One of the most interesting plots of the hockey offseason is the battle of the St. Petersburg army with the salary cap. At certain points, the excess of SKA reached almost 400 million rubles, with a limit of 900 million. There was no violation: off-season, the salary cap does not work, it is important to put everything in order by the time the team bids for the new championship KHL.
However, everyone expected a sell-off from the Petersburgers – it seemed that they would have to part, if not with the leaders, then with the important players. But it seems that SKA has found a legitimate way to avoid downshifting.
Important news came yesterday: the army team signed new contracts with Andrei Pedan and Mikhail Pashnin. The deals will be valid until the end of the 2024/2025 season, with both strong defenders reportedly leaving for a significant pay cut. In parallel, information appeared in the media that about 10 SKA hockey players are ready to moderate their financial appetites in order to stay in the team. Apparently, by the end of August, the problem with the roof will be solved.
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Why do strong players agree to meet the needs of the club and stay in St. Petersburg for less money?
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Photo: Ilya Smirnov, photo.khl.ru
Race for trophies and bonuses
Most important are of course the high goals that SKA sets every year. Yes, the last time the army team won the Gagarin Cup was in 2017, but in terms of its playoff success, it is still one of the most stable in the league. Since 2015 (excluding the 2019/2020 covid season), SKA has never missed the Western Conference Finals. The team consistently reaches the third round of the playoffs and wins medals. Not a single KHL club can boast of such a succession of successes.
When a hockey player receives an offer from St. Petersburg, he understands that the chance to win a trophy is great. And there is also a great possibility of bonuses that depend on the successful performance of the team; this factor should not be ruled out either.
For the sake of bonuses and, most importantly, the lines in the resume: “the owner of the Gagarin Cup” or “the owner of the Continental Cup”, you can give up part of the salary for a while.
Better conditions
SKA lives in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but hockey players are unlikely to be attracted by the opportunity to visit the Hermitage and Peterhof every weekend (although, judging by social networks, this one too is a weighty argument for many).
Much more important is the infrastructure and organization of hockey. And here the army team is definitely ahead of the entire league. In the NHL, many teams have much more modest conditions than in St. Petersburg.
A stone’s throw from Ledovoy is the most modern “Hockey City”, where there is everything for training and restoring teams of the club system. Even people who came to St. Petersburg from the NHL are pleasantly surprised by the army base. And many current players from American clubs, such as Vladislav Gavrikov and Kirill Marchenko, specially go to the northern capital in the summer to train in the Hockey City.
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Photo: Dmitry Kulinich, photo.khl.ru
progress for the better
No matter what others say, but SKA’s most talented players are really making progress. Yes, there are examples where hockey players cannot compete, but this is only one side of the coin. On the other hand, there are numerous cases, from Panarin to Khairullin, when talented players reached a whole new level after switching to SKA.
Only last season, the army team made full-fledged KHL stars Alexander Nikishin, Marat Khairullin and Stepan Falkovsky. Again, the competition is tough, but the good players become the best.
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roof running
If you think about it, then the massive salary cuts are precisely why they introduced the ceiling in the KHL. The time of overheated payments is a thing of the past, players and agents begin to more seriously assess their capabilities, clubs strive to attract newcomers not only with money, but also with other arguments. Inviting strong players is getting easier.
It so happened that SKA, a little earlier than others, took care of the development of the infrastructure and the construction of a club system. Other clubs should take this example into service: build new bases, work more carefully in terms of organization, create a pyramid of youth and youth teams. And then the KHL will finally break away from the image of the league, where you can go to play only for the money.
