Devils 2017-18 team discussion (player news and notes) VIII - Postseason Edition

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SpeakingOfTheDevils

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Jan 22, 2010
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Again, when Lovejoy and Boyle come off, we will need to fill those spots. Those expiring contracts even if we fill those spots with young kids open up maybe half that amount.

I'd imagine Santini steps in and fills Lovejoy's role, and we'd likely fill Boyle's spot from within. As ZBC mentioned, if we sign Tavares or land any other 2C with term, the center situation fixes itself. We won't be "netting" any additional contracts.

Always be cautious, yes, but there really isn't anything to worry about.
 

Zajacs Bowl Cut

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We would still need a 7th d-man.

But true on Boyle.

Let's go back to this.



Let's say we do resign Mojo to his current deal, and Kink or whomever for back up goalie at same price, and then a 7th d-man for a million. How much cleared out? less then $4mil.

at this point, Zacha isn't going to get a huge raise. Maybe another million? and then $3-4 million raise for Butcher (assuming he has a comparable year to this year). And keep in mind we still have that $7 million left over from 18-19 and the possibility that the cap goes up a few million
 

Cult of Hynes

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Nov 9, 2010
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A lot of the guys you named aren't going to be getting contracts of consequence. Hall will obviously get the fattest deal, but I don't anticipate his extension to be more than a ~$4M increase in AAV. Vatanen is already at $4.875M, and I don't expect his raise to be more than ~$2M. Nico will likely get the largest raise out of the bunch due to his ELC status, but I don't think his next contract will be his "big" one.

Then consider that Greene and Zajac will likely take pay cuts on their next deals... and we'll recoup $5M+ when Lovejoy and Boyle come off the books... there really isn't much to worry about. At all.

Greene is not going to get another contract from us when his is up. He's too old.

Same with Zajac.
 

devilsblood

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Mar 10, 2010
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All I'm saying is, yes we are in great spot cap wise, but you have to be smart. Right now the contracts of guys like Greene don't hurt us, but 5 years from now a big contract on a guy like Carlson could be a thorn in our side as we look to sign guys like Zacha, Nico, Butcher, Wood McLeod etc to their long term deals.

And imo that's what this great cap space is for, that would be my plan, stay flexible so that signing those guys down the road is not an issue. Would I change that plan for the right signee? Yes. But do I make signings now while not considering the long term ramifications? No.
 

Nubmer6

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Greene is not going to get another contract from us when his is up. He's too old.

Same with Zajac.
Zajac might, but it depends how he plays by the end of his existing contract, and it would only be worth it if he was paid as a 3rd line center.
 

SpeakingOfTheDevils

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Greene is not going to get another contract from us when his is up. He's too old.

Same with Zajac.

If so, that further proves the point I was trying to make. If they don't re-up at all instead of re-signing at a pay cut, that's even more saved cap.

You may be right about Greene, but I think Zajac would be retained on a short-term deal. A lot can change between now and then, though, so it really isn't worth discussing at this point.
 

Cult of Hynes

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Zajac might, but it depends how he plays by the end of his existing contract, and it would only be worth it if he was paid as a 3rd line center.

Not when we have younger and more promising players in the system that can do what he does, just faster. He will be useless when his contract is up.
 
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Triumph

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People said the same thing about Bergfors when Gionta was leaving.

Gionta was 30 and still a top line RW. Zajac will be 36 at the end of his contract and is already a 3rd line C in terms of ES scoring rate, and there's 3 more years to go. The point, I think, isn't that the Devils will have better players in their system - they may not. It's that between that and UDFAs and even UFAs, there will likely be better options.
 

Zajacs Bowl Cut

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Speaking of Tallackson....I loathe playing the "draft revisionist history game", but this graphic always pained me

4CR74Aq.jpg
 

Born and Raised

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I don't think he'd get a $88,000,000 contract. I mean it'll be a big one but that's a lot more than i think it'll be. I can see a 8.5 or 9 for 7 or 8 years but 11 per? Don't see that.
You seriously think Hall would only get a 2.5-3 million dollar raise at most? seriously..? And thats 2.5-3 million above a contract's value that he signed what six years ago?

Taking discounts aside, Hall could get at minimum 10 million with 11 being more realistic.
 

RSeen

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Oct 26, 2011
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here goes again. I have made a couple assumptions throughout this, but I think I was more than fair.

Lets assume the cap will be $80 million (all reports put it between $78-82 million, so lets use an average). Using an $80 million cap, we have ~$25 million in cap space available.

Here are the NHL players signed for the 2018-19 season (16 total):

FORWARDS (8)
Taylor Hall
Travis Zajac
Kyle Palmieri
Marcus Johansson
Brian Boyle
Nico Hischier
Pavel Zacha
Jesper Bratt

DEFENSEMAN (6)
Andy Greene
Sami Vatanen
Damon Severson
Ben Lovejoy
Will Butcher
Mirco Mueller

GOALIES (2)
Cory Schneider
Keith Kinkaid

We have 4 "notable" RFAs this summer:

Miles Wood
Stefan Noesen
Blake Coleman
Steve Santini

I think a very fair estimate for what these 4 players will earn will be in the ~$6 million range combined. That leaves us with ~$19 million in remaining space and brings our roster up to 20 players. Three roster slots available. We can assume we will likely have 1-2 scrubs like Hayes or Stafford (or someone like McLeod from within) signed for league minimum to be an extra. So lets say ~$17 million (being conservative) in space for 1 roster slot. Lets HYPOTHETICALLY say we signed John Tavares to $10 million/year. This leaves us with $7 million remaining.

After the 2018-19 season, the following comes off of the salary cap:
Brian Boyle ($2.75 million)
Ben Lovejoy ($2.67 million)
Marcus Johansson ($4.58 million)
Keith Kinkaid ($1.25 million)

~$11.25 million total coming off the books next offseason. Now, I realize that we will likely want Johansson back (assuming he has a decent year) and we will need to bring in a backup goalie, but thats another decent chunk of change opening up. But keep in mind that Butcher and Zacha (and Mueller if he progresses) will need at least minimal raises. Lets assume that this additional $11.25 million cancels out when you consider raises/extensions to the players listed previously. This is probably being way conservative, but still. This leaves us still with ~$7 million in space.

After the 19-20 season is when Shero will have work to do. Hall, Vatanen, Hischier, and Bratt need new contracts. However, Andy Greene's $5 million drops off after 19-20. You can probably almost totally cover the raises to Hall/Vatanen with Greene's expiring $$...it will probably be a bit more than that, but it will be close. Its tough to guesstimate on what Nico/Bratt combined will get, but remember we still have the cushion listed previously. We also have not taken into account any raises to the cap, which are almost surely going to happen.



tl:dr- we are in amazing shape cap wise and can absolutely afford to add at least one "big" contract to the fold.
We are definitely in a good position cap wise. I'll be interested to see what we do here this season. If we miss out on the guys at the top of the free agent class like Tavares and Carlson, I could see a legitimate argument for giving a guy like Neal or Perron a 2 year deal at a higher AAV. You look at what Kane got and yikes, would not want to commit long-term for some of these lesser free agents. It just looks like a disaster waiting to happen.
 
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