I don’t think these are fair comparables for Evans. Statistically, individual achievements, roles on teams… all of these showed more at the time of signing.
Clearly we don't asses players, performance and impact in the same way.
Maybe Dickinson is close, but he offers significantly more in the size/physical side and I still wouldn’t sign an equivalent contract for the Habs right now. A stretch of good play doesn’t change the last several seasons of bottom-6, 30pt production on a bottom feeder.
Calling it a "stretch of good play" is a disingenuous framing, unless one is overly concerned with the sh% and goal stat column
Fyi it's much easier to produce higher point totals on a high scoring roster than on a low scoring "bottom feeder". Again here, the narrow focus on stat line may be clouding the assessment of the players relative impact and fit to both short and longer term roster needs.
I don’t have an issue with UFA signings - for the Habs or any other team. They need to be appropriate to the context of the team though. Few teams are going to commit big money to bottom-6 players when multiple internal options on ELCs are available.
Context wise, as a team with the youngest roster in the league that has 4 expiring vet contracts, an internal focus on making gradual improvements and a large degree of cap flexibility both in 2025 and fast approaching with anchor contracts expiring over the subsequent seasons, the Habs are perhaps one of the most likely organization to prioritize veteran fit (UFA or UFA extension) over internal youth replacement this summer.
We'll see, but I don't think the Habs will take as conservative an approach to the UFA market as they have in the first 3 summers of the rebuild precisely because of the roster and organizational context
Ideally, they can land a relative "bargain", as they did in acquiring both Laine and Monahan, or in finding a quality vet that wants to sign in Montreal badly enough to take a discount, but if that isn't forthcoming early, I doubt we see them wait till August to see who might fall in their lap... Especially with the market likely to see more players signed early given ge big cap increase.
I can appreciate that salaries will increase, I don’t think this will affect bottom-6 players to the same extent as long term RFA contracts, elite and secondary players generally, and not in the range of a 1-1.5mil dollar AAV increase.
We'll see. Supply and demand largely governs this. The abnormally large increase will increase the demand volume across the board, whereas it is likely also to drive supply down as more teams can re-sign/extend ufa's without as much concern/risk for cap compliance
What’s your reasoning for a cap increase of %5 equating to a %50 or more salary increase for this type of player?
I don't think 4-4.5M equates to a 50% increase in salary expectations for a UFA of Evans performance level and versatility. We disagree on comparables, so no need to rehash that... Agree to disagree
This would require a team to drastically alter the percentage of cap allotted to a 3C/4C based on historical values. It’s an influx of cash available to a select group of FAs, but I don’t think most teams are going to deviate that wildly from existing patterns. I’m aware and understand the changes to the cap, I just think this is a dramatic over correction. We’ll see when FA rolls around.
Not really. The team would be reallocating Dvorak's existing cap cost to a superior performer... Who would remain 1-2M$ cheaper than 2 other existing bottom 6 players of lesser impact.
If Evans is going to continue to play 16mins a night with the Habs, expect our team performance to continue to be bad. I don’t see the reasoning behind paying him for the role he’s played while we’re a bottom feeder rather than the role he’ll play while we’re competing. Seems like a mistake to me.
Disagree.
He's performing at a similar or higher level than many forwards playing 15-16min a night on much better performing teams.
I think you underestimate how much elite top line players drive team results league wide.
Heck, Habs are 7-3 just off of adding Laine.
Swap Anderson & Gally's 11.5M for a #1 RD (replacing them with Pez/RHP/Roy etc), and the Habs would be a playoff team right now...
I wouldn’t offer him 4.5mil. I don’t agree with the comparables you’ve presented or how you’re anticipating contracts changing for fairly vanilla bottom-6 players. I think it’s an overestimation in both cases. I’m not really commenting on what the maximum he could get from some other desperate team would be, I’m commenting on what the maximum I’d offer him would be.
Grass isn't always greener.
Also, let’s aim to argue this without being combative/condescending. We can both have a higher standard for that.
Sure, and let's try to not be hyper sensitive to tongue in cheek humor, wether it lands or not. No need to take ourselves that seriously on a hockey message board.
