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Monday, November 1, 1999
Yashin won't be dashing home
Next time Senators see AWOL star could be in courtroom
"This doesn't change anything at all," said Yashin's New Jersey-based agent Mark Gandler yesterday.
In fact, the Senators' decision to send their holdout centre a fax, demanding he return to Ottawa before Nov. 8, may have only escalated the contract battle which has been brewing for two months.
By informing Yashin they intend to suspend him for the rest of the season if he doesn't report to camp by next Monday, the Senators may have set themselves up for a court battle.
"There's no provision in the collective bargaining agreement for the kind of action Ottawa is trying to take," said an NHL source. "I don't know if the team has any basis for its argument whatsoever, but we're about to find out.
"You've got to realize that under the rules of the CBA, if Yashin reports they've got to start paying him. He could really make things interesting if he attempts to walk into camp a couple of days after their deadline. Then, they'd have a real war on their hands."
In a letter from GM Marshall Johnston --written with the backing of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman -- the Senators rescinded the original drop-dead date of Dec. 4 because the club wants the issue settled.
A copy of the letter was also sent to NHL Players' Association head Bob Goodenow and it's believed the union is going to ask for an independent arbitrator to decide if what the Senators are doing is legal.
"There is just nothing in the CBA that covers this," said an NHL GM. "So you've got to think that an independent arbitrator is going to be the only way that they're going to be able to settle this.
"My personal opinion is that the contract should slide back a year because he hasn't honoured it, but nobody has ever set a deadline before and this is going to be a big decision whichever way it goes."
Right now, Yashin isn't budging. He'll stay in Switzerland until he either gets a new contract or a trade. The Senators maintain they want to know whether Yashin is coming back because they need to move ahead.
SPENT $1.7M ON JUNEAU
The club has already spent $1.7 million US on free agent Joe Juneau's salary, which means they'd like to use the $3.6 million US set aside for Yashin elsewhere if he's not going to collect it this season.
"The Senators want to know whether they should go in another direction or not," said the GM. "Everybody in the league backs their position and I'm not sure if they even want him back anymore.
"They've played well without him and there's something to be said for chemistry. This is a tough position to take, but it's all going to be settled by an arbitrator. The NHLPA won't take this sitting down."
For now, Yashin is willing to sit and wait.
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