Quoting: Leafs_and_Sens_Fan
Zaitsev is worth 3M max probably closer to 2M. While we have cap space now, we might not have it in the future (after we sign Norris and Stutzle) and I'd rather get rid of his bad contract think of it as a trade to be better in the future.
As for White he's find but I rather take on 1 year of a bad contract than buy White out and pay him for 6 years (even if it's only about a million per). He's a fine 3rd line winger but 3rd line wingers get closer to 2.5M not 4.75M.
I'm sorry but that's not realistic. In no universe Zaitsev is "
worth closer to 2M"
Stephane Waite (MTL's ex goalie coach) recently said that Danault saw himself bigger than he really is and outpriced himself out of Montreal. He said that his best quality was that he was good to shutdown the opposition. He said that this type of player is worth between 1 and 3 M$. lol everybody who read his comments found it quite ridiculous and really out of touch. Some people just have no idea on how to analyze a market. I don't know if that's your case or maybe just regarding Zaitsev. Look at this
https://www.gaimday.com/blog/average-nhl-salary/
"
The average NHL player salary is $2,554,463 USD for the 2020-21 season. This value is based on 906 player signings, including all buried and two-way contracts"
There's 664 one-way contracts so it tells me that the average salary without these 2-ways is over 3.2 M$ per season...
The graph you have shown doesn't matter, everyone understands (or should) that Zaitsev is played way over his head on Ottawa's top pairing, which is due to a lack of options. He should be getting the 4th-5th most ice-time on your defense, not the 2nd. Of course his numbers will be bad
https://www.capfriendly.com/browse/active/2022/caphit/all/defense?salary-structure=one-way&pg=3
Look at the guys between 3.0 and 4.0, this is totally in Zaitsev's ballpark, outside of a few exceptions like Weegar for example who will get a hefty raise on his next contract
Edit : agreed if you say that Dorion's comment was ridiculous
For Colin White, same story. Look at the guys paid around 3.5
https://www.capfriendly.com/browse/active/2022/caphit/all/forwards?salary-structure=one-way&pg=4