Confirmed Signing with Link: [CAR] Brett Pesce Agree to new contract (6 years, $4.025M AAV)

[Gardner McKay]

When I saw the news bump that Pesce had signed for 6 years, I thought "no way he goes under $4M, I could live with $5M, so $4.5M seems like the sweet spot where I'd be happy but not shocked". Signs for $4.025M.

Canes might not be a big free agent destination, but players are happy being here. Francis is doing this the right way and these guys know they're going to be in a position to get PAID around age 30.

Slavin-Pesce is a damn good pairing to have locked in for the long term at a low number.

The Carolinas are actually a really great place to live, especially Raleigh.

Great deal for the Canes.

 

[jcbeze]

not an amazing deal, but good based on his potential.. he's only two years into the league

Exactly this.


Now everyone please continue with the typical HF love fest over young RFA signings...

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

As an Oiler I got to see up close and personal a classy team beat us for the Stanley cup and came away with a lot of repsect for that franchise and its fans. I am happy to see them building a contender with home grown Management like Francis. It kind of like what the Oilers tried to do with their Alumni's but Carolina's is working.

I enjoyed the Oiler fans as well. Y'all were great. Most fans would be golden after we got through Sabres fans. Y'all may get a better rap from me because of comparison to Sabres' fans. Still hate that horrid franchise because of their fans. Keep rocking on Oilers' fans.

 

[DaveG]

How do you not know? These players all of very low amount of experience and haven't put up significant points so he's giving them long deals now while at the moment are expensive... In a year or two will be bargain basement.

Thing is, they're already proven as excellent defensively at a young age and Francis managed to buy out 2 years of UFA on Pesce, and 5 on Slavin with these contracts.

 

[ShootIt]

Wow. Francis setting up that blueline long term with great contracts.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

roman josi

ekholm and Ellis are 1st pair guys on most teams. ekholm's AAV is 3.75 million and ellis' AAV is 2.5 million. josi, ekholm, and ellis combine for 10.25 million AAV. i like what Carolina is doing with these guys though. following the poile model i guess you could call it.

None of the guys you mentioned were what they are today when they signed their deals, and there is natural salary escalation over the past 4 years so naturally deals signed 2-4 years ago will look better.

Josi signed his in 2013 after a 16 point (52 GP) and a 18 P (48GP) season. He was playing on the top pairing with Weber though. Ekholm signed his on Oct 2015, coming off of an 18P (80GP) and was playing 4th/5th D minutes. Ellis signed his in Oct 2014 coming off of a 6P (32GP) and 27P (80GP) while playing 4th/5th D minutes.

Slavin and Pesce are already arguably playing as a top pairing even before signing their deals. Josi also was at the time he signed his deal, but Ekholm and Ellis were not.

My view is that even if Slavin and Pesce never improve 1 bit, these will be very good deals long term. If they improve even the slightest, these will be fantastic. You are right though, it's along the lines of what Poile did

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

not an amazing deal, but good based on his potential.. he's only two years into the league

Exactly this.


Now everyone please continue with the typical HF love fest over young RFA signings...

I don't quite agree with this. If Pesce (and Slavin) never improve a bit, these will be very, very good deals for he Canes over the course of the contract. If they improve even a bit, they'll be outstanding deals.

 

[tsujimoto74]

Carolina's D is gonna be scary good for a long time.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Pesce and Slavin as a pair had a GF % of 58.6 and a Corsi % of 54.3. They are playing against top pairs and usually start on the D end. Both were tied at 10th in the league with plus/minus despite having a terrible team goalie save percentage. If Darling even has a decent save percentage this year, their pairing GF% and plus/minus will improve. Pesce is working on his shot this offseason as well. It is a solid signing.

 

[Svechhammer]

The Carolinas are actually a really great place to live, especially Raleigh.

Great deal for the Canes.

Many players who have played here come back to live during retirement if they don't go back home to live with family. One of the downtown bars is owned by Bates Battaglia, and I can't remember the last time I was there and I didn't see either a current or former player mingling with the patrons.

 

[Cowumbus]

Not even gonna lie I had never heard of this guy like ever.

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

Not even gonna lie I had never heard of this guy like ever.

I don't understand why people come into the thread of a player they don't know anything about just to inform the rest of us of that fact.

 

[glovesave_35]

I don't understand why people come into the thread of a player they don't know anything about just to inform the rest of us of that fact.

