If I Was Running A Company…Ilya Kovalchuk

A bunch of my HR bloggers in the past few weeks have written a lot about LeBron James, his decision to join the Miami Heat, and how it reflects HR.  LeBron is a great example for people who like the NBA and HR…but it does not come close to what is going with Ilya Kovalchuk.

To summarize who Ilya Kovalchuk is; he’s a former number 1 pick in 2001, who played for the Atlanta Thrashers for 8 seasons.  He was a play-making forward who helped the Thrashers to go to their only playoff series in 2006-07, where they got swept by the New York Rangers. During the middle of this past season, Kovalchuk was traded to the New Jersey Devils, hoping to bring back the Stanley Cup in New Jersey. Unfortunately in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, the Devils were eliminated in 5 games by the Philadelphia Flyers.  This is where the fun begins.

The reason the Atlanta Thrashers traded Kovalchuk is because they knew they couldn’t resign him since he rejected a 12 year, $102 million deal, plus they didn’t have the budget for his demands.  Everyone in the NHL knew Kovalchuk was the top free agent this offseason, so his value was very high.  Since that was establish, Kovalchuk wanted a 10+ year, 9 figure deal.  Usually in the NHL, free agents have decided after 12PM on July 1, which starts Free Agent Frenzy and Canada Day.  The problem: Kovalchuk didn’t sign with anyone.  He had choices between the Devils, Thrashers, the Los Angeles Kings, the New York Islanders, even the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). People were worried that he might drive the value too high and/or was trying to be a divo. The problem was Kovalchuk is a top 10 talent in the NHL and he should merit in average how much the top ten make, and he is 27.

The situation has led to 20 days of drama, negotiations, bickering, and grandstanding.  However, Kovalchuk got the deal he wanted and signed a 17 year, $102 Million deal to return to the Devils.  Instead, the NHL rejected the offer because the contract was too front-loaded. It will eventually get resolved and everyone will be happy…except the Kings and every hockey fan outside of New Jersey.

In perspective:

For Ilya Kovalchuk, he had two job offers on the table: the Kings and the Devils. From reports, Kovalchuk wanted to go to L.A., but the Kings were offering 15 years, $80 million. The Devils decided to counter-offer and put 17 years and $102 million and that’s what Kovalchuk chose.  While almost everyone was signing on July 1, Kovalchuk waited to get an offer he liked and got it.

For the New Jersey Devils: they know Kovalchuk had great value, but they also know Kovalchuk wanted a contract over $100 million. They waited patiently and calculate the best offer for not only Kovalchuk’s needs, but their own needs.  Instead of paying him $10 million a year, Kovalchuk is going to get paid on average $7.5 million per year (granted, it’s a front-loaded contract).

For the NHL: I’m glad they stand up on someone (or team) that is trying to manipulate the system.  One problem: this rejection won’t last since you allow similar front-loaded contracts to go through from Marian Hossa, Chris Pronger, and Roberto Luongo. The NHL should re-read the Collective Bargaining Agreement and put it on your agenda as number one priority to cover the loophole in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.

By the way, to look at each NHL team’s salary cap situation, go to Capgeek.com

For Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello, you are a great negotiator and you kept Kovalchuk in New Jersey for 17 years (that might be a new record). After the contract talks are done, you should have shut up.  You made the situation worse when you publicly said you hated the structure of the contract and wanted to game the system. You were gotten away with it without consequences if you said nothing.  It’s alright to be quiet from time to time.

So to my HR friends, you can enjoy the LeBron James saga, but Ilya Kovalchuk’s situation is HR’s version of Inception.

2010 Washington Capitals Development Camp and Fanfest

I attended the last day of Caps Development Camp just to see the scrimmage, get a couple of stuff, and meet other Caps Tweeters.  If you’re looking for a comprehensive report of Caps Development  for the week… I’m not that guy. If you want to, go to these Caps sites:

• On Frozen Blog
• Russian Machine Never Breaks
• Japers’ Rink
• Washington Examiner  - Caps
• Caps Snaps
• RocktheRed.net
• Corey Masisak
• Capitals Insider

As for the game I saw, the guys did look pretty tired after a long week and it showed, but this unit had more bite and intensity in this game.  Here are a few observations:

