EK's agent can argue a good case that he should be paid much more than McDavid. Most of McDavid's contract is being paid during his RFA years and he is still making 12.5. EK's next contract is all during his UFA years. Also, McDavid gets paid 10.75 on July 1 every year of his contract as a bonus. The remaining 1.75 is salary paid out during the year. Can EM pay 10.75 before the season even starts? The contract between the NHL and NHLPA expires in 2022 and most people feel there will be another strike. I believe that the players still keep their bonus even if there is a strike. Can EM pay out 10.75 and then have a whole season cancelled with no revenue. These things all have to be considered.
I don't think so, McDavid is much younger than EK and a better hockey player than EK. I don't see any way that EK's agent could rationally argue that EK is worth more. The bonus money I agree is an issue, if there is a lockout.
At some point the club has to decide what the maximum single contract they can give out to a player and still maintain a competitive club. Cap teams and budget teams both have to decide. If the team decides that 11 million a season is that limit, I'm ok with that personally.
Like many others we have an internal budget that is enough to keep us competitive, and can ramp up for a run, but I'm not a big fan of a single player eating too much of the budget, especially for the next 8 years, that stretch deep into his 30's.
Either way the time is now. We can cash in huge on EK, or we push all of our chips in on him. If we get Dahlin, do we go with Chabot, Dahlin, and the wealth of riches we get from EK. Tough call if EK is looking for a potentially crippling amount.