Friday Funbag: What is money on the board?

Explaining one of hockey's in-room traditions, plus much more.

We are gonna get straight into the reader questions this week.

Let’s go:

Alex Kelly I have heard the term “money on the board” used around players visiting former teams. It seems to be sort of a “hush hush” thing that goes on inside a locker room. Can you explain what it means and how it works? (If you are allowed)

I can explain this.

So “money on the board,” is a concept where a player will put up a financial offering for the team if they win that night.

The player will typically write a dollar amount on the white board next to their number, and if the team wins that night, the player is putting that amount into the team general/party fund.

Teams and players are pretty good bout keeping specifics of this quiet, and only in rare social media mishaps do those numbers get out.

Here is the Stars’ money on the board from the season opener of the 2019-20 season.

You’ll notice Tyler Seguin, No. 91, put up $9,850 for a win in that game. It happened to be his first game after signing a new contract with a $9.85 million cap hit.

The “TR” you see in that picture means trainer staff. So if a player writes “TR” next to their number, it means with a win they are giving that amount to the medical staff/equipment managers/etc… to split amongst themselves.

Players typically put money on the board for a couple different reasons. Maybe it’s playing against an old opponent, maybe it’s to find some good karma during a poor streak of play.

In general, the money on the boar at the NHL level is rarely less than a $1,000. There’s a sliding scale, of course, when you think about what those dollar figures might look like for an AHL or even ECHL team — because the tradition continues into the minor leagues.

Davis Dunkleberger Why is it called the butterfly when a goalie drops down? Always wondered why that is and figured a goalie would be best to get the answer from. If a rookie goes out without their helmet on, would the other members of the team pay the fine for them? Brought on by seeing Olen Zellweger take a solo lap without a helmet

The very unscientific answer on the goalie question is the that pads and gloves spread out resemble a butterfly.

I should probably dig into the etymology of who said it first.

As far as the rookie lap goes, the teammates typically just pay the fine for them. It’s why it’s a toothless rule at this point. A $1,000 slap on the wrist split between millionaires isn’t actually a punishment.

Tiffany VilchisParks Per your article about the Wings practicing, one of the NHL teams doesn't practice. Who is it and why?

As you can imagine, this is something I’m going to be tracking myself more for the remainder of the season.

Ideally I’ll have a better answer a couple months from now and after doing some digging next week when I’m at the NHL All-Star festivities in Toronto.

Matthew M Rice What does Carter Mazur's ceiling in the NHL look like?

I think he’ll be an NHL player, but I’m not sure whether he’ll be an impact player or NHL-AHL tweener.

Mazur’s most likely path is to have a similar career to Austin Czarnik. He’s scoring at similar levels that Czarnik did in his AHL rookie season and they were very similar players in their college years.

Let’s be clear on something — that’s the base level and most likely path, not the ceiling.

When it comes to potential, Mazur could be a 20-goal scorer in the NHL based off his offensive instincts and opportunity. While Czarnik was undrafted, Mazur will get more chances early in his career because of his draft stock.

Matthew M Rice Sorry, one more......going to a Griffins game next month in Grand Rapids and curious for some good restaurant options if you're familiar with GR.

I am not a Grand Rapids expert, but last time I went out there I texted my good buddy Max Bultman a similar question and he pointed me in the direction of Cousins Tasty Chicken.

I ordered the spicy tenders, it was a good choice.

Prashanth Iyer best restaurant in detroit

I’m not the best judge of this, but I am a BBQ snob based on my time in Texas and I’ve always been pretty happy with my trips to Slows Bar BQ.

JERRY GANTT Stars game against Islanders Sunday and Detroit on Tuesday. Do they fly out Sunday night or wait until Monday to travel? Also, disregard teams and cities, what do most teams do with similar geography?

NHL teams typically travel the night after the game.

So in the scenario you asked about, the Stars took the bus to the airport after the OT loss to the New York Islanders and then chartered to Detroit, landing in Michigan around 2 am.

This is one of the reasons you often hear about how brutal Western Conference travel can be. For teams playing primarily Eastern Conference games, there aren’t many nights spent with 3 or 4 am landings.

There are rare occasions a team won’t travel after a game, but even if a team has extra days off between road games, they are usually getting to the next city right away.

When I was a full-time traveling beat writer it created some rough mornings. Because the team chartered, they could schedule practice the next day at 11 am.

In order for me to make that practice in another city, I’d often have to be on the first flight of the day and rushing to get to the rink.

Juraj Kralik (JK) Hi Sean! Do you think Dallas opts to re-sign Scott Wedgewood for another year or they will go looking for more of a 1B option and a potential upgrade in net? Don't get me wrong, Wedgewood is an OK backup with ideal contract, but is he truly enough?

Scott Wedgewood has really enjoyed his time in Dallas and speaking with him earlier this week, I got the feeling he doesn’t want to go anywhere else at the moment.

The Stars also view Wedgewood as fully capable to handle the role as Jake Oettinger’s back-up and don’t want to use the cap space it would cost for closer to a tandem/pure 1B goalie.

This is where Wedgewood will have an interesting decision to make.

His .899 save percentage isn’t great, but it’s not nearly as bad (40th in the league) when you consider league average is at .903 this season — the lowest since the 2005-06 season when the NHL introduced more offensive-friendly rules after the lockout.

He’ll have a similar choice to the one Joel Hanley had this past summer on defense.

Hanley had other options, ones that came with a larger role and potentially larger salary. But Dallas was the only one that really offered a two-year deal and a chance to win a Stanley Cup.

Wedgewood, to be on a cup contender, will have to make a similar salary next season, while he could make more going to a team lower in the standings with more cap room.

In the long run, the Stars are hoping Rémi Poirier turns into a home-grown 1B behind Oettinger. They like Matt Murray for what he’s provided, but Murray is older than Oettinger and even with his shutout this season, hasn’t been given any additional chances by Pete DeBoer.

Rose Rizzo Who is the best available D man that the Stars might obtain at the trade deadline?

If he becomes available I think Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Sean Walker would be intriguing.

He’s a right-handed defender and a pending UFA. He skates well and could fit on the right side with either Miro Heiskanen or Thomas Harley.

(He’s also a fellow BGSU grad, so I’m admittedly biased here.)

The only concern I would have throwing his name out there is the fact that the Flyers are in the playoff hunt and they might want to use Walker as their own in-house rental instead of moving him.