• Dmitri Orlov is simply the next Andrei Markov if he can improve on the defensive side.  If he does that, he will be a perfect complement to Mike Green, if they’re ever teammates.
• Joe Finley seems like a late bloomer to me.  He has the skills and tenacity and is literally Hal Gill 2.0.  However, he hasn’t translated to the rink yet.  He’s tall, physical, and can fight, but he needs to bring it altogether if he can make it to the Hershey roster.
• The Finley-Pisano fight was terrible, but the Della Rovere-Bruess was an epic fight and both will be in the NHL and I think the Caps needs those characters now, but they’re not ready yet.
• Almost 3000 came to see the scrimmage and the last day of Caps Development camp. Check that, 2500 people saw the scrimmage, while 500 people were waiting for Brooks Laich autograph and blow…tires.
• After the shootout ended, the refs were still in World Cup mode. Look at the video below.
• While the depth at Center for the current Caps roster has not been solved, the depth here at Caps Development Camp with Buress, Cody Eakin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Marcus Johansson has a lot of potential.  All this talk about Johansson is going to be a second line center should need to settle down.  He is going to be great for the Caps, but this is his first time on North American ice and coaches should be patient. If I were Boudreau, he should start in the 3rd Line at best and work his way up. You never know when he’ll hit the rookie wall. Cody Eakin showed that he can physical, which is a good thing, and Kuznetsov has tons of skill, but needs to mature and don’t choke under pressure.

This leads me to the overall viewpoint of the Caps offseason.  The future is bright as for the Caps as they have immense talent in Hershey and South Carolina.  However, do they players ready for the NHL now? No. Will some move up the NHL in a couple of years? Yes. Do I expect the Caps to resign all their UFAs next year? No.  I repeatedly said this, but it’s a critical year for the Caps next season.  They must advance far in the playoffs and stop going to Game 7s and stop getting eliminated early.  I expect one last hurrah for the current Caps team and hopefully a trade is in the works so they can get to the Stanley Cup Finals with this team before they have to make a decision.  From today, this group of players has a bright future and will be with the Caps for a long time (5 years in salary cap terms).

*Before you see the pictures and videos below, just want go off the board and tell you that the Hockey Foundation needs your help.  They need to raise $15,000 to send equipment and people to Ladakh.  If they reach their goal, one lucky person who donated $50 or more can be entered to win a trip to the Ladakh to assist handing out equipment to kids and play hockey over there.  For more details, go here: http://www.hockeyfoundation.org/active-contests/

Pics outside the scrimmage:

The game in its entirety:

If I Was Running A Company…Another Mel Kiper Award (July 2010)



I haven’t done this for a long time since I’ve been busy working, networking, tweeting, and catching up on stuff.  I’m also thinking about this heat wave that DC has been in for almost a month.  I would love it that the terrible blizzard earlier this year would return.  I can’t do that, but there is one recipient that will remind us of winter in summer.  Ladies and gentlemen, your next recipient of the Mel Kiper Award:

The 1979-1984 New York Islanders

Between 1979 to 1984, the New York Islanders won 4 straight Stanley Cups.  They were the dynasty of the early 1980s with players like Mike Bossy, Ken Morrow, Denis Potvin, Billy Smith and others; and Al Arbour giving instructions behind the bench.  What made this team special was not the players, the coach, Long Island. They were remembered for two words: PLAYOFF BEARDS!!!

The Islanders were credited of creating the playoff beards and the rest is history.  The playoff beards did four things:

Tradition

Before the 1979 season in 1976-1978, the Islanders were a great regular season team.  However, they were eliminated in the semifinals in those years and people were wondering if they can ever win a big series.  In the 1979-1980 season, they only had 91 points, but won the Stanley Cup that year.  All it took was a change in culture (or in this case, hair growth on the jaw line) and when a few players grew their beards, the Islanders won Stanley Cup after Stanley Cup for 4 seasons.

Motivation

By growing their playoff beards, the Islanders players look at Ken Morrow and others that when the playoff beard is growing, it starts to get serious.  This gave the Islanders an incentive to play harder each game and series so they want to see their own players grow their beards until they touch the Stanley Cup.

Legacy

After the Islanders dynasty ended, teams were trying to do their own traditions: The Winnipeg Jets did the whiteout, teams didn’t touch the conference trophies, playoff mullets, mohawks, you name it.  All these superstitions gave belief that one day, they can touch the Stanley Cup. Not only the playoff beards spread the NHL, it has spread to other sports leagues believing by growing their playoff beard, they have a shot at a title.  Fortunately for the New York Islanders, they won 4 straight and 19 straight playoff series, which will never be accomplish again in our lifetime in any sport.

