[A] Olesz Waived; Smith Called Up

[Rex]

Salary is not a moot point this season, you are looking at fictitious dollars when it comes to the salary cap. The real dollars reflect a much different picture. I know you probably do not visit the OB, but I started a thread explaining real dollars vs cap dollars. I am sure the team has an overall budget of what they are going to spend on payroll.



The reason I threw Bickell's name with dollars is because he and his talent/dollars coincide with one another. Sending Bickell thru waivers would not accomplish anything because someone would snatch him at that price and plus Bickell brings more to the table than Olesz at this point. The Hawks do not have the luxury of playing player development at this stage of the game (unless your name is Leddy), this is not the 2006 Hawks.

they are paying him that money either way. And I never said waive Bickell, but scratch him and give Olesz a shot. Why the hell not, might light a fire under Bryans ass.



or try Olesz on the second line with Kane...why not?

 

[Rex]

and I haven't been to the O' boards since 08 lol

 

[dlrob315]

and I haven't been to the O' boards since 08 lol

You guys are lot more witty over here and much more calmer, except for Jimbo, he made lose my cool.

 

[Rex]

lol i didn't know anyone from here is still on the O'boards.



who are you over there?

 

[Ton]

Salary is not a moot point this season, you are looking at fictitious dollars when it comes to the salary cap. The real dollars reflect a much different picture. I know you probably do not visit the OB, but I started a thread explaining real dollars vs cap dollars. I am sure the team has an overall budget of what they are going to spend on payroll.



The reason I threw Bickell's name with dollars is because he and his talent/dollars coincide with one another. Sending Bickell thru waivers would not accomplish anything because someone would snatch him at that price and plus Bickell brings more to the table than Olesz at this point. The Hawks do not have the luxury of playing player development at this stage of the game (unless your name is Leddy), this is not the 2006 Hawks.

Olesz's "real" dollars will be spent on him whether it's in the AHL or NHL, so wouldn't that be moot point?



In fact, the Hawks are still paying Huet!



There's one thing we know for sure about this demotion -- the Salary Cap did not matter and we didn't need the space... unless a trade is looming this demotion made no sense to me.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

I don't think anyone but management and Olesz know why he didn't play. It really makes no sense why he wasn't at least given a legitimate shot.

 

[Rex]

I don't think anyone but management and Olesz know why he didn't play. It really makes no sense why he wasn't at least given a legitimate shot.

get used to it. there will always be a player who doesn't get a legit shot, and a player that makes you wonder "why is he playing there?"



I was dumbfounded when Q was cycling almost everyone in the world on the top line with Toews, and keeping Olesz a healthy scratch while playing John Scott 12 minutes a night.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

get used to it. there will always be a player who doesn't get a legit shot, and a player that makes you wonder "why is he playing there?"



I was dumbfounded when Q was cycling almost everyone in the world on the top line with Toews, and keeping Olesz a healthy scratch while playing John Scott 12 minutes a night.

Well that's because Scott was on defense. I was pissed that they were playing Scott as a F over Olesz and only playing him 1-3 minutes a night. Scott has been fine on D and really is a lateral move compared to O'Donnell.

 

[dlrob315]

Olesz's "real" dollars will be spent on him whether it's in the AHL or NHL, so wouldn't that be moot point?



In fact, the Hawks are still paying Huet!



There's one thing we know for sure about this demotion -- the Salary Cap did not matter and we didn't need the space... unless a trade is looming this demotion made no sense to me.

Agreed he will be paid the same no matter. That is my point, since he will be paid the same, there is no salary relief for the team to do anything, cap space or not. I was only pointing out that the 8m in cap space does not mean anything and does not bring flexibility to make moves. The only way any moves will be made with outsiders is, at the TDL when the Hawks will only be paying for that player for 39 days or if the Hawks are able to move closely the same amount of dollars that is coming in.



The demotion makes great sense. Olesz was with the big club and with a 23 man roster and with all the guys that were in the press box was pretty much deemed useless. And out of all the guys in the press box, Olesz is the only one that has a long term contract and sending one of them down would not make any sense because they will all be gone next year anyway. With Ole going down this gives the team more flexibility to use guys like Smith, Morin or Pirri who I would guess management may feel are more ready than Olesz. The guys I just mentioned (Smith, Morin, and Pirri) can go up and down if needed without going thru the waiver process and still get playing time in the minors if they are not going to be used on the big club. Unfortunately Olesz did not have that flexibility so it was best to send him down via waivers for good and get him some much needed playing time and give him a look and shot next year.

