Are any of you armchair GMs a little freaked out by the Sanderson extension? Next summer would you give Jiricek an 8 x $8 million contract?
the short answer: no.
the longer answer: this cbj admin tends to be really bridge-heavy with post-ELC contracts. imo that is the smarter approach when you look at contract sequencing.
- lower AAV than a longer-term deal
- can defer the eight-year deal to their third contract rather than second
In practice, the two paths look like:
Term after ELC | Bridge after ELC |
- ELC (expires age 21)
- Long-term deal (expires age 29)
- Player leaves as UFA
-or-
Player signs another long-term deal (expires age 38)
|
- ELC (expires age 21)
- Bridge (expires age 24 - RFA)
- Long-term deal (expires age 32 - UFA)
- Medium-term 'hometown discount' deals
-or-
Series of short-term 'cup chaser' deals
|
The cap goes up either way. You get surplus value on the second contract either way. The bridge deal comes with a lower cap hit (and higher surplus value), while the long-term deal has more years of surplus value overall. But the contract
after the bridge happens at a young enough age that it can also yield surplus value.
In other words, if you hit on a draft pick, would you rather have them in the lineup for:
- Age 19 through age 29 (UFA departure during prime)
- Age 19 through age 32 (UFA departure at end of prime)
- Age 19 through age 38 (4+ albatross years, dead cap/LTIR)
Option #2 is preferable IMO. You get more prime years but none of the decline. Options #1 and #3 are the long-term ramifications of giving term out of an ELC – testing the market is too attractive to players age 28-29, and either way they get term that won't age well.