I think both sides are fine taking the risk of seeing how the playoffs go to see whether Jake G stays or goes UFA…. So far we have a Semin style super small sample size of good play and meshing with the top line. I think Jake has fit like a glove and for regular season games has been about as ideal a player for this system as we could hope for short of him also being 6’5” 240 and being able to steamroll players as well if he chose not to be as cerebral and skilled as he has shown….
But if he plays out of his mind in the playoffs, even if we have the best result, that will just increase the pressure to keep the band together etc….not reduce it… we know how this fanbase can be when they get attached to a player and how attached they will be to what he will have provided if the success continues in the playoffs…. And in the case of playoff successful Guentzel, we end up paying more and make him be the exception to our normal SOP for running the team given how rare he would be to bring on board…. I don’t doubt the crazy numbers we have seen thrown around would become the agent ask and hard push to get us to agree or lose him if that playoff success happens……And with that huge contract added to the other high dollar contracts we already have and future renewals we expect in another year, sacrifices would get made in other areas with our other UFAs and RFAs as a result…. Secretly it’s kind of perversely awesome that we have enough great players that we can’t fit them all under the cap and an owner that likely would pay above the cap to keep them if we could exceed it…. Different times than under previous ownership….
Unless it’s a great long term number, I think it’s entirely possible we see Jarvis on a bridge if they try to bring others back and don’t try to moneyball a bunch of replacements. I don’t think the number gets any lower the more we drag out the long term deal for him… but we might not be able to do Guentzel and Jarvis and all the other things we want to do if Jarvis agent numbers for 8 years is too high…. The kid has really developed and put in the work to be a more complete player and he does everything rod asks of him and he is a great fit for our system…. But he is still the same frame size and the playoffs will show if his goal success in the regular season will translate or if he will get knocked out of games being in bad spots and how he handles the different kind of hockey we are about to see….. I’m very curious to see how JAG handles playoff hockey as the Aho line has been neutralized a lot in previous years, especially on the road…. I’m hoping Guentzel allows them to score even with the different style of hockey they will face in the playoffs….
But if he plays out of his mind in the playoffs, even if we have the best result, that will just increase the pressure to keep the band together etc….not reduce it… we know how this fanbase can be when they get attached to a player and how attached they will be to what he will have provided if the success continues in the playoffs…. And in the case of playoff successful Guentzel, we end up paying more and make him be the exception to our normal SOP for running the team given how rare he would be to bring on board…. I don’t doubt the crazy numbers we have seen thrown around would become the agent ask and hard push to get us to agree or lose him if that playoff success happens……And with that huge contract added to the other high dollar contracts we already have and future renewals we expect in another year, sacrifices would get made in other areas with our other UFAs and RFAs as a result…. Secretly it’s kind of perversely awesome that we have enough great players that we can’t fit them all under the cap and an owner that likely would pay above the cap to keep them if we could exceed it…. Different times than under previous ownership….
Unless it’s a great long term number, I think it’s entirely possible we see Jarvis on a bridge if they try to bring others back and don’t try to moneyball a bunch of replacements. I don’t think the number gets any lower the more we drag out the long term deal for him… but we might not be able to do Guentzel and Jarvis and all the other things we want to do if Jarvis agent numbers for 8 years is too high…. The kid has really developed and put in the work to be a more complete player and he does everything rod asks of him and he is a great fit for our system…. But he is still the same frame size and the playoffs will show if his goal success in the regular season will translate or if he will get knocked out of games being in bad spots and how he handles the different kind of hockey we are about to see….. I’m very curious to see how JAG handles playoff hockey as the Aho line has been neutralized a lot in previous years, especially on the road…. I’m hoping Guentzel allows them to score even with the different style of hockey they will face in the playoffs….
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