Quoting: Capitalfail67
look at the other side of the coin. how many 50 goal ppg players are there in the NHL. OR when was the last time a player hit 50 goals besides Ovechkin... how do you replace 50 goals?
there is a very strong argument though that he gets more help than anyone in the whole league to hit those numbers. On top of it, there is an additional argument that past performance does not guarantee future results. In 4 years will Ov be a 40+ goal scorer?
Because you are paying him to be.
So yeah he nets 40+ goal a season, but he's clearly got declining play. He hasn't had a FF above 50% since 15-16.
only 1 x in the past 5 years a corsi over 50%.
Last year was the first time in the last 6 years or something he finished a - player on the ice in 5v5 play.
So as much as he scores goals still, there is a reality that you are not getting a 10.5 mil x 4 player here.
That would be like the penguins saying they should pay Malkin 9.5 again when his contract ends. I like the guy and all but he's not worth 9.5. Even if he's still performing.
At some point you have to make the best decisions to win. The reality is at 36, he should be making a lot less than 10.5. Not only to bring in help to win, but because things are clearly in decline.
It's not like there aren't other guys in the league at 40 goal paces making far less. Pasta and Jake in this new metro division alone meet that and they are in the 6 range.
Now you can say they weren't UFAs, but I counter with they aren't 36 years old either.