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Ottawa Senators Re-negotiate Alexei Yashin's Contract

by
The Nosebleeders
(Ottawa Correspondants)

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The seemingly endless war between the Ottawa Senators and their star centre Alexei Yashin came to an end on Saturday, December 30th as both sides agreed to a peace treaty. The peace treaty came in the form of a re-negotiated contract for Yashin that will make him the highest paid Ottawa Senator, effective next season. Pierre Gauthier, starting his fourth week as the new GM of the Senators, and Mark Gandler, agent for Alexei Yashin, finalized the deal in the wee morning hours, 3:45 am to be exact.

Although full contract details have not been disclosed, it is believed that the deal is for four years and worth approximately $12-million US. It is also rumoured that there are bonus incentives that could make the contract worth as much as $14-million US. The four year contract will commence at the beginning of next season. Alexei will play this season under his existing contract salary of $820,000 US. He will not receive the salary that he lost during his holdout; therefore his total salary for this season will be approximately $400,000 US. Below is a year-by-year breakdown of the new contract:

1995 : $820,000 US, prorated for remainder of the season

1996 : $2.7 million US

1997 : $2.9 million US

1998 : $3.1 million US

1999 : $3.3 million US

The new agreement allows both sides to save face. The Senators get Yashin to play this season under the guidelines of his original contract and also receive two additional years from the centre. His original contract only had two years left after this season, however, he is now signed for four additional years. Alexei, starting next season, will become one of the top 30 paid NHL players. This will allow him to justify his holdout for additional money.

Sens owner Rod Bryden said, "I don't see it as a face-saving measure but you can write it's a face-saving measure if that's your view. I think it's a solid resolution. What we have is an agreement that allows us to go forward... I believe the agreement we reached is one that's good for Alexei and good for the hockey club."

For his part, Yashin said that his holdout was for more that just money. He wanted to feel confident that the team was going to be moving forward towards a tradition of winning. After meeting Gauthier and discussing the club's future, both Yashin and his agent apparently feel this will happen.

It seems quite obvious that this deal would not have been made had Randy Sexton still been the General Manager of the Sens. There was just too much bad blood between Sexton and Gandler for them to come to an agreement. This type of resolution to Yashin's holdout had been discussed and proposed by fans and media alike since September. Most people felt that any resolution would require Yashin to play this season under the old agreement and future years re-negotiated at a higher salary; thereby allowing both sides to save face in the dispute. It took the firing of Sexton and the hiring of Gauthier for this deal to come about. It's too bad for the fans that Sexton and Gandler could not put their personal feelings aside and reach an agreement prior to the start of the season. This lack of professionalism by both parties cost Randy Sexton his job and the fans the pleasure of watching a gifted player.

Alexei skated with his teammates at the Saturday morning practice but did not play in the Saturday night game against Montreal. Due to the fact that he was up until at least 4:00 am finalizing and signing the new deal, all parties involved felt it would be best for him not to play. Yashin made his debut on Sunday - New Year's Eve - against the Tampa Bay Lightning; a game which Ottawa lost 3-0. Yashin showed only a few glimpses of his old self and felt fatigued after the game. He realized that practicing everyday was not the same as playing NHL calibre hockey.

Fellow Senator teammates welcomed Yashin back with open arms. Frank Musil admitted that "there was a lot of electricity in the dressing room" both when the agreement was announced to the players and when Yashin made his entrance. Despite the long holdout, the players only seem to care that he is back and ready to play hockey.

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