 

[IceHogsFan]

Producing at the AHL level and producing at the NHL level are vastly different beasts.

I would have to lean towards this right now. Last nights home game was the first where I really watched him. He is definitely at the top level of the team and a standout as a whole. The question is, can he produce at this same level in the show or is he more of a Jason Krug and a career AHL'r? I would think he has a career in the bigs but I want to see more of his game.



A number of you here will get to see him in person next Saturday. Are you coming Grimson???

 

[IceHogsFan]

Agreed he will be paid the same no matter. That is my point, since he will be paid the same, there is no salary relief for the team to do anything, cap space or not. I was only pointing out that the 8m in cap space does not mean anything and does not bring flexibility to make moves. The only way any moves will be made with outsiders is, at the TDL when the Hawks will only be paying for that player for 39 days or if the Hawks are able to move closely the same amount of dollars that is coming in.



The demotion makes great sense. Olesz was with the big club and with a 23 man roster and with all the guys that were in the press box was pretty much deemed useless. And out of all the guys in the press box, Olesz is the only one that has a long term contract and sending one of them down would not make any sense because they will all be gone next year anyway. With Ole going down this gives the team more flexibility to use guys like Smith, Morin or Pirri who I would guess management may feel are more ready than Olesz. The guys I just mentioned (Smith, Morin, and Pirri) can go up and down if needed without going thru the waiver process and still get playing time if they are not going to be used by going back to the minors. Unfortunately Olesz did not have that flexibility so it was best to send him down via waivers for good and get him some much needed playing time and give him a look and shot next year.

I would have to admit that I do not know the salary of Olesz up and down. Is he like Salak and getting his NHL salary here? What is his hit?

 

[dlrob315]

I would have to admit that I do not know the salary of Olesz up and down. Is he like Salak and getting his NHL salary here? What is his hit?

Ole makes $3.4m this year, $4m 2013 and $4.25m 2014, whether he is up or down. His cap hit when he is up is, $3.1m.

 

[dlrob315]

I know this is a bit OT, but not worth starting a thread.



I hear the phrase "the Hawks have cap space this year," although that is a true statement, it means nothing. The Hawks have done a great job circumventing the Salary Cap, which gives them the ability of icing a team without taking on any penalties for being over the Cap. What many do not realize by circumventing the Salary Cap the Hawks are paying $75,000,712 vs. the fictitious number of $58,582,378 salary cap that gives them the ability to ice a team legally under the CBA. Olesz is only here as part of the beans StanBow has to count to keep the team at the leagues requirements. If Olesz was able to perform, great, if Olesz don't perform, great. It was a win win no matter what to the bean counter.

 

[Rex]

but like i said, there is no prize for unused cap space, and you can't carry it over to next season.

 

[Ton]

Agreed he will be paid the same no matter. That is my point, since he will be paid the same, there is no salary relief for the team to do anything, cap space or not. I was only pointing out that the 8m in cap space does not mean anything and does not bring flexibility to make moves. The only way any moves will be made with outsiders is, at the TDL when the Hawks will only be paying for that player for 39 days or if the Hawks are able to move closely the same amount of dollars that is coming in.



The demotion makes great sense. Olesz was with the big club and with a 23 man roster and with all the guys that were in the press box was pretty much deemed useless. And out of all the guys in the press box, Olesz is the only one that has a long term contract and sending one of them down would not make any sense because they will all be gone next year anyway. With Ole going down this gives the team more flexibility to use guys like Smith, Morin or Pirri who I would guess management may feel are more ready than Olesz. The guys I just mentioned (Smith, Morin, and Pirri) can go up and down if needed without going thru the waiver process and still get playing time in the minors if they are not going to be used on the big club. Unfortunately Olesz did not have that flexibility so it was best to send him down via waivers for good and get him some much needed playing time and give him a look and shot next year.

The cap space would be useful if they were to use it right now - not the deadline. By then, the $3M we already had in space would be enough to poach just about anyone. I understand that aspect, also Olesz full $3.4M doesn't come off the cap like most want to believe considering he dressed for X amount of games therefore was paid and counts against the cap (which means it's closer to $6M). I understand all that.



