Can he? There is a goalie market of sorts, but anyone really willing to pay much for one of Saros' caliber? With 1 year remaining? A late 1st in '25 and a 3rd pairing d-man type of deal don't really move the needle for the roster.
I think Saros at 50% retention brings in a bigger return than Markstrom at 30%, but how much bigger is anyone's guess at this point. Maybe Trotz can squeeze a little more out of someone by including Tomasino
One thing I definitely find interesting is my perception that folks here generally value Saros quite highly in these contract discussions, where I don't so much, but then when it comes to evaluating his performances or playoffs then I tend to be defending his play more while it feels like others tend to criticize him more.
Id take it over giving Saros 8 years.
Hellebuyck had a down year in 21-22 too. Most goalies have them every once in a while. Goalies aren’t typically wall to wall great throughout a season either. Hellebuyck will most likely win the Vezina this year but he had an rough start and an atrocious playoffs. Maybe that’s evidence goalies are too inconsistent to give top dollar to but I think it’s also evidence that Saros is up there with other top goalies when looking at the last several seasons as a whole.One thing I definitely find interesting is my perception that folks here generally value Saros quite highly in these contract discussions, where I don't so much, but then when it comes to evaluating his performances or playoffs then I tend to be defending his play more while it feels like others tend to criticize him more.
Anyway, I think Saros probably should have stayed as a tandem goalie too, he hasn't really been able to stay effective for whole seasons with the workload he has had. And certainly plenty of people have jumped on his inopportune softies as well. It kind of goes with the territory for goalies. After this past disappointing season, I just can't see Saros in that top tier of goalies anymore, and do see him closer to what Grubbauer was than where Hellebuyck and Sorokin are. (Albeit Sorokin also had a miserable season, but lucky for him he timed it better and got paid BEFORE it happened as opposed to seeking that money after!)
Anyway, we're just 10 days from finding out, and I do strongly suspect we're wasting our breath debating this, as the sides likely already have things worked out to mutual satisfaction. And I do want the Preds to keep Saros, where others want to trade him, so it's another interesting dichotomy there... I want to keep him, but don't think he should be valued as highly, others value him more highly but despite that want to trade him. Hmm.
It would be interesting... except as I think this thread has illustrated, most of those options are conditional on unknowables. Like, I would "extend him" now... at 6x$6.67M with no NMC. Or I would "trade now" if he required a bigger contract AND there was a suitable trade offer on the table. Or I would "wait till deadline" if he wanted a bigger contract and there was no suitable trade offer on the table now. Or I could even "hold onto even if he walks" if there was never a suitable trade offer on the table after some of those other things. So I could pick any of those 4 options, depending.
I get what you are saying. We will never be privy to the details on negotiations though so in my opinion the extend him option is just you have to be willing to accept whatever Trotz deams acceptable and trust his judgement.
Kind of feels like we're headed towards "extended with burdensome deal" to me but Trotz is still a bit of a wildcard so it's not easy to predict.
Might even break down the "traded before the season" into 2 categories: 1) for a good return, 2) for a bad return - where again responders could opine about what they consider good and bad.
I'm wondering what teams are even potentially in the market for a starting goalie now?
I just dont want to give Saros anything near the Hellebuyck contract. 8x8 or 7x7 etc. Just too long and i dont see why he would back off of it. Why would a goalie take a shorter contract and expect to be able to make up that money getting another contract at 35 when we see how goalies dont tend to last beyond that? Wed have to give him a 5year 12 million AAV contract to guarantee him that kind of cash.
I guess what I don't get is why you'd think any other team out there really wants to give him 8x8 either?
I don't really see him getting 8 x8 from anyone, but I could definitely see an NHL GM crazy enough to give him 7 x 6.5. The problem for me isn't the 6.5 or even the 8, its number of years that I absolutely would refuse to sign on too.I guess what I don't get is why you'd think any other team out there really wants to give him 8x8 either?
NHL GMs really don't like small goalies. We have had the benefit of seeing firsthand how Saros makes up for it. So we're ok with that now (mostly). But I wouldn't assume that everybody else around the league would agree. There are probably many GMs who would consider him a total "non-starter" (pun intended) just because of his size.
I think if we're offering him $40M on an extension today, that's about as good as he'd get from anybody. There is no $64M contract out there for him to need to make up ground against. Especially if he has another mediocre season. There might not even be a $40M one out there in that case.
GMs give out all sorts of dumb contracts. Why would you be surprised by any contract handed out?I guess what I don't get is why you'd think any other team out there really wants to give him 8x8 either?
NHL GMs really don't like small goalies. We have had the benefit of seeing firsthand how Saros makes up for it. So we're ok with that now (mostly). But I wouldn't assume that everybody else around the league would agree. There are probably many GMs who would consider him a total "non-starter" (pun intended) just because of his size.
I think if we're offering him $40M on an extension today, that's about as good as he'd get from anybody. There is no $64M contract out there for him to need to make up ground against. Especially if he has another mediocre season. There might not even be a $40M one out there in that case.
7x$6.5M is close enough to my 6x$6.67M mantra that I might go for it... but it wouldn't have any NTC in the last 4 years.
Let's see what this summer's frenzy brings. I'm occasionally surprised by dumb contracts, but I feel like I have been less and less surprised in recent years because contracts have been less dumb than in the glory days of FA Frenzy. Perhaps that was partly due to the flat Cap. Maybe it will explode into full craziness again this year with the sudden elevation in the Cap. I definitely reserve the right to be surprised. GMs on the whole aren't as dumb as they used to be IMHO.
Andersen is 34 and been up and down healthwise. He was mediocre last season but had 16 good games this season but injuries held him out alot. Then the playoff performance wasnt good.I don’t know what kind of “hockey trade” we could make for Necas without involving Saros? We don’t really have any comparable players in their prime?
Saros has had some big games against Carolina so they probably appreciate his ability more than most. But unless Andersen’s health problems will keep him from playing again or they want to send Kochetkov back or something, I don’t see Carolina needing a goalie. Plus they are stingy with contracts. Tough to see a fit.
I am thinking it could only happen as a "hoodwink" trade if for some reason the Canes new braintrust is willing to bet on some handful of guys like Novak, Tomasino, Glass and Fabbro? Those guys don't fit for us, so are utterly expendable from our POV, but do have some prospect pedigree or performance numbers in Novak's case, on reasonable contracts. If Trotz could pull off that heist, it'd be great. I just can't see it. But we don't really have anybody else?
Im actually curious if Winnipeg views Novak as a legit 2C and would be interested in sending us Rutger.I am thinking it could only happen as a "hoodwink" trade if for some reason the Canes new braintrust is willing to bet on some handful of guys like Novak, Tomasino, Glass and Fabbro? Those guys don't fit for us, so are utterly expendable from our POV, but do have some prospect pedigree or performance numbers in Novak's case, on reasonable contracts. If Trotz could pull off that heist, it'd be great. I just can't see it. But we don't really have anybody else?
