Confirmed with Link: Weekesbomb: Palat to NJ for five-year deal

[Better Call Sal]

I don’t understand the notion of being comfortable with not having made a move at all. I think it’s beyond evident that our roster is missing certain elements that are necessary for growth. I’d much rather Fitz make a move for now I’m bringing Palat in than sitting on his hands because he missed the big fish.

 

[OmNomNom]

My problem is he looks great and is a 20 goal scorer in Tampa, Playing with Kucherov and Stamkos with Sergachev Hedman McDonagh Rutta Vasi etc behind him.

Am I completely clueless if I think he won't be as good here?

i think we'll see an uptick for him on PP - last season, he had only 6 PP points in 77 games (vs the 20 in 55 he had in '21-'22). with brunette coming in to power a high octane PP, i can only assume we'll lean on him to be a go-to guy on the PP, and should HOPEFULLY see a boost in his overall stats bc of it

 

[Blender]

I really like the player, but AAV is a bit higher than I would have liked.

 

[NJDevs26]

I think Fitz looked at an inexperienced core being asked to do a lot in every zone with very little help and paid the market premium for the right kind of guy at the wrong time.

I don't think this f***s up a powerhouse down the line. But you can't do it again.

That's the hysteria (not from you) that makes me roll my eyes...you can criticize this particular signing as a bad contract. But to say one potentially bad mid-level contract in 2025-27 - when the cap should be up by then - is now gonna prevent the team from making moves is just the height of paranoia and not really based in any fact. I'm not normally even in favor of the long-term deals for second-tier type players but this is an exception and hopefully pretty much the only one.

If this isn't the right time for a guy like Palat then when is? If anything that should be the biggest selling point...you get a guy like him now when you need to start turning the corner with the kids on mostly cheap deals. You don't get him five years from now when you have more of the kids making money and disgruntled over the team still not winning.

Oh man, have not read this whole thread, but is there really hysteria? I thought Palat was one of this board's consensus plan B's if JG didn't work out. Also pretty sure MacKenzie reported way earlier yesterday that Fitz was in on Palat along with Seattle. This likely wasn't a panic signing.

Oh there's hysteria all right, at least among the posters who are more worried about the cap than about winning.

 

[RSeen]

I don’t understand the notion of being comfortable with not having made a move at all. I think it’s beyond evident that our roster is missing certain elements that are necessary for growth. I’d much rather Fitz make a move for now I’m bringing Palat in than sitting on his hands because he missed the big fish.

This contract is going to be hurting us in a few years. He is already 31 and signed for 5 more years at a cap hit he is not worth from year 1.

Its an awful deal.

We would have been much better off signing someone like Copp who is younger and got the same term and less AAV. Realistically he is also the better player./.

Poor job by Fitz IMO, a panic move. We are going to end up buying out Palat in a few years.

 

[OmNomNom]

This contract is going to be hurting us in a few years. He is already 31 and signed for 5 more years at a cap hit he is not worth from year 1.

Its an awful deal.

We would have been much better off signing someone like Copp who is younger and got the same term and less AAV. Realistically he is also the better player./.

Poor job by Fitz IMO, a panic move. We are going to end up buying out Palat in a few years.

if it's hurting us in a few years, we're spending to cap. if we're spending to cap, we're likely winning, so it'd be a great thing to complain about. 6M of a projected 90M is 6.66% (nice) of the cap, and if we're going to be spending 93.3% of that on other people, i doubt this will be the worst contract

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

6m is an overpayment but Palat’s gonna be a great fit. And as he gets further into his deal, Tatar will be gone, Johnsson will be gone, all the core guys will be locked up on good deals, and the cap will keep going up. This contract isn’t gonna hamstring the team. I think Gaudreau would’ve done that more.

What worries me most is looking at Palat’s hockeydb page and seeing all the seasons he’s missed 25 games or more. But i guess that’s where Thompson and Holtz and Foote get their opportunities.

 

[New Jersey Devils]

 

[NJDevs26]

I don’t understand the notion of being comfortable with not having made a move at all. I think it’s beyond evident that our roster is missing certain elements that are necessary for growth. I’d much rather Fitz make a move for now I’m bringing Palat in than sitting on his hands because he missed the big fish.

It's called being risk averse. Some people here don't want to make moves unless it's a 110% no-brainer. But you're not going to win unless you eventually start taking risks in some fashion or other. Every team that's winning eventually has to shed contracts no matter how well or poorly they manage the cap, the key is if you manage it well you don't have 5-7 contracts you need to get rid of at once a la Philly.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Realistically a deal like this was what Palat was probably going to get on the open market. It was also reported that we were interested in Palat early on. I can't string together any logical conclusion that this was a panic move.

It was Fitz moving on and signing another player. If we went into the season without making another decent move I'd be more upset.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Sounds like a lot of teams were interested in Palat, as well. Sucks but that’s how free agency goes.

 

[Monsieur Verdoux]

We would have been much better off signing someone like Copp who is younger and got the same term and less AAV. Realistically he is also the better player./.

Disagree strongly.

