Kesler's less-is-more comes to pass
He was castigated for suggesting cuts, but look what's happened
By Ben Kuzma, The Province
July 2, 2009 7:45 AM
"If we're going to win the Cup, we need guys to take pay cuts. The way the salary cap is now, you really can't get what you're worth now if you want to win. Everybody in this locker-room knows that and for us to be a great team going forward, we're going to have to take a pay cut."
-- Ryan Kesler, The Province, March 18, 2009
In a passionate plea for a pragmatic approach to free agency last spring, Ryan Kesler was roasted throughout the NHL like a duck for his collective view on constructing a championship team. If everyone took a little less, reasoned the forward-thinking forward, it could add up to a lot of good for the Vancouver Canucks under the constraints of the salary cap.
At the time, Kesler was simply following the lead of teammate Alex Burrows, who hinted for a similar scenario after his four-year, $8 million US extension.
However, Kesler's comments were played out to the point where NHL Players' Association executive director Paul Kelly tried to ease the unrest by saying Kesler didn't mean to tell his teammates what to do.
Well, in the end, somebody listened.
Unrestricted free agents Henrik and Daniel Sedin left money on the table Wednesday in agreeing to identical five-year Canuck extensions at $6.1 million per season -- especially with Toronto general manager Brian Burke willing to sweeten the pot to $7 million each annually.
And when Roberto Luongo's contract extension is announced, he'll sacrifice some scratch for a better shot at the Stanley Cup. The fiscal restraint leaves the Canucks with 16 players under contract next season for $46.5 million and leaves general manager Mike Gillis with $10 million in flexibility.
It should also leave Kesler with a feeling of vindication for his views.
"Yeah, you're going to get a lot of no comments from me because I got slapped a little bit by saying that," Kesler said Wednesday, knowing he's also in line for a contract extension. "The PA wasn't too happy with me.
"Obviously, I'm happy to have them [Sedins] back. The thing about free agency, you don't know how that other team is going to be."
The Canucks know they're going to be competitive with the durable Sedin twins eager to build on twin 82-point seasons and Luongo looking to make amends for a poor end to the playoffs and to prove he's worthy of Team Canada consideration for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
And if Gillis can come to reasonable terms with restricted free agents Kyle Wellwood, Shane O'Brien and Jannik Hansen, then the call for contract calm from Kesler and Burrows was worth it.
"Ryan and myself spoke about it out loud, but I thought everybody else really thought it was the right thing to do," Burrows said Wednesday from Montreal. "To have your two best players take less money and wanting to build a championship team in Vancouver says a lot about the kind of players we have."
Repeating as Northwest Division champions won't be easy with Edmonton landing free-agent goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and Calgary doing likewise with Jay Bouwmeester. It's one thing for Steve Bernier to take a $500,000 pay cut annually to get a two-year Canucks deal, it's another to get him to bury all those scoring chances.
The Canucks will need more offence and more mobility from a back end that was exposed in the Chicago series setback.
"I don't think we need a lot," said Daniel Sedin. "I think we had the pieces last year. We all felt we should have won the [Chicago] series."
When Burrows surprisingly won a spot on the Sedins line Feb. 10, it spurred him to 23 points (14-9) in his first 24 games in that alignment and he finished with a career-high 28 goals and 51 points. If he's going to build on those numbers, he needs the Sedins. Did he breathe a sign of relief after their signings?
"Obviously, a little bit for sure," said Burrows. "But I don't know if I'm going to start with them next year or what's going to happen."
bkuzma@theprovince.com
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