Joined: Apr. 2017
Posts: 345
Likes: 234
One of those signings where I could just as easily have said “yes”. And if you’re being honest with yourself, you would say the same.
The facts are that Gibson has established himself as easily in the Top 10 netminders in the League and, starting in 13 months, he will be paid like one. Who can argue with that? Given how much other metminders have gotten paid on extensions (cough cough) one could say this is a great deal.
But, Gibson has shown a tendency towards being injured and committing yourself to any player for 9 more years is a significant commitment in a Cap Era where these numbers don’t just disappear (LTIR helps with perrenially injured players but it doesn’t make it go away).
The fact remains that in 6 years - if Gibson maintains his level of play and can regularly play 60 games per reg season - then this will be a fantastic deal. It is equally as likely that he could miss significant parts of the first years of his new contract to injury (or even this year before it kicks in) and he is never the same player again. In which case this is an albatross that the franchise wears for a generation.
As contract length increases, so does risk. I would have been more comfortable with 4-5 years (so having him signed thru his age 30/31 season) rather than go all-in. I don’t think the difference in Cap Hit would have been significant (maybe 7-7.5M annually) but I would rather take that than risk those final years.
We’ll see how it plays out. Perhaps if it were another team I would feel different but Anaheim has repeatedly been burned by long-term deals to established stars (Perry, Kessler...) and so in that broader context I am more wary.