Confirmed with Link: Juraj Slafkovsky re-signs with the Canadiens 8 x $7.6M

[Trabdy2]

Habs brass seem confident in this kid.

I think this is a pretty good contract for the Habs, but it does carry some risk. He's only given the organization 2/3 of a season of solid Top 6 hockey, but there's every reason to believe this big skilled player will get better and better as his game matures. Slafkovsky's contract will probably be viewed as very team-friendly as early as the 2nd year of this deal.

 

[StreetHawk]

Habs brass seem confident in this kid.

I think this is a pretty good contract for the Habs, but it does carry some risk. He's only given the organization 2/3 of a season of solid Top 6 hockey, but there's every reason to believe this big skilled player will get better and better as his game matures. Slafkovsky's contract will probably be viewed as very team-friendly as early as the 2nd year of this deal.

They front loaded his deal at an average of $9.2 mill in the first 4 years then drops to $6 mill in salary in years 5-8. That’s when the buyout remains at 1/3 in 2029.

So must be really confident to setup that type of payment structure.

Still lots of work to do to round out the team moving forward. Have to develop the backend.

 

[River Meadow]

That’s peanuts in today’s day and age when it comes to contracts. The biggest stars gets paid almost double that amount (some even more) and not just in the NBA, also in the NFL, MLB and soccer.

I mean sports is also a worldwide business and a career choice. It’s their whole life dedication to do something they’re passionate about. It’s not just about “playing a game” nor something “stupid” lol.

No one is knocking the guys who are getting paid the millions. The sports entertainment business is what it is.

When you break it down, it is quite literally a group of guys playing a sport, and getting paid millions upon millions to do so.

The point was that, people who are literally performing life saving measures, doctors, surgeons, etc, and getting paid pennies in comparison.

The reasons behind it are clear, but it doesn't mean it's not 'ideal' and in a society it would certainly be more ideal if more incentive $$$ were given to more 'important' professions, i.e people who are actually saving lives/performing life saving research, etc.

 

[Habs Halifax]

No one is knocking the guys who are getting paid the millions. The sports entertainment business is what it is.

When you break it down, it is quite literally a group of guys playing a sport, and getting paid millions upon millions to do so.

The point was that, people who are literally performing life saving measures, doctors, surgeons, etc, and getting paid pennies in comparison.

The reasons behind it are clear, but it doesn't mean it's not 'ideal' and in a society it would certainly be more ideal if more incentive $$$ were given to more 'important' professions, i.e people who are actually saving lives/performing life saving research, etc.

The problem with this is ticket prices. Nobody is paying money to watch a Doctor perform surgery, let alone filling a 20,000 seat arena.

Entertainment world has been out of control for a while now but I rather the entertainers get paid than the billionaire greedy manipulators.

The more the gap between the rich and poor in increased, the more problems we will have in society. It's time we have max wages and max profit margins but the ones in power don't have this on their minds. They are thinking time served and bloated pensions. Everyone looks after themselves first. There is flaws all over the place.

 

[Angler]

I think this will age very well. The Habs are obviously confident that he is going to continue to improve his game and I agree with them. If the cap continues to grow like it is, this contract will be a steal. He doesn't even need to hit his potential for this to be a good contract.

 

[Forsead]

7.6 M cap hit by 2026-2027 + will be the equivalent of a 6.8 M cap hit by 2023-2024 (83.5M vs 92M total cap).

This is more than decent even for a perennial 60pts forward. If Slaf get to PPG, this is a long term steal

It completely avoid NHL inflation, for most of a potential star player peak.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Xhekaj won't sign for $2M for 6 years. So your preferred narrative is flawed.

This is about new top 4D rates with a $92M salary cap (25/26). You're living in 2017.

If I were Xhekaj I would take that and run.

 

[Habs Halifax]

If I were Xhekaj I would take that and run.

 

[KevSkillz4]

Am I crazy to think that we're building a damn good team here? Maybe no elite franchise level player but a pile of great pieces at great prices

Habs just draft a elite franchise level player with Ivan Demidov. I'm a believer of Juraj Slafkovsky before the selection with Montreal Canadiens and he have all tools to become that aswell.

 

[Canadienna]

I think maybe too much is made of the "internal cap" of the Suzuki contract, but there's no doubt it's helped specifically with Caufield and Slafkovsky's contract.

If nothing else, it at least sets the culture of signing longterm and not squeezing the team for dollars (ala Tavares, Matthews, Nylander and Marner).

The next homegrown talent will also hopefully see what the leaders of the team have done, and be more inclined to do the same.

 

[Rozz]

Jesus, totally forgot this was the Slafkovsky signing thread after reading the last couple pages... apparently so did the posters lol

Anyway... f*** yeah we got Slafkovsky signed long term!!!

and I'm so impressed with his comments as to why he wanted to get a long contact and didn't care about more money... we're building a team of guys who got their priorities straight... so exciting to witness with my favorite team

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

I wonder how long the Suzuki ceiling will last. By the time Demidov's new contract (not ELC) comes into play, it would have been what, 6 years sinze Suzuki set the ceiling?

