The Hockey Writers April 1, 2013

Pens Dream Team and the comedy of Kevin Bieksa

April 01, 2013

Every Monday morning we'll send one of our most popular articles from the previous week as well as a little something from our archives.

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 by Mike Colligan 

  • Jarome Iginla carries a salary cap hit of $7.1 million.

  • Brendan Morrow has a cap hit of $4.1 million.

  • Douglas Murray has a cap hit of $2.5 million.

The Pittsburgh Penguins added all three to their payroll this week without sacrificing a single roster player. They’re already committing $8.7 million each to former MVP’s Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and $5 million each to James Neal, Paul Martin, and Marc-Andre Fleury.

How?

How can this dream team fit underneath the salary cap? And how is it possible that, as of today,General Manager Ray Shero still has the ability to add over $15 million more in cap hits via trade?

In short, the lockout was the best thing to ever happen to the Pittsburgh Penguins. While the salary cap is officially at $60 million this season, teams are permitted to spend up to $70.2 million as part of transition rules to help them adjust to the new CBA limitations. The league and players’ association agreed that it was unfair to expect General Managers to suddenly trim millions of dollars in payroll in a matter of days coming out of the lockout.

 from the archives 

 

When you think of Vancouver Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa many things come to mind. You might think of his Western Conference clinching overtime goal against the Sharks in 2011. You might also think of a physical, tough defenseman who has been a mainstay in Vancouver for several years now.

Perhaps you should also add comedian to the list of things that Kevin Bieksa is.