Tyler Toffoli was traded, February 14, the Habs were in the very bottom of the general standings. After 48 games, he was 34 points from last place giving access to the playoffs. A climb was strictly impossible. The management had already given up on the season and was looking to the future. The thing was not named explicitly at the time, but the foundations were laid for a major reconstruction. At that time, Tyler Toffoli was about to turn 30. At the end of a reconstruction process of two to four years, Toffoli would have approached his mid-thirties. His offensive peak would most likely have been exceeded. And it would have been necessary, in the meantime, to make him sign a new contract. Under these conditions, it made sense to trade him, especially since his current contract, relatively affordable for a striker likely to score 25 to 30 goals, made him an attractive player for a team aspiring to great honors. . We know the rest of the story.
Where are the Canadian quarters?
Hello team! I would like to know why it seems so difficult for a Quebec or Canadian quarterback to establish himself as a starter in a CFL team.
Francois Caron
PHOTO LARRY MACDOUGAL, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Canadian quarterback Nathan Rourke plays for the BC Lions.
Response from Miguel Bujold:
Hello Francois. There is currently one exception to the rule: Nathan Rourke, who is having a phenomenal season with the BC Lions. Rourke, however, played his college football in the NCAA (Ohio Bobcats) and had even finished high school at a school in Alabama. The question is therefore rather to know why it is so difficult for a quarterback having played in Canadian university football to become a starter in the CFL.
The answer will certainly not please many, but it is a question of caliber. The step is high between Canadian university football and the CFL, even more so for quarterbacks because of the systems of play to be mastered and the types of passes that are required of a quarterback in the CFL. What’s more, highly talented Canadian quarterbacks, such as Rourke and Jonathan Sénécal, who is currently with the University of Montreal Carabins, often earn NCAA invites. That said, Sénécal has opted to return to play in Canada and may be able to pursue a career in the CFL. To be continued.
Suspension… with pay?
Kamal Miller of CF Montreal was unavailable for the game against DC United following a red card received in the previous game. Not being available through his fault – unlike, for example, an injury or an illness -, is there then a deduction from his salary, a bit like in hockey during a suspension imposed by the NHL? If so, how is it calculated?
Mario Bolduc
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
CF Montreal defender Kamal Miller
Response from Jean-François Téotonio:
We are not talking about salary deduction, but rather about a fine. And it all depends on the foul leading to the red card. As such, the suspension following the awarding of the red card is not followed by an additional fine. But it can earn him one, especially if it is judged afterwards that the action was dangerous, that the integrity of the sport has been violated, or that the player is a repeat offender.
For an accumulation of yellow cards leading to a suspension, there is effectively an additional fine. After five cards in the season, the player must pay $250 in addition to his one-game suspension. If he accumulates three more, he must pay $500. And so on. He can reduce the number of yellow cards he has accumulated if he shows good behavior – and therefore does not receive a card – for five consecutive games.