Cap space has nothing to do with it. Melnyk has to be able to pay the player that kind of salary to begin with regardless of cap space.

Can we stop talking about how this is such a steal of a contract and talk about why the hell this kid wants to play in Ottawa for the next 8 years..............

It's a great contract and it locks him up long-term. We'll see how far they can go with him. He has been a really great bright spot on a rather dull Ottawa team. Tkachuk and Chabot are the 2 bright spots on the team. Hopefully they can get even further with them.

Wow this is exactly what the sens need to do. Get ahead of the contracts. If they can set up a team cap structure that the leaders follow, they could get everyone to buy in. So much for players not wanting to stay

cause they are loaded with prospects and he can be the face of the franchise

that isn't saying much



This does seem like an over payment to me. But it's Ottawa. If they want to sign anyone long term, they are going to have to pay. No one wants to be tied down to that mess long term.
I don't really like this deal. If a player is willing to sign long term with Ottawa it tells me one of two things, he see's enough there to think they are going to be contenders. At which point I think he's blind. Or he cares more about the money than winning. Which I can respect but once he has the money, there is no reason to keep trying so hard.

Is this the richest contract given to a D man off an ELEC???
I think @palhal or @jamiepo know the answer

Huge ott fan here. This signing is fantastic.

At the moment it's a bit much but if he projects as he should it will be drew doughty for 2.5 m less

Or is he making 11m?

Good signing.

in terms of actual cash, yeah i believe so

but doughty and ekblads first contracts were a larger percentage of the cap when they signed.

Off their ELEC deals or later in their careers?

off their elcs.

doughty was for 7 M, ekblad was for 7.5 M

Wow, this is the kind of deal you wish your young stars are willing to sign. If he took a bridge deal, he could have become a 10M/year kind of guy for his next contract.

This contract could be a steal in just a couple years.

Probably some salty Habs fan since they can't offer sheet him next year lmao

it's a good signing for the Sens.

Stone, Karlsson and Duchenep = 129 mil in sign bonuses
Leafs top 4 = 210 mil sign bonus,

'Nuff said.

As much of Melynk gets criticized for being cheap, apparently he offered very reasonable contracts to his upcoming UFA Karlsson, Duchene and Stone. Can't blame Melynk and Dorion if those players decided to go to sign elsewhere. Sens got good value in trading those 3 guys, and now have young assets and future picks. If Sens spend wisely no reason they can't be a good team and soon.

Gotta think it was Ekblad at 7.5m who was the highest. Chabot 8m, percentage of cap might not be the highest.
I could be wrong but Ovechekin at 9.5 is current contract was sorta of the highest contract off a ELC for years . It was after a 62 goal season. Took nine years? til McDavid to surpass it. Not be outdone Leafs decided to be # 2 and 3 with Matthews and Marner.

doughty's 7 x 8 was 10.89% of the cap when he signed.

I feel those guys wanted out of the Ottawa organization.
That organization has become a circus cause of the owner.

Have you seen what happened with new arena?
And the owner has how many lawsuits pending right now?


That's what really surprises me about this signing.
Why did Chabot commit 8 years? Probably the money, 64 million is alot of money.

Wonder how long before he regrets this deal?

Extra post sorry

Extra post sorry

Amazing signing for the Sens. This will be a steal in a few years.

It's probably a good deal, but man thats a lot of money to give to a guy that has only played 134 games in the NHL, and had one "meh" season and one impressive season. Sooner or later there are going to be teams that get totally screwed by these sort of contract and paying a guy too soon. Gonna be really interesting to watch teams try to get ahead of the game to avoid RFA nightmares like we are seeing this summer, as teams are looking to pay players a year before their ELC expire. There is definitely risk to giving these big contracts to guys like Keller, Chabot, etc. Sooner or later there is going to be a couple really bad contract when several of these guys don't pan out as expected.

Hahaha! Overvalued contract! He's their new franchise D but he's also trade/expansion-draft bait! This extension doesn't kick in yet, and if he tanks he can get released pretty easily in the next couple years.

You read it here first, SEA will want to pick him up since he's not protected by a NMC at that time.

Yes...
There wasn't even any defenceman even making $8m until Subban signed his contract four years ago.

@konedome @mondo


So I checked and Duncan Keith got 13 year 72 million contract after his ELEC.