I agree it’s a tough way to build a team but I think there’s some sticker shock here that might not be deserved. They’ve already been top heavy and made it within two goals of the cup, and with the cap going up this will likely be a pretty appropriate contract. I think this will be the same as a 11-12 million contract during the COVID years.
True, although they've benefitted greatly from Drai being on such a bargain contract up until this point which has surely helped them contend recently.
Was his contract viewed as a bargain when it was signed?
He was the 8th leading scorer in the NHL as a 20 -21 year old at 6’2”, 200 lbs in 16-17 and he signed his contract in Aug 2017. Saying that nobody outside of EDM viewed him as a “top 30 forward” is a stretch.
That at the time his last contract was signed, it wasn’t viewed by many/most as a bargain. I’m not saying this one will ever be viewed as a bargain, but as time goes on, it may not hinder EDM’s ability to fill out a roster as much as some think that it will today.
That was kind of my original point. His contract wasn't viewed as a bargain when he signed it, so how contracts are viewed at the time of the signing isn't alway indicative of how they are looked at in the future, particularly with the cap increasing. This one won't be a bargain, but the impact to the roster in the future may not be as great as we think it will be today. As I said earlier though, they had no choice. They have to keep Draisaitl and McDavid and this is what it costs to do so.
well in theory I suppose, although they signed him to that last contract before he broke out. He has been a $13-14M player playing for $8.5M for years now. Post I was replying to was talking about how Edmonton has succeeded even with being "top heavy." Well yes they've been somewhat top heavier but they are only getting more top heavy now with Drai being paid market value for what he has been offering on the ice recently. Cap will go up, sure, but his production almost surely will not jump like it did after he signed his first contract. Went from 29/77 player to 52/128. Right now he's a $14M player getting paid $14M. As the cap goes up maybe in the 2nd half of the deal he'll be a $16-17M player getting $14M, but that's still less of a "bargain" than the last contract and won't be immediate.
Well, in theory I suppose, but when was the last time a team traded a top 5 player in the NHL rather than re-signing him other than cases where a player demanded a trade or wouldn't re-sign? And Drai had 1 year left on his deal, so he gets a say where / if he wanted to re-sign (and he has a 10 team trade list as well). Not to mention they just made it to the ECF and what would McDavid think if they traded him.
I am not sure I agree with you here. Tkachuk brought back more than a "sell off" trade in assets returned. Have those performed as well as hoped with their new club? No, but that was not expected, either. Had Edmonton wanted to move Dria, there should have been a trading partner that would have ponied up a trade that would have been more than picks and prospects.
Wasn't Tkachuk an RFA though? That gives a bit more control/certainty for the acquiring team.
Not exactly apples to apples though. Tkachuk was 24 (maybe 25?) and was still an rfa so there was a level of cost control as well as rights. Drai is 28 right now and it’s a ufa contract. Those are different situations entirely and would imo be impactful on trade return. Drai would be essentially a rental, and we could throw the nebulous “well a contract would be agreed on first of course…” at it but Leon would be a fool to sign one unless it was with his dream option. Tkachuk also due to his age at the time makes the huge contract that follows the trade much more palatable and desirable. You’re buying bad years of Drai here, which factors into value too assuming you could get him to sign.
Americans will use anything but the metric system!!
Tage System > Metric System
