Yes, we have the lion's share of leverage and can probably get Joey's camp to eventually sign the hard bargain Jarmo (or Zito) is peddling. But why go scorched earth? Why not overpay a bit for a player who could wind up a perennial difference maker, and who we cultivated? Because he's Howson's boy and not JD/JK's? At this point, the bridge seems to be foregone, so any risk is only for 2 years. I just don't get the hardass stance. He's what we've wanted forever, why impose such strict conditions here?
Everybody seems to want this kid based on his "one good season", why are we being such tightwads about it?
All of this has been bandied about ad nauseum, but one reason to not overpay is if you think the contract could affect Joey's development. Some people believe that it is a possibility and some don't. It appears likely that JD/JK fall in the former group.
Switching gears a bit, we've been thinking of comparison players/contracts the last while and one that I've been thinking more about is the Paul Stastny.
During his first 2 years in the league he had 78 pts in 82 games and 71 pts in 66 games -he was also nominated for the Calder in his rookie year. I was living in Colorado at the time and there was a lot of excitement about this kid being the future of the Avalanche. Part-way into his 3rd season, he signed a pretty nice extension for 5 years and 6.6 M AAV. Keep in mind that he was close to a PPG player when he signed (and had a more consistent track record than Joey at that point), but the Avalanche no doubt were also paying for his potential. It was thought that he'd maybe even grow to be a top 5 or 10 elite player in the league.
Now, Stastny has been a good player the last 5 years. But, he never really took the next step forward and instead took a step back IMO. He became a solid 50-60 point player rather than increasing/maintaining his PPG pace of his early years and achieving elite status.
It seemed like a reasonable contract at the time, and it wasn't horrible in hindsight, but I think most people agree he was a little overpaid the last 5 years. It seemed like the Avalanche agreed when it came time for the third contract and were looking for a bit of a pay cut. At that point, Stastny seemed pretty adamant that he wasn't taking a pay cut and St. Louis obliged (4 x 7 million).
No one knows whether the big contract affected Stastny's development and I'm not arguing that point here. I'm saying that, like Joey, Stastny seemed like a sure-fire investment. While I don't doubt that Joey will be at minimum a 50-60 pt player like Stastny has been, I think he can be more and I'd like him to have that drive to get there.
Finally, the other point (related to david's post) is that even if the Jackets open their wallets for Joey, there is no guarantee that it will be taken into consideration by him and his agent down the road. Like Stastny, he could want a pay raise regardless of whether his play kept on the same trajectory. With the way salary arbitration works, it would be pretty hard for the Jackets to decrease his pay on his next contract if he does take a step back. So, yes, there are reasons for why the Jackets don't want to overpay this contract that go beyond improving the bottom line for McConnell the next two years.