JG in a friggin heartbeat lol but that ain't happening
Skjei if not for Nikishin I'd keep on that deal but with Boom waiting in the wings I say no
Pesce NOPE, but some team would give him that
Turbo nope and I don't see any team giving him even close to that
Chatty in a heartbeat, easy
Martinook, he's at 1.8 now I don't see him getting a 1mil raise here, could maybe get that elsewhere if we choose to let him go but I think he stays for around 2mil/yr at most, could see a 3 year deal though
TLDR: We'll resign Turbo, Chatty, and Marty for reasonable deals. The rest will test the market.
Brady Skjei is a 47 point, 13 goal scoring minute-munching defenseman whose game feels like it will age well. I think he easily gets $7+ million on whatever term contract he wants. I believe the "creative offers/negotiations" that we heard about a while back were short term, high money deals. If the FO isn't sure about Nikishin by now, then Skjei gets signed for a longer term (I'm guessing 5 years if it's us and forever if it's a big market team).
Let's be honest, Pesce isn't worth a contract where the AAV starts with a 6. Like it or not, he's somewhat injury prone and has proven to have very little offense in his quiver. That said, if he'll sign for 4 or 5 years, I could see the Canes offering him $5 million to $5.25 million per year. Otherwise he's gone.
As much as we might not like it, Turbo is easily worth $6+ million a year. He averages about 56 points a season and is coming off a 25 goal season (his best goal-scoring season in his career). He signed his current deal after coming off of the most points he's ever scored in his career. I also think his game will age well. I'd try to sign him for 5 years at around $6 million if he'd take it. If history is any guide, he's probably the most likely to take a hometown discount.
As much as we like Chatfield and he's played quite well in his role this season, I think that Seravalli is pretty close to what he'll get paid salary-wise. I think we may go a bit longer term (4 or 5 years) to get him at a lighter AAV. I could see 5 years at $2.3 million per. I don't believe a 22 point defenseman gets $3 million a year.
Jordan Martinook is a tough one. His last two seasons have been quite good compared to the rest of his career. Last season he also showed up big in the playoffs. I'd be hopeful that we could get him back for less money if we went out to 3 years. Regardless, I don't see him getting more than $2.25 million per year. The math just doesn't work.
That brings me to Jake Guentzel. I know this is blasphemous in some corners of Canes fandom, but I wouldn't agonize over re-signing him. I'd easily pay Turbo over Jake as I'd assume I'd be saving $2 million to $2.5 million per season. Jake isn't going to take a non-max term deal. Our salary structure won't be able to swallow his deal, even if we don't re-up Turbo and trade KK (or Necas). For the record, I don't think either of those trades make sense. In the end, I think we may move forward looking for hired guns at the TDL with little or no thought of giving them a new contract. But what do I know....