damn
...i was prepared to give him 7,5 M......

https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/816397

I don’t see as many red flags for this contract as I do for other D-Men locked up long term (e.g. former Predator Shea Weber’s contract). Ellis was a bit of a late bloomer and I think it’s just as likely that he will still be capable of playing Top-4 minutes with special teams come his age 35 & 36 seasons as it is that he is relegated to bottom pair or press box roles. Will he be like Ryan Suter, Zdeno Chara, Brent Burns - who have all shown the ability to play solid Top 4 minutes plus special teams into their mid 30’s (and beyond in Chara’s case)? Or will be burn out quicker but still stay relevant on a bottom pair, like Kronwall, Campbell, or Beauchemin? My bet is on the former and, while the overall Cap Hit May be a Ritchie high for the final 2/3 years of the contract I don’t think it outweighs the benefit in the first 4/5 years.
A shorter contract would have certainly meant a higher Cap Hit. Would this have impaired the Preds ability to Jer their D core together and to compete? At some point, yes!
For example would you want this 8y deal or a 7y deal at 7M? Or a 6y deal at 7.4M or a 5y deal at 7.75M? Given those options I would take the 8y deal. Gambling for length isn’t always a great idea but elite Top 50 D-Men in the NHL tens to age better into their mid-30’s than their forward counterparts - so I think it’s a solid move.

The point here is quite simple: Predators needed to swallow the term to sign for a lower salary. And when you have a contender like Nashville are, this is the right way to make the deals to keep your top guys. You have to do anything possible to win RIGHT NOW!! So, David Poile made a great job here indeed. He's surely one of the best GMs in NHL negotiating contracts and he ONCE AGAIN show us that. Congrats, Nashville fans.

PS: I can imagine how many fans of the other teams (Leafs, Oilers, Flyers, Devils...) who dreamed with Ellis playing for their teams crying like babies right now. That's tough, guys...

Why would the Flyers be crying like babies? I guess you aren’t aware of our prospects/current young guys...

Good for the first 5 years the back part of the contract ugh. Huge cap hit for a 34,35,36 year dmen who will be a 5th/6th dmen at that point in his career. It's one of those win now contracts and worry about the last 2-3 years later on. Just ask Chicago about the Keith/Seabrook contracts and the Kings with the Gaborik contract they offloaded as well as Dustin Brown contract... or Mike Richards one they bought out.

Do u really think your team don't need a guy like Ellis??? Ok, then. Do I need to remember u what Pens did to your team in playoffs? Good luck with that.

Do u really think your team don't need a guy like Ellis??? Ok, then. Do I need to remember u what Pens did to your team in playoffs? Good luck with that.

Comparing this deal to Keith's is like comparing apples to oranges. And to make it sound like the Keith deal is/was ever a bad deal is a bit ridiculous. Duncan Keith's 13 year contract was a GREAT signing. During which he won 3 Stanley cups, 1 Conn Smythe trophy, 2 Norris trophy's, 2 First Team All-star, 1 Second Team All-star, and 4 NHL all-star games. Meanwhile he is still a first pairing NHL defenseman making only $5.5M.
I would even go as far as to argue that 38-39 year old Keith in the last 2 years of his contract is a better player than 35-36 year old Ellis in the final 2 years of this contract.
Brent Seabrook's signing is a whole different story. But then again you're trying to compare arguably the worst contract in the league to this good signing.

You seem to be VERY clueless when it comes to the Flyers.

Again...clearly you have no idea who our kids/prospects are.

If you want to, take a look at my answer to hockeyplayer.

The point here is quite simple: Predators needed to swallow the term to sign for a lower salary. And when you have a contender like Nashville are, this is the right way to make the deals to keep your top guys. You have to do anything possible to win RIGHT NOW!! So, David Poile made a great job here indeed. He's surely one of the best GMs in NHL negotiating contracts and he ONCE AGAIN show us that. Congrats, Nashville fans.

PS: I can imagine how many fans of the other teams (Leafs, Oilers, Flyers, Devils...) who dreamed with Ellis playing for their teams crying like babies right now. That's tough, guys...

crying like babies, when any reasonable fan knows the chances of signing a good ufa is rather small. of course wiiliam you're a habs fan and pulled off such as ufa steal last summer signing alzner at 4.6m. so I guess we know who is crying now

crying like babies, when any reasonable fan knows the chances of signing a good ufa is rather small. of course wiiliam you're a habs fan and pulled off such as ufa steal last summer signing alzner at 4.6m. so I guess we know who is crying now

Your answer seems pretty clueless to me!

Ever heard of Carter Hart?

Also here is our future D

Provorov/Ghost
Sanheim/Myers
Hagg/anyone

Maybe that will help you out...

Well, man...Do u know Yakupov or RNH? Both these guys were considered much better prospects than all those kids that u said and now they're just depth players in NHL. Yakupov specially is one of the greatest busts in NHL history. So, you can't be sure that all those kids will become as good as you and all Flyers fans think and hope so.

The fact is RIGHT NOW your team has terrible depth on their D and is even worse at goalie position. That's why Flyers has no chance to win even one playoffs series.

But as a Flyers fan, you're right to be so optimistic about your prospects. We'll see what's gonna happen...

Promman did a ranking of best prospect pools and the Flyers placed 12th.

Well, man...Do u know Yakupov or RNH? Both these guys were considered much better prospects than all those kids that u said and now they're just depth players in NHL. Yakupov specially is one of the greatest busts in NHL history. So, you can't be sure that all those kids will become as good as you and all Flyers fans think and hope so.

The fact is RIGHT NOW your team has terrible depth on their D and is even worse at goalie position. That's why Flyers has no chance to win even one playoffs series.

But as a Flyers fan, you're right to be so optimistic about your prospects. We'll see what's gonna happen...

LMAO, well I guess that discredits anything he has to say now doesn't it!

You say like your team had a top 5 prospects pool...Based on that opinion Flyers has not even a top 10 prospects pool. Sorry, but that information is not enough to discredit my opinion. The fact is, right now, either me or you can be sure about what's gonna happen. So, neither of us can be too cocky about it. But I'm a little ahead of you at this moment, cause we didn't see enough about your kids to be sure about what they'll become in NHL.

I think he's a Pens fan, but they did pull off that blockbuster Jack Johnson signing.

Reading comprehension. If Pronman, whoever he is, thinks the Flyers are 12th then he is clueless. Dobber has us ranked #1 and it was a consensus #1.

Flyers can has one of the best farm systems. Ok. But that doesn't change the fact that there's no guarantee of success on good prospects. There're tons of busts top prospects in NHL history. I just named 2 of the greatest ones. So, your team has a good chance to be successful in the future. But we have no guarantees till all those kids prove that they can reach their upsides.