CrashingTheGoalie

by Ron Spence

Anson Carter and J.P. Dumont were somewhat nervous. It was early in August, 2006, and neither had contracts – or teams – for the following winter. And both had wives with new babies that summer.

Dumont had scored 20 goals – along with 20 assists – for the Sabres in 54 games (He had missed 28 games with strained abdominal muscles.) during the 2005-06 season. He was paid $1,596,000 that campaign.

Buffalo was having financial problems – 12 players were filing for arbitration – and exercised their walk-away option on Dumont’s one-year arbitration – $2.9 million award – on August 8th. 

Carter had played well in Vancouver the previous season. He had scored 33 goals – and had 22 assists – in 81 games, and been paid $1 million on a one year contract.

That summer he was seeking a three-year, $9-million deal and the Canucks apparently offered $4 million for two years.

Carter’s agent Pat Brisson said Carter would take a shorter deal “but it would have to be at the right price.”

Those were in the days of the $44 million salary cap

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Dumont’s agents were waiting patiently.

“There is 20 days to go before training camp, and we are going to take our time to look at the officers we receive,” said agent Yves Archambault.

The agent said that the Sabres have made an offer to get Dumont to come back. He said Dumont has limited the field to “three or four teams,” primarily based on lifestyle — a city that’s a fit for his family — rather than just economics.

Carter’s agents were more aggressive.

“We’re not looking for him to get paid like a 50-goal scorer but, at the same time, he should be paid like a 25-30 goal scorer,” Brisson said. “He deserves a fair deal in the right environment. He will be patient…Anson is not looking for a home run. If something happens in the next week, so be it. If not, he will wait. We’re not going to panic and jump on anything. Some players aren’t strong enough to go through this, but Anson has the backbone for it.”

“I’ve told everyone along the way that Anson won’t be a bargain,” said his agent, Pat Brisson.

“In our game there are a lot of injuries,” Brisson said. “And I might get a call on Sept. 20 or Oct. 1 when a team has a player who blew out his knee, and at that point, the price may go up. I mean that Anson needs to be paid what he is worth…Everyone thinks they are going to win the Stanley Cup this week. It’s a little frustrating. It’s disappointing more than anything. It’s hurting his pride.”

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On August 29th, Dumont signed a two year deal with Nashville for $2 million the first year, and $2.5 the second.

Two weeks later, on September 13th, Carter signed a one year deal with Columbus for $2.5 million.

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Nashville was looking to upgrade their top two forward lines.

“This was a guy who was not on our radar when the offseason first came about,”  David Poile said. “But because he was made a free agent [on August 8th] he became very attractive to us. The Buffalo Sabres thought they lost a really good player and a really good person.”

“I’m thinking and hoping that if he has a healthy season,” the Nashville GM continued, “he is going to hit his career highs here in Nashville.He has really good hands and good vision. The people we can play him with are going to also complement him.”

“Nashville is a team that has been moving forward the past few years,” Dumont said. “Joel [Bouchard] told me good things about Nashville, the town, and the organization.”

Columbus was filling a hole left by Nickolai Zherdev, and using Carter’s signing to nudge restricted free agent Dan Fritsche into a two year deal.

“The Carter deal, the timing was just right,” Doug McLean said. “He was anxious to get a contract, and we were anxious (to replace Zherdev’s scoring). It’s just a real good fit.”

“I wanted to check the lay of the land,” Carter said, “which is a luxury you have as an unrestricted free agent. I wanted to find a place where I could fit in, where there was potential for team success, and where, potentially, I could put down some roots and maybe be there long term…There’s a great mix of top-six forwards, and it’s just a great fit for me. Whoever they ask me to play with, I’m going to do my best to make the team better.”

Carter’s agent Brisson had changed his tune by this time.

He said that the $2.5 million was “fair-market value” on a one-year contract for a player of Carter’s skill level. He added that the Blue Jackets’ youthful talent was the other reason for signing.

“He’s going to the right environment and he’s very excited,” Brisson said. “He wants to produce and hopefully sign a longer-term deal.”

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Carter didn’t last in the Columbus environment, or get a longer-term deal.

The Blue Jackets traded him after 54 games – on February 23, 2007 – for a 5th-round draft pick. He had scored 10 goals and 1 assist. In Carolina he scored 1 goal, had no assists, and was often a healthy scratch.

Carter rejoined the Edmonton Oilers on a try-out basis during their training camp the following autumn, and played one exhibition game before being released.

Without an NHL job, Carter joined HC Lugano – of the Swiss Nationalliga A-  a month later. He scored 3 goals – with 5 assists – in 15 games and has since retired from hockey.

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On Feb 1, 2008, J.P. Dumont re-signed with the Nashville Predators – a four-year contract extension, at $4 mission per season.