Scoring, and Scorers, Are Grinding to a Halt

One season away from the end of a collective bargaining agreement they couldn’t wait to dump because they claimed revenues didn’t keep pace with payrolls, NHL owners and general managers have finally found a way to keep salaries down: devalue scoring -- and, by extension, scorers.

On the face of it, the Mighty Ducks’ announcement that they won’t make a qualifying offer to Paul Kariya was stunning. They’re allowing their franchise scoring leader and the face of a team that last month reached its pinnacle by coming within one victory of a Stanley Cup championship to walk away, knowing they might get nothing in return. They’re risking the goodwill they built bit by bit last season, when fans again populated seats that had become dusty with disuse.

They’re risking losing what was once their biggest asset because to keep him they would have had to pay him $10 million, again paying him nearly one-fourth of their payroll. They’re doing it because in a league that tries to create a false sense of parity by perpetuating low-scoring, defense-first systems that drag skillful teams down to the level of their lesser rivals, Kariya’s importance to the Ducks had diminished.

“Financially, some things have to make sense,” Duck General Manager Bryan Murray said. “I know our company and our budget and the amount of money it costs to operate this hockey team. To do that we have to get our payroll in order.... Around the league, financially a lot of things don’t make sense anymore.”

Murray said he wants to add “a couple of players” next season and hasn’t given up on retaining Kariya. Left unsaid was the likelihood that most teams will avoid long-term contracts that burden them if the widely anticipated work stoppage next year produces a labor agreement that includes a salary cap or luxury tax.

“I don’t think he’s shut the door on us by any means,” Murray said.

Just in case, Murray would be wise to keep his fingers out of the doorjamb.

What’s to stop the Red Wings, who picked up Dominik Hasek’s $8-million option Monday, perhaps solving their goaltending problems, from throwing a pile of money at Kariya and making one last, concerted run at the Cup?

Or the Colorado Avalanche, now minus Patrick Roy’s salary, from snatching Kariya to play with his Olympic linemate, Joe Sakic? Colorado re-signed Peter Forsberg to a one-year deal worth $11 million, a sign General Manager Pierre Lacroix will make a push to win next season and worry about caps or luxury taxes later.

Of course, no speculation about free-agent spending would be complete without mentioning the New York Rangers. They could add Kariya, Teemu Selanne and Sergei Fedorov and still miss the playoffs. Again.

The central question is this:

Is Paul Kariya a $10-million player?

Who is, or ever was?

Kariya was worth whatever someone was willing to pay him. And the Ducks, foundering after the dissolution of the gritty, overachieving teams of the Ron Wilson years, had to give him the key to their little magic kingdom to have any hope of being competitive. He was their cornerstone, their talisman. Their captain.

He played those roles well, soldiering on through dark years and often providing the only excitement with a rush up the left side and a searing wrist shot that eluded a hapless goalie.

This season, however, the Ducks progressed to the point where they were no longer Kariya and the seven (or 17) dwarfs. They assembled talent on defense, some grinders, solid two-way forwards and a franchise goaltender in Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Even with Kariya neutralized in nearly every playoff game, they came within a few goals of winning the Cup. They lost to the Devils, an interchangeable group of muscular defensemen, grinders and tireless two-way forwards.

That made inevitable what Murray announced Monday. The game is unlikely to open up again anytime soon, so why should he pay $10 million to keep Kariya when he can spend it on three faceless players whose grittiness might be more effective in the playoffs?

It’s a page from the book of former Angel General Manager Buzzie Bavasi. Discussing the departure of free-agent pitcher Nolan Ryan after in 1979, Bavasi said, “All I have to do is find two pitchers capable of going 8-7 each.”

Which he never did. But in hockey, that philosophy can work.

Success in today’s NHL is contingent on goaltending, defense and goaltending, making Kariya less vital. No, he’s not scoring 50 goals, but who is? Only Colorado’s Milan Hejduk did so this season and only Calgary’s Jarome Iginla, with 52, reached that traditional mark of excellence in 2001-02. That seems to be the way the NHL wants it.

The Devils have won three Stanley Cups in nine seasons with the blueprint of defense, grinding and goaltending and they’re sticking to it. On Monday they declined to make a $3.6-million qualifying offer to talented but erratic defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky, whom they undoubtedly will replace with two minor leaguers who will gladly take $1.8 million each and will be tougher than Tverdovsky, who was benched for Game 7 of the Cup finals.

Weep no tears for Kariya. He needs none. Just question why the NHL is intent on committing artistic and box-office suicide. The Ducks may lose a few dollars less next season, but hockey itself loses in the end. Kariya fan or Kariya hater, recognize this as a significant salvo in a war that could reduce the NHL to drudgery and rubble.