Championship Team

From the Province:

""If we're going to win the Cup, we need guys to take pay cuts. The way the salary cap is now, you really can't get what you're worth now if you want to win. Everybody in this locker-room knows that and for us to be a great team going forward, we're going to have to take a pay cut."
-- Ryan Kesler, The Province, March 18, 2009
In a passionate plea for a pragmatic approach to free agency last spring, Ryan Kesler was roasted throughout the NHL like a duck for his collective view on constructing a championship team. If everyone took a little less, reasoned the forward-thinking forward, it could add up to a lot of good for the Vancouver Canucks under the constraints of the salary cap.
At the time, Kesler was simply following the lead of teammate Alex Burrows, who hinted for a similar scenario after his four-year, $8 million US extension.
However, Kesler's comments were played out to the point where NHL Players' Association executive director Paul Kelly tried to ease the unrest by saying Kesler didn't mean to tell his teammates what to do.
Well, in the end, somebody listened.
Unrestricted free agents Henrik and Daniel Sedin left money on the table Wednesday in agreeing to identical five-year Canuck extensions at $6.1 million per season -- especially with Toronto general manager Brian Burke willing to sweeten the pot to $7 million each annually.
And when Roberto Luongo's contract extension is announced, he'll sacrifice some scratch for a better shot at the Stanley Cup. The fiscal restraint leaves the Canucks with 16 players under contract next season for $46.5 million and leaves general manager Mike Gillis with $10 million in flexibility.