The contract is what it is, but Palat is a great complementary player for Hughes or Hischier.

 

[StevensRocks]

Seems he can handle pressure.

Makes lots if plays on his own, when it counts.

An in your face forechecker.

Or a guy purportedly afraid of playing in a big market?

 

[AfroThunder396]

One of the most telling things about a player is looking at how opposing fans feel when the player leaves their old team. Do you think Boston fans reading our comments about Zacha will be excited or nervous about adding that player?

All I see is Tampa fans cringing at management and complaining about how it should have been Killorn or someone else getting shipped out. This team just went to three strait Cups and all they're talking about is how much it stings to lose him.

It's definitely an overpay but we can afford to overpay a guy or two. Not every contract needs to be optimal lol. We have zero bad contracts and you need to pay good players. I'd rather have Palat than not have Palat, so pay him.

Even after this signing we have 46M in cap space next summer. Take a deep breath and relax.

He's very good on the cycle (which we need), has positional versatility (always a plus), veteran presence (good for a young team), Cup experience (which we don't have). He is a legit 2nd liner who will should give us at least 3-4 years of quality, and then who cares after that point. It's easy to dump guys in todays NHL.

This move makes us a bit better today and the cap effects are really not that big of a deal in the long term.

 

[OmNomNom]

another thing - i think it's disingenuous to call him a middle 6er. maybe you can't call him a top 6er, but maybe we can settle for in between -- a 2nd liner

 

[The Grinder]

Palat with Nico… maybe we can score more goals off the cycle this year.

I love this signing.

 

[RSeen]

Disagree strongly.

The contract is what it is, but Palat is a great complementary player for Hughes or Hischier.

Copp was more productive, had better possession numbers and is more than 3 years younger.

 

[MadDevil]

Copp was more productive, had better possession numbers and is more than 3 years younger.

He's also from Michigan and signed with Detroit, so we'd likely have had to pay more, if he would have had any interest at all to begin with.

 

[Burner Account]

Obviously they’re different players, but he got almost exactly what Coleman got from CGY. And a year later, so I’d argue that we’re getting a better deal.

You pay a tax for a winner who’s played well in the playoffs recently. Obviously you need star players to compete, but you also need Ondrej Palats and yes, even Brendan Smiths.

 

[Azathoth]

I get a lot of us still have PTSD from all of Lou's poor post-lockout signings but I'm ok with this. Its probably a bit of an overpay and might be rough the last couple of years but Palat should be good for the young core guys on this team now.

Plus, giving 10+ million for JG like most of us would have been more than fine with could have also aged badly if he goes back to being a 77pt winger like he has been for all of his career up to this past season.

 

[OmNomNom]

Copp was more productive, had better possession numbers and is more than 3 years younger.

palat shoots more, hits more, has better PP #s, and has a better sh%

 

[Billdo]

palat shoots more, hits more, has better PP #s, and has a better sh%

Yeah I don't get the copp is better argument. This is a good deal. It's probably a million too much per and a year too long but we can deal with that and he'll bring an element this team is missing.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Philly isn't capped out because they have one bad deal, they're capped out because they have 7 bad deals. Palat isn't going to ruin our cap.

If you don't think he's worth it, fine, have your opinion. But it's objectively wrong to say this somehow prevents us from competing or signing other players. It's just not correct.

This can't become the norm, but it's not going to be - all of our core are either locked up long term or hitting RFA. The problem with our forwards last year is that we were way too top heavy and couldn't do shit if Jack/Bratt/Nico weren't on the ice. Now we have a quality veteran who brings different elements to the top-6.

Take a f***ing chill pill people.

 

[Blackjack]

This move makes us a bit better today and the cap effects are really not that big of a deal in the long term.

I don’t understand why people keep saying this. We JUST watched a team miss out on Johnny Gaudreau because the cost to move their bad contract was a fist round pick and they didn’t want to pay it.

Bad contracts have consequences.

Philly isn't capped out because they have one bad deal, they're capped out because they have 7 bad deals. Palat isn't going to ruin our cap.

They were signed one at a time.

 

[OmNomNom]

Yeah I don't get the copp is better argument. This is a good deal. It's probably a million too much per and a year too long but we can deal with that and he'll bring an element this team is missing.

i get the possession metric argument, but copp is a center - he SHOULD have good possession #s. but it wouldn't be his role here. @RSeen i agree w you that copp is a good get (esp his defense), but palat is great for other reasons, and utilization is an important consideration.

our FO seems to be going for more points/offense w this pick up

I don’t understand why people keep saying this. We JUST watched a team miss out on Johnny Gaudreau because the cost to move their bad contract was a fist round pick and they didn’t want to pay it.

Bad contracts have consequences.

wrote this before, but if 6M is killing us in 4 years time (if the cap is up to 90M), then we're spending to cap. 6M/90M is 6.66%, and there's no way we're spending 93.33% on other players, where Palat's will be the worst contract

also, flyers are a shittily run org when it comes to cap management, and not the typical team to be modeled after. we are nothing like them at this point (though i WILL agree that this type of overpayment shouldn't become typical)