Joined: Aug. 2020
Posts: 1,527
Likes: 536
The team has the option of taking him to arbitration if it comes to that. Then, his salary for next year would very likely be LESS than his QO unless he blows the doors off the rest of this season. To think that the only way the Canes keep the player is to qualify him at $6.1M is stupid. If he likes lives up to that number…that’s great for the Canes. More likely, he doesn’t (yet) live up to that number. If the player, unworthy of $6M, insists on his QO or better, while at the same time not having earned it, why on earth would the Canes, or any other team for that matter, pay him that much? The player will either live up to his $6M salary and earn that or more on his next contract or he’ll have to settle for less.
To repeat, it’s idiotic to think the Canes will be forced into paying him his QO next year. If he earns that much with his play, then the Canes will be thrilled. If not, again, no way he gets $6M from any other team, so it’s very likely he settles into a longer term deal under $6M with CAR, with the team betting they’ll be getting a bargain down the line in that deal as he continues to develop.