The Vancouver Sun
October 9, 1998
By Elliott Pap

Vancouver Canuck prospect Bryan Allen walked away from nearly $1 million US Thursday when he rejected the team's three-year contract proposal, the snag being performance bonuses and not guaranteed money.

The Canucks had offered the 18-year-old defenceman the rookie salary cap of $975,000 US per season and had promised not to return him to his junior team in Oshawa. Instead, Allen will make $40 Cdn a week riding buses in the Ontario Hockey League. He is not eligible to play for the Canucks this season.

"We felt it wasn't the right thing at the right time so we decided against it," Allen explained before heading to the airport and a flight to the family home outside Kingston, Ont. "Mainly, it came down to the performance bonuses, not only compared to the top defencemen but to other players who had just signed or were on the verge of signing.

"It's unfortunate it has to come down to money making a difference. But that's the type of business you're in. It's your future you're planning for so you don't want to jeopardize anything in that respect. It's pretty disappointing, though."

Allen said the decision was made by himself and his father, and not by player agent Larry Kelly. Allen was the Canucks' first pick (fourth over-all) in the 1998 entry draft.

"It was my call, my family's call," Allen said. "My agent told us what other people were getting and then left it up to me and my dad. You definitely think about the money you leave on the table, especially when you're an 18-year-old making 40 bucks a week, but you can't worry about it at this stage. You have to live with the decision you make and go from there."

According to Canuck negotiator Dave Nonis, who spent 12 hours in Kelly's Ottawa office Wednesday, the deal died because the Allens weren't willing to accept the team's bonus structure. The parties had until midnight Wednesday to complete a deal.

The Canucks were proposing straight dollars for specific achievement - winning rookie of the year or hitting a certain point total - while the Allens favoured a system in which a player gets paid for six bonuses if he hits only two. Some teams and players have agreed to the latter structure, including the New York Rangers and Manny Malhotra.

"I don't fault Bryan Allen for wanting that structure," Nonis said. "But it was something I was opposed to and the franchise was philosophically opposed to. In my mind, it is an attempt to eviscerate the cap and get paid for a bonus never earned.

"What I attempted to do was offer bonuses that were much higher than you would normally see and if the player earned those bonuses, he would be paid very, very well. It's a structure we chose to pursue, one we thought was fair. I have no problem making an offer to a player for numbers that would make your skin crawl they're so high - as long as he's earned them."

Nonis pointed out that the Calgary Flames reached agreement with their '98 first-round pick, forward Rico Fata, using a bonus structure similar to the one Vancouver had proposed.

"It's unfortunate we didn't get a deal done," Nonis concluded. "It's disappointing but I'm not angry at anybody. There were no hard feelings what-so-ever."

Allen has a shoulder injury, which he will rehabilitate in Oshawa, and would not play until later this month or early November. He appeared in one pre-season game and had three shifts in another.

This was good enough for the Canucks, who decided Allen would stay for the entire season. In some cases, a player is sent back to junior after demonstrating in regular-season games that he is not ready. The player would receive his entire signing bonus but get paid salary only for his time on the NHL roster.



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