Penguins acquire veteran F Roberts

Hockey Betting Lines

02/27/2007 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired veteran forward Gary Roberts from the Florida Panthers in exchange for defenseman Noah Welch on Tuesday.

Roberts is in his 19th NHL season and has registered 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists) in 50 games with the Panthers this season.

The 6-foor-2, 215-pound three-time All Star has always been a consistent scorer on the professional level, registering 20-or-more goals in 12 of his 19 NHL seasons, including a career high 53 goals and 90 points for Calgary during the 1991-92 campaign.

Roberts has amassed 875 points (424 goals, 451 assists) -- ranking 93rd on the NHL's all time list -- in 1,137 career contests. His 424 goals currently rank 66th all-time in the NHL.

Roberts has also appeared in 114 playoff contests, registering 85 points (28 goals, 57 assists), and captured a Stanley Cup with the Flames in 1989.

The 24-year old Welch has played in 22 games for the Penguins this year, tallying one goal and one assist.

The Brighton, Massachusetts native also has appeared in 27 games for Pittsburghs AHL affiliate -- the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins -- and registered five goals and 21 points.

For his career in the NHL, the six-foot-four, 212-pound blueliner has played in 27 games, all with Pittsburgh, scoring two goals with four assists.

"Noah is a young, physical, mobile, high character defenseman who fits the mold of the player that our organization strives to acquire," Panthers general manager and head coach Jacques Martin said. "He further solidifies our needs along the blue line. His strong leadership skills, keen ability to read the ice and sensational work ethic makes him the ideal player who will be a vital part of our organizations success."

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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

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