Ultimate NHL

Defending The Devil


Playing the devil's advocate is a great role for anybody needing a topic to write about. In this case I may have bitten off more than I can chew. That's right, I am going to defend Alexei Yashin. Earning the nick name "Cashin", it is obvious that many NHL fans have reserved a special spot in their hearts for Alexei, usually reserved for hatred or frustration. To understand people's distaste with the former number 2 overall pick we have to understand why. Why do people dislike Alexei Yashin?

First is the biggest reason of all. His hold out of an entire NHL season. Not training camp, not a couple of weeks, not even months but the entire year. Second is the eventual contract he would sign with The New York Islanders. Third is his underachieving. Hopefully I'm not missing anything, but it wouldn't surprise me if this grocery list of negativity falls short of other haters standards.

Let me just say before I receive all the hate mail (although I could use the pubilicity) I can't and won't defend Yashin holding out an entire year. Simply put Yashin got some very bad advice. Maybe not from a financial standpoint (although he did lose around 3 million on the hold out) but from the public approval side of things the holdout was suicidal. Holding out an entire year is outrageous and there is no way I can back him up on that. What I can back up is the fact he decided to hold out. Let me clarify this, should he have held out an entire year? God no. But can I see the reason behind him deciding to hold out.

Alexei Yashin at the time of the hold out was making around 3 million a year. Not a bad living, but was it worth his production? The year before his hold out Alexei Yashin was sixth in the NHL points wise with 94 points in 82 games. He was also a candidate for the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player in the league. Yashin obviously led the Ottawa Senators in points with 94. Who was second on the team? Shawn McEachern. How many points did Shawn produce that year compared to Yashins' 94? 56. That number is staggering. The closest person to Alexei Yashins career year on his team was shy just about 40 points. Alexei Yashin carried the 98-99 Ottawa Senator team to an outstanding record that slotted them second in the Eastern Conference and third in the league behind the Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils. That sounds like a franchise player to lock up with a long term deal.

But what about his playoff performance! That very career year, Alexie Yashin was held pointless against Buffalo in a four game sweep. Yes, he was awful in the playoffs. As was his entire team. To give the entire team credit for their regular season success, but place the blame on Yashin for their postseason failures is wrong. Without Alexei Yashin, the Ottawa Senators would of not had 44 wins. He was the best player on one of the best teams in the league. He didn't get shut down by some team, he got shut down by a Buffalo team that ended up in the finals that year.

Hold outs are something that happen in sports. Can the players live off their current salaries. Of course. But it's not a matter of making what you can live off of, but comparing your salary to players at your performance level. Who had a Yashin type of season that year? Paul Kariya? 8.5 million, and about to sign a 3 year deal for 30 Million. Eric Lindros? 8.5 Million. Peter Forsberg? 6 million, and about to sign a deal for 3 years that would pay him 8 million, 9 million, and the final year 9.5 plus a 3 million dollar bonus. Are those players better than Yashin? Some could argue of course, but that year they were comparable. Or were they? Eric Lindros joined his teammate John Leclair on the top scorers list, Kariya had Teemu Selanne, and Peter Forsberg had Joe Sakic. Yashin had a player with 56 points. Not only was Yashin comparable to these players, some would say he was even more valuable. All of a sudden, his salary of 3 million makes him underpaid. Yashin knew this, his agent most certainly knew this, and so did the franchise. The very fact the team allowed Yashin to hold out the entire year, proves it.

Did Yashin have a right to hold out? From the stats it looks like locking up your franchise player would be a great idea. Holding out an entire year? Not so much.

Which brings us to our next reason everybody hates Yashin. Underachieving. Alexei Yashin has struggled in the playoffs. That is obvious. Has he been horrible? No. In 40 playoff games Yashin has 27 points. Not what you would expect from a franchise player, but he doesn't stink up the joint in every series either. As for regular season underachieving look at it this way. Yashin has played in 11 NHL seasons. 8 of those seasons he has lead his team in points. 8 out of 11, and if it wasn't for injuries it would be 11 out of 11. Whatever situation Alexei Yashin was put in, he was offensivley the best player on that team. That doesn't sound like an underachiever to me. Some players just aren't clutch, doesn't mean they aren't valuable.

Why else do we hate Yashin? Well because his name is Cashin, and he signed a massive contract with The New York Islanders. And we hate him why? Because somebody backed up a dump truck of money on his front lawn and he decided to start picking up the cash? The Islanders thought they could build their franchise around a star center in his prime. Was it a lot of money? Yes. Was it overpaying? Yes again. Do you blame Yashin for that? For the first time in his career Yashin was being paid like the franchise player he emulated for 4 years. In the end the contract was a bust and Alexei wasn't worth the money although they made the playoffs 4 out of the 5 years he was on the team.

This debate is in perfect timing, with Alexei Yashin being a free agent for the first time in six years. Surpisingly two weeks after the bidding was allowed to begin, Yashin is still waiting for a contract. How much money does he deserve? I'm not quite sure, but any team in the league could use a player with his offensive abilities. 2.5 Million, 3 million, even 4 million would be worth the risk in my opinion. Maybe if everybody stopped viewing him as the devil, they would realize it as well.