That's not how this works.
The only reason you lock a guy up to an 8 year deal is so those last years of his contract bring his cap hit down. If Columbus instead signed Nash to a 5 year deal, his AAV wouldn't have been as low as 7.8m, it'd have been closer to 9m or 10m. You need those years in negotiations with players because they know they'll slow down around age 33/34.
When you sign a player like Nash to an 8 year deal when he's 26 that takes him to age 34, there is no chance you think you're going to get 80-90+ points (this is an absurd standard) every single year of that deal. What you want to get is a player > 7.8m in value for years 1-5, and then hopefully not a total albatross in years 6-8.
Bizarro world, lmao, is expecting a player to put up 90 points 8 years in a row.
Since 2010-2011, you know how many 90+ points seasons have been posted? 11
You need to check what you think constitutes a 7.8m AAV player.
You missed a very important part of my reply ..... check the bold.
I never said he needed to be a 80-90 point forward at this point in his career. I did say he needed to pot 30-40 goals
and or be a 50+ assist man to be worth his salary. One or the other, a combination of the two.....that was what i said. He hasnt been either, at any point in his career on a consistent basis. More so......
1) For a higher caliber nhl player ( bc that is what he was billed as and what he was paid as ), who is in good shape........33 years old isnt all that old. On the decline, yes, but not so old that he is barely putting up 30 something points a season and getting paid almost $8m a year to do so.
2) Reasonable expectations for nash should be in the 60-70 point range. If you think the value of an $8m forward isnt in this realm, i cant help you. Go find me all those $8 million dollar fowards who are putting 30 point seasons like nash.
3) last year he was 31, and didnt break 40 points
4) the year before that, he was 30, and didnt break 40 points.
5) see my point?
This is a bad contract and has been for 3 years now, hes not slumping, he's a complete shell of his former self and is doing virtually nothing to justify, even remotely his $8m salary......and anybody who seriously defends nash is either blind or love drunk on the guy........and yes, living in bizzaro world.