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pmbrouillard

pmb
Member Since
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Forum: NHL SigningsJun. 28, 2023 at 4:24 p.m.
Thread: New Jersey Devils signed Timo Meier (8 Years / $8,800,000 AAV)
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>pmbrouillard</b></div><div>How will they sign Mercer and Hughes?</div></div>

Hughes is 2 years away from free agency. Also, he will be a 10.2(c) free agent. This means he won't qualify to sign an offer sheet. That leaves very little room for problems. Based on Capfriendly's projected cap ceiling, they have approx. 34M in cap space the year Hughes will need to be re-upped. Assuming he pans out as a #1-2 defenseman on his ELC, a bridge deal likely comes in at 5-6 million, long term at 8-9 million.

In the case of Mercer, they could likely sign him to a long term extension in the 7M-8M range, which is the established norm for young forwards who break out as stars on their ELC. I assume they do not plan on extending Toffoli, because then things would get dicey.

Even including those two 7M-8M contracts, they would still have close to 20M in cap space for 2025-26 with 11 players already signed.

They could gamble on Schmid and sign him to a mid-term deal at lower money than he would earn if he plays 40+ games this season and proves he is legitimate. 3 years would be the sweet spot because then he doesn't need to be re-upped until the year after Hughes gets his big extension, which gives them cap flexibility. I would venture to guess that if they offer him a 3 year extension this summer in the 1.5-2.0 million range, most players in his shoes would absolutely take that as a 5th round pick who has only played about 30 NHL games over two seasons and playoffs. Andrew Hammond signed for 3 years at 1.35M.

They have cap flexibility, so they ultimately should be fine.
Forum: Armchair-GMJun. 26, 2023 at 6:04 p.m.