Joined: Apr. 2017
Posts: 345
Likes: 234
A 4y term is a big investment in someone who has less than 2 season-equivalencies of games under his belt.
Also the discrepancy between the first 70 games (2-7-9) and this past season’s 74 games (14-17-31) does make one wonder if this past season’s contributions are repeatable.
The organization obviously feels that it is repeatable and that, by signing him long-term now, not only do they lock him up as part of the Cup-winning core, but they feel they are going to save money over time.
So does he have sustainable 3rd line upside who will routinely score 12-16 goals with 30-40 points? Or is he a Quad-A tweeter who got lucky last year? If it’s the former than this contract is great. If it’s the latter then, well, he’s the next Beleskey.
I wouldn’t have offered this deal - there just isn’t enough data to warrant the risk in a tight cap offseason. But it’s a deal that can have definite upside nonetheless.