Shell
08-22-2003, 08:42 AM
Caron gets rare 4-year deal from Penguins
Friday, August 22, 2003
By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
If Sebastien Caron had any doubts the Penguins believe he can be part of their goaltending future, they were allayed in a big way last night.
Caron signed a four-year contract worth $3.2 million, all in guaranteed salary, to end his restricted free agency. The length of the deal is among the longest of any current player in the NHL, and it represents a significant raise. His salary last season was $625,000, but he had a clause that called for him to make a fraction of that for time spent in the minor leagues.
"When I first heard this week that they were going to give me four years, I was like, 'Oh, my God,' " Caron said from his home in Quebec. "It's a really great show of confidence, I think. I can't say enough about how happy I am with Pittsburgh."
The move to deal with Caron in such a fashion was surprising on two fronts:
The Penguins made goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury the first overall pick in the June NHL Entry Draft. He is projected by hockey scouts as a franchise-caliber player, and the Penguins have not ruled out that he could make the team this fall despite being only 18 years old. The commitment to Caron, 23, is a clear sign that the Penguins plan to build their most important position around two young players for the foreseeable future. Incumbent starter Johan Hedberg, 30, is entering the final year of his contract.
Caron made the NHL All-Rookie team last year by posting a 7-14-2 record, 2.64 goals-against average and .916 save percentage, but it did not appear he had fully proven himself. He never played in the league before being an emergency recall in January, and he has had only 24 games in the NHL. In two-plus seasons before that, he had not clearly established himself as the No. 1 goaltender with the Penguins' AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre.
"I just think it shows that they believed in me, in what I did when I was there," Caron said. "That makes me feel so good."
His top priority in signing this contract, the second of his professional career after he was the Penguins' third-round draft pick in 1999, was to secure an NHL-only salary. He will make $650,000 next season, then an additional $100,000 in each of the final three years of the deal, meaning he will make $950,000 the last season (2006-07). No other member of the Penguins' NHL roster is signed for more than two additional years.
The day after drafting Fleury, Penguins General Manager Craig Patrick said he would not be adverse to using two young goaltenders if Fleury were to make the team, saying, "We judge by performance, not by age." But Caron insisted, as he did before signing his contract, that he has no concerns about Fleury being in the mix at any point.
"This doesn't change a thing," Caron said. "I still look at my job when I go into this camp and every camp like I have to win a spot on the roster."
NOTES -- Earlier in the day, the Penguins signed another goaltender, Andy Chiodo, their seventh-round pick in June. He was a re-entry after the New York Islanders, the team that originally drafted him, failed to sign him within the required two years. Last season, Chiodo, 20, tied for third in the Ontario Hockey League with 26 victories and was fifth with a .915 save percentage in 57 games for Toronto-St. Michael's. Chiodo is projected to play in Wilkes-Barre next season. ... The Penguins have one restricted free agent left to sign, left winger Ramzi Abid. Abid's agent, Bob Sauve, yesterday said talks are ongoing, but he would not characterize the pace.
Friday, August 22, 2003
By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
If Sebastien Caron had any doubts the Penguins believe he can be part of their goaltending future, they were allayed in a big way last night.
Caron signed a four-year contract worth $3.2 million, all in guaranteed salary, to end his restricted free agency. The length of the deal is among the longest of any current player in the NHL, and it represents a significant raise. His salary last season was $625,000, but he had a clause that called for him to make a fraction of that for time spent in the minor leagues.
"When I first heard this week that they were going to give me four years, I was like, 'Oh, my God,' " Caron said from his home in Quebec. "It's a really great show of confidence, I think. I can't say enough about how happy I am with Pittsburgh."
The move to deal with Caron in such a fashion was surprising on two fronts:
The Penguins made goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury the first overall pick in the June NHL Entry Draft. He is projected by hockey scouts as a franchise-caliber player, and the Penguins have not ruled out that he could make the team this fall despite being only 18 years old. The commitment to Caron, 23, is a clear sign that the Penguins plan to build their most important position around two young players for the foreseeable future. Incumbent starter Johan Hedberg, 30, is entering the final year of his contract.
Caron made the NHL All-Rookie team last year by posting a 7-14-2 record, 2.64 goals-against average and .916 save percentage, but it did not appear he had fully proven himself. He never played in the league before being an emergency recall in January, and he has had only 24 games in the NHL. In two-plus seasons before that, he had not clearly established himself as the No. 1 goaltender with the Penguins' AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre.
"I just think it shows that they believed in me, in what I did when I was there," Caron said. "That makes me feel so good."
His top priority in signing this contract, the second of his professional career after he was the Penguins' third-round draft pick in 1999, was to secure an NHL-only salary. He will make $650,000 next season, then an additional $100,000 in each of the final three years of the deal, meaning he will make $950,000 the last season (2006-07). No other member of the Penguins' NHL roster is signed for more than two additional years.
The day after drafting Fleury, Penguins General Manager Craig Patrick said he would not be adverse to using two young goaltenders if Fleury were to make the team, saying, "We judge by performance, not by age." But Caron insisted, as he did before signing his contract, that he has no concerns about Fleury being in the mix at any point.
"This doesn't change a thing," Caron said. "I still look at my job when I go into this camp and every camp like I have to win a spot on the roster."
NOTES -- Earlier in the day, the Penguins signed another goaltender, Andy Chiodo, their seventh-round pick in June. He was a re-entry after the New York Islanders, the team that originally drafted him, failed to sign him within the required two years. Last season, Chiodo, 20, tied for third in the Ontario Hockey League with 26 victories and was fifth with a .915 save percentage in 57 games for Toronto-St. Michael's. Chiodo is projected to play in Wilkes-Barre next season. ... The Penguins have one restricted free agent left to sign, left winger Ramzi Abid. Abid's agent, Bob Sauve, yesterday said talks are ongoing, but he would not characterize the pace.