6 years is a long time for a guy who is not a household name.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

6 years is a long time for a guy who is not a household name.

So because some 'fans' are ignorant or I'll informed of good players, a team shouldn't sign them to a great long - term deal?

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

6 years is a long time for a guy who is not a household name.

If he was in a market that had legit media coverage, Pesce would be a bigger name. The Raleigh market really sucks at writing anything outside of game & signings recaps. I have to go to Canes bloggers to get decent team coverage outside of a game.

 

[triggrman]

Carolina has been going to the Nashville school of team building and signing good young defensemen for great deals.

 

[GoldiFox]

6 years is a long time for a guy who is not a household name.

You realize that nearly all RFAs have team-controlled rights for 7 years or until they reach the age of 27, correct? When your team signed their 1st round pick, did you say "7 years is a long time to commit to this guy...".

Unless you are saying that the Canes should not exercise their full RFA team-control over a 22 year old who just played a full season on one of the most effective top-pairings in the league? In the hardest division no less? Are you suggesting they should have cut him lose as an RFA? Let someone else deal with the burden of a 22 year old, 6'3", established top-4 RHD?

I guess you can complain here about the 2 UFA years that the Canes bought, but I'm not sure you'd find a lot of support for the idea that locking up young top-4 D past his RFA years is a bad thing.

 

[triggrman]

6 years is a long time for a guy who is not a household name.

Did you feel that way when Nashville signed Ekholm or Josi to long term deals?

 

[nucksauce]

That blueline is a work of art. Young and so talented. Faulk, Slavin, Pesce, Hanifin, TVR, Dahlback, Bean, Fluery, Carrick, Mckeown is just ridiculous. Everyone is buying in and signing long term at good/affordable cap hits. Every team should be jealous. Francis is putting in the hours in building through drafting one of the best d corps I have ever seen. Impressive

 

[Cowumbus]

So because some 'fans' are ignorant or I'll informed of good players, a team shouldn't sign them to a great long - term deal?

I said nothing on whether the deal was fair or not, simply that I had not heard of the player before the contract was signed.

If he was as good as many say he is in here I was thinking I would have heard of him by now. Carolina does not get much coverage though.


I haven't even seen him in threads where teams would rank their most valued players or assets either.

 

[Svechhammer]

6 years is a long time for a guy who is not a household name.

That's silly. You're basically implying that anyone on Toronto, Montreal, Pitt, Philly, NYR, Chicago, Boston, or Washington is currently more valuable than anyone other than the elite players on other teams because the popularity of those teams means more people know of their players.

 

[caniac247]

I said nothing on whether the deal was fair or not, simply that I had not heard of the player before the contract was signed.

If he was as good as many say he is in here I was thinking I would have heard of him by now. Carolina does not get much coverage though.


I haven't even seen him in threads where teams would rank their most valued players or assets either.

Carolina gets 0 national coverage, so if you aren't a fan of the Canes, then you are correct, you will never hear of their players. It's a shame too b/c what Slavin/Pesce do is quite amazing. The one or two times you watch the Canes, when your team is playing them, I highly suggest keeping your eyes glued to these two when they step on the ice. Then you will understand what others have been saying about them.

 

[DaveG]

Agreed. Those two especially are the epitome of the saying "if you notice a dman that probably means they're not doing their job right" in that you never notice them outside the rare occasion that one of them just rips one from the point that finds its way in. And with Faulk on the team they don't get that opportunity too often.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

If he was as good as many say he is in here I was thinking I would have heard of him by now. Carolina does not get much coverage though.

I haven't even seen him in threads where teams would rank their most valued players or assets either.

Because you, personally haven't heard of a guy that has been a top 4 defenseman for the past 2 years on a team you don't watch, he most not be as good as many say he is? That's some pretty convoluted reasoning right there.

 

[Svechhammer]

Agreed. Those two especially are the epitome of the saying "if you notice a dman that probably means they're not doing their job right" in that you never notice them outside the rare occasion that one of them just rips one from the point that finds its way in. And with Faulk on the team they don't get that opportunity too often.

Which is impressive considering just how often they were charged with stopping the opponent's top lines throughout last season. The fact they both put up the numbers they did playing in the division they did against the lines they did would have them lauded as the next great defensive players in the NHL if they played for a large market team.