Community

The New York Islanders sole purpose of growing the beard was winning the Stanley Cup and have achieve that, but the playoff beard had a life on its own.  Teams and the NHL itself, encourage players and fans to grow their beards to not only support their team, but do it for a real cause.  A few years ago, the NHL started a Beard-A-Thon for fans to grow their beards during the playoffs and to donate money to various charities.  In 2010, the Beard-a-Thon raised over $300,000 to the NHL team charities.

If it weren’t for the playoff beards, would we talk about the New York Islanders being a dynasty in the early 1980s?  We would never know and gladly don’t have to because the playoff beard change history and fate for the Islanders and for that: Thank you, New York Islanders.

If I Was Running A Company…Onboarding

Onboarding is simple: New employee comes in, learns the company and the system, and co-workers feel comfortable.  There are some who hate the process because 1) they don’t want to stay with the company that long, 2) they want to work, not learn the company and 3) they really hate the process overall.

There is the rare exception where onboarding can be a good thing. The video below might not be a classic employer video, but this video encourages me to join with the team (and if that doesn’t work out, I’ll buy season tickets if I have the money):

(The good part begins at 1:15)

Now, who wants to join this organization?  I DO!  By the way, about Dan Gilbert…

The Caps Offseason

There is a huge split among Caps fans about how they’re doing in the offseason.  It’s the sports version of Team Jacob vs. Team Edward (and I can’t believe I typed that).  One half of Caps fans love the Caps silent approach, while the other half want something to be done in the free agent frenzy.  There is no right or wrong method but there are two strong, valid points of view.

The Quiet Approach

Fans have love this team for almost 5 years (after the lockout) and the team has got better each year (except this past season, but that can be debated).  Why not ruin success, just have the same team and hope they get better.  Also, adding Alzner, Carlson, and Neuvirth full-time will make a team younger and one of the defensive pairings set for a long time with Alzner-Carlson.  Just add one more piece and the team could contend again for the Cup.

The Impact Approach

Since the Caps went out in the first round, people are asking for an impact player.  Caps went for not as Paul Martin and Zbyněk Michálek went to Pittsburgh, Dan Hamhuis went to Vancouver, and the stake that drove some Caps fans hearts, Anton Volchenkov signs a $4.25 Million deal with the Devils.  Some thought Volchenkov was one of the two missing pieces to Cup title run for the Caps.  By that, fans were in an uproar and asking for McPhee’s head (and took it to Ted Leonsis’s email).

In my opinion, it is alright to keep a team the same…if they’re close to a Cup or won the Cup, which the Caps are nowhere near.  To me, the Washington Capitals are the Phoenix Suns of the NHL: exciting to watch, but can’t win championships.  It was telling that Bruce Boudreau mention last year they were “5 to 6 passengers.”  I can accept 1 or 2, but 5-6 is insane.  It’s either the coach or the players to blame. In this case, the coach did not have a “playoff” philosophy, while most of the players did not perform under pressure, hence blowing a 3-1 to Montreal.

If the players won’t change, how about a philosophy for more grit on this team? Do you believe all 23 players will change for a more “playoff-ready” philosophy?  There will be some who like it, but don’t expect all to follow, which people should be more concerned about.  This is where I like this report from ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun:

The Washington Capitals have to re-sign several restricted free agents who filed for arbitration Monday, including Tomas Fleischmann, Eric Fehr and Jeff Schultz. This might be crucial because, as the Washington Post writes, “Some teams, including the Caps, have a reputation for being ruthless in their arguments.”

There was some previous speculation that the Caps could shop Fleischmann but, unless talks go sour, it doesn’t look like that’s happening. However, we know the Caps will look for a defenseman in the free agent or trade markets, so there might be some kind of move coming soon.

The biggest move, however, would be an Alexander Semin trade. Yahoo Sports’ Dmitry Chesnokov previously tweeted that Caps may be actively shopping Semin.

If that’s the case, I hope we trade Jizz to the Stars for Brad Richards on the high-end or trade him to a couple of St. Louis Blues players (Oshie, Berglund, Backes, Brewer since all of them are free agents next year), the Kings for Handzus, or any other combination and the team looks very different before the season starts.

I have patience with Ted and George on these moves and they know what to do since they have all the information and if free agency is dry, so be it.  However, don’t tell me keeping the same roster is an option before the season starts. The mindset has to change from opening night and can be altered during the season. McPhee can say, “We got 121 points last year because we’re a pretty good team and we don’t really need a lot.” That’s fine, but D.C. doesn’t want a good team, D.C. wants a champion.