Q: I've been wondering about the salary cap rules and how teams seem to work around them. With the recent contract extension of Henrik Zetterberg, I took a look at the rules and according to Rule 50.7 (ii) in the collective bargaining agreement, any decrease in player salary and bonuses from one league year to another may not exceed 50 percent of the player's salary and bonuses of the lower of the first two years of the contract. When Zetterberg's salary drastically drops from $7 million to $3.35 million and from $3.35 million to $1 million in the last years of his contract, how does this not violate the rule?

Eric, Cranberry

MOLINARI: You cited the relevant portions of the collective bargaining agreement correctly, which is pretty impressive for anyone who doesn't make a living as an NHL salary cap specialist. You just didn't apply them quite the way they were written.

As one of those aforementioned cap specialists explained it when contacted by the Q&A, Zetterberg's contract was skillfully crafted by the Red Wings -- with the approval of Zetterberg's camp, of course -- and takes advantage of the provision in the labor agreement that allows a player's salary to go down on a yearly basis by an amount equal to 50 percent of the lowest salary in the first two years of the deal. The key term in the previous sentence is "yearly."

In Zetterberg's case, that means one-half of the $7.4 million he will make in 2009-10. His contract pays that amount in the first year, $7.75 million in the three that follow, $7.5 million for the four after that and then $7 million for one season. At which point the creativity takes over.

Zetterberg's pay will drop from $7 million in 2017-18 to $3.35 million -- a figure that barely slips in under the $3.7 million threshold established by the first two years of the deal -- the next year and then to $1 million for each of the final two seasons.

The final three years serve to lower Zetterberg's annual salary-cap hit to about $6,083,333, and the prevailing sentiment in hockey circles seems to be that he simply will retire before the 2018-19 season (or play in his native Sweden, with the Wings' blessings), which means his contract effectively will end up as a nine-year deal worth $67.7 million.

Give Detroit's management credit for finding a way to make the CBA work for it (although it wouldn't have been possible without Zetterberg's cooperation), but there is a limit to just how creative teams can get. For example, while nothing in the CBA explicitly prohibits a 50-year contract, Commissioner Gary Bettman has the authority to cancel any deal that he believes was designed to circumvent the agreement between the league and NHL Players' Association, and even fine the team that constructed it.

Don't be surprised if, during negotiations for the next CBA, the NHL tries to get a maximum length for contracts stipulated in the deal, along with a set percentage of how much salaries can fluctuate over the life of a contract, not just from year-to-year.

Q: As the Penguins themselves have recognized, they need some improvement in key areas, especially in front of the net. They have done a good job keeping Carolina to the outside most of the time, but when Carolina does get to the net, the coverage has broken down too many times. It's easy to get excited, but without some improvement in this area as well as some others, I am afraid they still don't have what it takes to beat Detroit.

Blayne, Chantilly, Va.

MOLINARI: While there still is no guarantee of a Penguins-Red Wings rematch, betting against it at this point would be a real good way to shed a little disposable income. Frankly, you'd probably get better odds on Pee Wee Herman playing Hamlet -- and winning an Oscar for it -- that you would on a 2009 Cup final without Detroit and the Penguins.

In a series against the Red Wings, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury will have to minimize the number of rebounds he gives up, and his defensemen will have to consistently clear those that are created. The Red Wings are too skilled, and compete too hard, for opponents to get away with giving them too many second-chance opportunities.

Detroit is brutally efficient and opportunistic. Make a mistake, and there's a good chance it will be recorded on the scoreboard. Make enough of them, and you're just begging for another off-season full of what-ifs.