AHL Emissary
Joined: Jan. 2017
Posts: 352
Likes: 65
Let's not pretend Dumoulin is anything other than a lesser version of Niklas Hjalmarsson. There's no way he gets more than Hjalmarsson's $4.1 million per season, and at this point its a stretch to say Dumo is even worth what Justin Braun or Mattias Ekholm are making (around $3.8 million over 5-6 years). If Dumoulin is willing to sign for some serious term I might be alright with the team going higher, but if he's only signing for 3-4 years I'd be walking away at anything over $3.3 million. He's a solid, unremarkable defenseman who deserves a solid, unremarkable contract, and the Pens won't stay a top team for very long by paying an average 2nd pairing defenseman at the end of his development curve like a borderline top pairing D on the rise.