The NHL finally confirmed what has been the worst kept secret in the league over the past week and announced that Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger has joined the department of player safety as some sort of an advisor to Stephane Quintal and his staff.
Chris Pronger joins NHL department of player safety
Chris Pronger is now officially an NHL employee even though he is still being paid by the Philadelphia Flyers. This is a problem.
Jim McIsaac
Pronger, a veteran of 18 NHL seasons with the Hartford Whalers, St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks and Flyers, last played in the NHL during the 2011-12 season when he appeared in 13 games. A concussion suffered that season has kept him out of the lineup ever since, and he remains on the Flyers' payroll to this day having never officially filed retirement papers.
It’s that last part that has caused quite a stir over the past few days. The fact that Pronger, who is still a member of an NHL team, is now an employee of the league, something that the league’s CBA very clearly prohibits.
Pronger: issue is in Article 26 of CBA. No one being paid by a team can be paid by the league.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 8, 2014 In this case it’s not even necessarily about of conflict of interest. Pronger, no matter what his role is within the department of player safety, isn’t going making the final decision on suspensions, and this potential conflict of interest is no worse than, say, the NHL’s chief disciplinarian having a son currently playing in the league. He will also have no role in situations involving the Flyers.
But again, that’s not the issue.
No, the much larger issue here is how the Flyers are benefiting from this from a salary cap perspective. And they absolutely are continuing to benefit from this. If Pronger has ended his playing career and moved on to a new career as a league executive, which he very clearly has at this point that should have some major cap implications on the Flyers and their payroll.
When Pronger signed his current seven-year, $34.5 million contract with the team prior to the 2010-11 season, he was over the age of 35, making it a plus-35 contract under the CBA. That means if he retires before the end of the deal (something he has not done even though he hasn’t played a game since early in the 2011-12 season and will likely never play again) the Flyers would still be on the hook for his $4.9 million cap hit until the deal expires. But because of his injury, which has unofficially ended his career, the Flyers have been able to put him on the Long-Term Injured List the past couple of years and save that cap space.
This shouldn’t be that complicated: Either Pronger is still a paid employee of the Flyers and they continue to keep him on LTIR and the NHL finds another former player to fill that spot in the DPS, or Pronger files his retirement papers, joins the league offices, and the Flyers take on the $4.9 million in empty cap space for the next three years following his retirement.
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