I really hope its a lot below 4.5

I figured 5 years. Even if he starts declining the last couple years the cap will jump a fair bit by then. I like 7

Being just two years away from being UFA, he did have some leverage then a normal RFA guy who might have four years of till UFA. Once the Leafs "jelled" defensively, first year Zaitsev has excelled. His offensive stats are identical to Parakyo's. I guess we'll know in seven years when Zaitsev is 33 years of age, whether it was a good/bad deal or somewhere in between. I like the deal.

It hasn't happened yet. It's close, but hasn't happened yet.

My guess was 6 x $4.167MM, $25 million total.

How many decent Top 3 dmen sign for "a lot" less than $4.5M when they are 25/26 years old? Having 3 top 4 dmen wrapped up for $5M or under is a very good position to be in.

Leafs made a mistake here, what if he's like Yakupov and his 1st year is his best, or better yet Tyler Myers. 7 years is too long.

He's had two very solid years in the KHL before this one (he was named a 1st team all-star both season), and he's 25 years old right now. He's not going to regress, you are comparing him to an 18 year old, and a 20 year old, not good comparisons. Poor idea to compare him to anyone anyways, by your logic because those guys were busts, any rookie can flame out after 1 decent season.

Seems pretty good. First year in the NHL and he's clicking at .5 pts per game. Not bad, he'll improve and probably out play his contract over the 7 years.