I simply do not agree that now was the time to send Olesz down. Smith, Morin, and Pirri will not get significant time with the club this year unless there is an injury, they simply won't -- which if that is the case (and it will be the case) Olesz would not have to be sent down anyway since a roster spot would open up if there was an injury anyway, the flexibility is useless if they aren't going to use it (proven with Smith scratched last night). Sending Olesz down only hurts the Hawks by voiding them of another option that they could have had who A. has NHL experience, B. can play on any line, and C. keeps players honest and hard working because they know the guy in the press box can steal their job.



At this point, it looks like a bad move to me. Unless they were to make a deal for a big ticket player I can't agree with the move right now -- closer to the deadline, sure, but not now.



What happens if Bickell, Frolik, Stalberg or Brunette really start to hurt the team? Not saying they will, but if that happens you are relying on a kid with hardly any experience or you are SOL. Can't call Olesz up. If this was done near the deadline I wouldn't care, but it just seems to early to ship him off without really knowing how the season will shape out.

 

[Rex]

so are they going to send Smith back down? no point having him in the pressbox.

 

[dlrob315]

I understand that aspect, also Olesz full $3.4M doesn't come off the cap like most want to believe considering he dressed for X amount of games therefore was paid and counts against the cap (which means it's closer to $6M). I understand all that.

The cap is a daily calculation so no ones full hit is taken into account yet. Olesz cap hit for the year is, $709,459 ($16,892 per day) and it stopped at that number when he was sent down, if he comes back up then the clock starts at that day at $16,892 per day. Smith numbers took over for Olesz when he came up and his hit thus far his hit is, $35,135 ($4,932 per day) which is on the clock now. This is why they played the yo yo game with Leddy last year because the cap clock counts on days off too so the Hawks were able to bank dollars by doing this and use the banked cap space at the TDL. Of course they are not in that situation this year and do not have to bank money because they already have space that is being banked. As of now they have $1,088,931 banked.



So in a long winded way, yes Olesz cap hit comes off the books once sent down and no Olesz cap hit is not close to $6m.

 

[dlrob315]

At this point, it looks like a bad move to me. Unless they were to make a deal for a big ticket player I can't agree with the move right now -- closer to the deadline, sure, but not now.

Once Ben is sent back down, this will give the team a 22 man roster, which is more beneficial to the team in the aspect of not having to use the IR process if any one was to get hurt and be out for multiple games. With a 23 man roster and using the IR process that means 24 men drawing down the cap space and banking cap space for TDL is golden. I know I know...the team has plenty of cap space this year, but do not forget those cap space dollars are fictitious and the Hawks are not going to add to the real dollars of $75m with now.



Olesz is down to play and was not going to play with the big club...period. He is not down for a deal to be made in the near future, if any deals are made now I will bet the same dollars will be moved out or they will wait for TDL where they will only be paying the newcomer for 39 days.

 

[Ton]

The cap is a daily calculation so no ones full hit is taken into account yet. Olesz cap hit for the year is, $709,459 ($16,892 per day) and it stopped at that number when he was sent down, if he comes back up then the clock starts at that day at $16,892 per day. Smith numbers took over for Olesz when he came up and his hit thus far his hit is, $35,135 ($4,932 per day) which is on the clock now. This is why they played the yo yo game with Leddy last year because the cap clock counts on days off too so the Hawks were able to bank dollars by doing this and use the banked cap space at the TDL. Of course they are not in that situation this year and do not have to bank money because they already have space that is being banked. As of now they have $1,088,931 banked.



So in a long winded way, yes Olesz cap hit comes off the books once sent down and no Olesz cap hit is not close to $6m.

I never said that.... I meant the Hawks cap space would be closer to $6M rather than $7M or $8M like most think after sending him down.

Once Ben is sent back down, this will give the team a 22 man roster, which is more beneficial to the team in the aspect of not having to use the IR process if any one was to get hurt and be out for multiple games. With a 23 man roster and using the IR process that means 24 men drawing down the cap space and banking cap space for TDL is golden. I know I know...the team has plenty of cap space this year, but do not forget those cap space dollars are fictitious and the Hawks are not going to add to the real dollars of $75m with now.



Olesz is down to play and was not going to play with the big club...period. He is not down for a deal to be made in the near future, if any deals are made now I will bet the same dollars will be moved out or they will wait for TDL where they will only be paying the newcomer for 39 days.

$75M? You sure? Could be more than that, lol.

 

[Rex]

as per tradition, The Olesz Watch



2 assists tonight in another Rockford win.



4GP 3G 5A 8PTS +6