The Great Gretzky’s Great Contract Gets Two Years Greater

Wayne Gretzky is getting a raise.

The all-time leading scorer in NHL history has signed a contract extension that will pay him$29.72 million over a 16-year period.

Under the terms of the deal, Gretzky, 29, will be obligated to play nine years, through the 1997-98 season, but deferred payments will continue into 2005.

Should Gretzky be permanently injured tomorrow, he would still receive the nearly $30-million total. Owner Bruce McNall of the Kings has taken out an insurance policy, for a premium of $500,000 a year, to cover such an occurrence.

When he first came to the Kings 1 1/2 years ago, Gretzky signed an eight-year contract for a total of $20 million, which included deferred payments.

Two days ago, McNall said he had boosted that to $22.3 million over a total of 16 years.

“That was correct,” McNall said. “But when the lawyers put together the final details, Wayne agreed to add two playing years and we added more money.”

Last season, Gretzky earned a flat $1.6 million with the Kings.

Starting this season, the deal breaks down as follows:

1989-90: $1.72 million plus $1 million deferred.

Next four seasons: $2 million plus $1 million deferred for each season.

Following two seasons: $2.5 million plus $1 million deferred for each season.

Last two seasons: $3 million plus $1 million deferred for each season.

That will be followed by payment of the deferred amounts over a seven-year period.

And that may not be the end of it.

“Wayne will be 37 when this contract ends,” McNall said. “He will only play as long as he can play up to the standards he has set. But if he still feels like playing after 1997-98, we will, of course, pay him more.”

Asked if he could envision playing beyond age 37, Gretzky said, “That will pretty much be it.”

Numbers like $30 million were beyond his comprehension when Gretzky was growing up with a hockey stick in his hands in Brantford, Ontario.

“When I was 3 or 4 and skating in my backyard, somebody must have liked me,” said Gretzky, who holds almost all of hockey’s major records. “I feel very fortunate, very lucky.

“I’m very thankful to play for a person like Mr. McNall. He’s such a good person.”

The Gretzky announcement came several days after the NHL Players Assn. made league salaries public for the first time. It was revealed that the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Mario Lemieux has the highest single-season base salary at $2 million. But McNall insists the Gretzky raise has nothing to do with that.

“We started talking about this last summer,” McNall said.

When McNall obtained Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers in the summer of 1988, he shelled out $15 million.

“I really had no idea what Wayne was worth at that point,” McNall said.

McNall pro-rated the $15 million he paid to obtain Gretzky, added it to what he was paying the hockey star and figured that Gretzky was costing him about $10 million a season. “I wanted to make sure that I got even,” McNall said. “But I told Wayne, if things worked out, we would adjust the contract.”

The year before Gretzky arrived, the Kings lost $5 million. Last season, the team, with Gretzky on the roster, generated an additional $11 million in revenue to come out $6 million in the black.

“If you figure that $11 million against the $10 million Gretzky was costing me,” McNall said, “I came out about $1 million ahead. He (Gretzky) was responsible for a great deal of that. I think this year is going to be even better. We have been extraordinarily successful, more so than anyone thought. I wanted to share it with him.”

Gretzky didn’t think that was necessary, according to McNall.

“He told me he was happy with what he was making,” McNall said. “But I told him I had made a commitment and I wanted to do something for him.”

Gretzky replied: “Do what you want.” Having handed out hockey’s richest contract and one of the biggest in sports history, McNall is finally content.