Dach and Hutson are the last players I could see it affecting.
Both Dach and Hutson have 2 years left and can sign an extension after next season.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

The Guhle stuff has gone to the Guhle thread.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Dach and Hutson are the last players I could see it affecting.
Both Dach and Hutson have 2 years left and can sign an extension after next season.

Hutson maybe but probably not Dach. Dach's next contract will mainly be about what he can do in the next two seasons and most of his next term will be UFA years.

You can only compare Caufield, Slaf, Guhle to Suzuki by skipping bridge and right to long term extensions. Dach and Newhook won't be like that. RFA years vs UFA years are a huge part of this.

Dach and Demidov could leap frog Suzuki for two different reasons. With Dach, it's about how many UFA years and with Demidov, it might be because he is 80+ pts in his ELC.

Reinbacher? Maybe but he seems like another Guhle to me. Close to Suzuki value but not equal or above.

 

[OnTheRun]

I think maybe too much is made of the "internal cap" of the Suzuki contract, but there's no doubt it's helped specifically with Caufield and Slafkovsky's contract.

If nothing else, it at least sets the culture of signing longterm and not squeezing the team for dollars (ala Tavares, Matthews, Nylander and Marner).

The next homegrown talent will also hopefully see what the leaders of the team have done, and be more inclined to do the same.

I mean... Suzuki/Caufield/Slaf agents couldn't sit a negotiation table and make the same arguments Tavares/Matthews/Nylander/Marner could.

If any of our guys were above PPG player by the end of their sophomore year they would have been paid a such and you would be looking at deals comparable to Barzal/Rantanen/Marner/Matthews/etc.

 

[red devil]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1808220286849835390

 

[Canadienna]

I mean... Suzuki/Caufield/Slaf agents couldn't sit a negotiation table and make the same arguments Tavares/Matthews/Nylander/Marner could.

If any of our guys were above PPG player by the end of their sophomore year they would have been paid a such and you would be looking at deals comparable to Barzal/Rantanen/Marner/Matthews/etc.

It has nothing to do with the level of play, it's the strategy in signing the contract. Even Suzuki, Cole and Slaf could have taken the route of Marner, Nylander and Matthews. Not asking the same dollars but trying to squeeze the org and preserve UFA years.

 

[OnTheRun]

It has nothing to do with the level of play, it's the strategy in signing the contract. Even Suzuki, Cole and Slaf could have taken the route of Marner, Nylander and Matthews. Not asking the same dollars but trying to squeeze the org and preserve UFA years.

It has everything to do with level of play. Since level of play give you leverage. You are comparing a group of players who HAD that kind of leverage right off the bat to a group of players who didn't.

 

[Sorinth]

Side point; you know what was wrong with the Subban bridge? It’s that MB practically did nothing with the saved cap space. I’d have been ok with the bridge if it meant we could go balls to the wall with the money… but it just layed there in the stash…

Ugh those waisted years

We spent it on Briere in year two.

They front loaded his deal at an average of $9.2 mill in the first 4 years then drops to $6 mill in salary in years 5-8. That’s when the buyout remains at 1/3 in 2029.

So must be really confident to setup that type of payment structure.

Still lots of work to do to round out the team moving forward. Have to develop the backend.

Money now is more valuable then money in a couple of years so it's a way to get a lowering the cap hit while benefitting the player.

 

[MadMslm]

Can’t complain, like Suzuki it’s a really good contract and it should pay off starting next year.

After a really timid start to the season where he was far from impressive and even his good moment seemed more luck than anything, he just turned on a switch.

After that, he was so convincing in every battle he won around the boards or for loose pucks.

I don’t think there was a single game where he didn’t get at least a scoring chance. Even after his first big points streak he went pointless for 7-8 games and he was still getting lot of chances.

To finish the season with 20 goals and 50 points after the way it started was impressive. And whats even more impressive is how he played in those games.

Can’t wait to see what new heights he will reach next season.

 

[Skip Bayless]

I'm watching today's presser and some the people asking questions sound like absolute fanboys.

Sports journalism is dead.

 

[Tyson]

I'm watching today's presser and some the people asking questions sound like absolute fanboys.

Sports journalism is dead.

Journalism in general is dead

 

[KevSkillz4]

 

[LaP]

I'm watching today's presser and some the people asking questions sound like absolute fanboys.

Sports journalism is dead.

Journalism is dead and for as long as people wont be willing to pay for news. Today the only source of revenue is ads and obviously journalists will have (it's not a choice) to cater to who's paying their salary (big corporations).

 

[KevSkillz4]

The fact that Slaf will make less than Caufield for 8 years, that's a absolute amazing news for this team.

I really like Caufield, but Slafkovsky is already a better all around player, bigger, more physical, better passing ability.

If I have a choice between both in a draft fantasy, that's easily Juraj Slafkovsky to me. Even I really like Caufield, Slaf have all tools to become a franchise player.