Confirmed Signing with Link: [WPG] Blake Wheeler extension (5 years, $8.25M AAV)

[IPS]

And here I was thinking he was under contract for next year. Silly me.



That's not "max" dollar for a player who's 32? Wheelers' ain't no Crosby or even Tavarez. He cashed in and cashed in good, there's no two ways about it. If he was a UFA he could have gotten maybe 1m more with that term and that's a long if.

I don't know how or why anyone would be defending this contract or even whatever Wheelers stated in public, other than maybe homer glassed fans who're unable to think objectively. I see no discount, on the contrary.

How much more $ do you expect Laine to get than Wheeler?

I'd assume Laine's agent is drilling home the fact that Laine's ES ice-time needs to be higher to see his potential but there's only so much ES time in a game. Re-signing Wheeler keeps that ice-time to a limited quantity.

 

[IPS]

If Scheif has a healthy season then I think Wheeler could beat that number. The time he spent playing Center reduced his overall numbers. He racks up more points playing wing with Scheifele then he does playing center... which he did for a large chunk of last year.

When you take that into account his 91 point season is pretty incredible.

He almost doubled his PP production from the previous year so that's a pretty bold statement.

 

[jonlin]

Wheeler has significantly outscored Tavares every season for the past 3 years.

Tavares made Ander f***ing Lee a 40-goal scorer. Wheeler has been on a PP with Scheifele, Laine, Buff, Trouba etc. Islanders and Jets arent even compareable. Tavares would have 100+ points on the Jets

 

[Eyeseeing]

Ewww 8 mil for what hes already done. Id laugh if they cant afford Laine

He who laughs alone ....
Usually doesn’t get it
Just sayin

 

[ffh]

No he damn well wouldn't have. None of the guys you listed are anywhere close to the same age apart from Crosby who's twice the player. He got paid like a rock star and one season does not make him a superstar. There's a difference in being a consistent Art Ross contender and having a career year. Wheelers was 5th in P/60 and 8th in primary points when looking at his own team alone. The Jets had a punch a players who would have scored as much if they were played as much. If that's not a wake up call then I don't know what is. He got tons of points on the powerplay and got scored against as much as anyone. Being a work horse and breaking the sweat doesn't equal to efficiency. Oh and no the Kane deal doesn't make Wheeler's deal look good. They both look terrible and it's not a competition which one's the worst.



Whether he was worth 8 or even 10 million last year (which he wasn't) has nothing whatsoever to do what he will be worth in 2-3 years when his places start aching. Nevermind about Jets being abound to lose at least one of the promising youngsters cause Wheelers did not take a discount (if that had even helped). There's no reason to make this look good and I don't even bother trying to pretend. Chevy is shooting himself on the foot and we have first impacts already with Little's downhill after the 5+ million deal and now bleeding even more looking further down the road. They should have set up a pain ceiling in the negotiation table and if he didn't bite it, then cash him in now or later. One or two season mean jacks**t compared to decade ahead when you're stacked with promising youngsters. Chevy has a habit of petting his vets while they still have ongoing contracts and signing them one year too early. Can't believe I once thought he was as a great gm. Nowadays he looks like just another Chiarelli with "whatever you want buddy, you got it!"

 

[libertarian]

This thread sucks. This is an overpayment, but everyone is affraid to say it. Winnipeg can do no wrong and elite HFBoard members are Jets fans.

Curious. What exactly are "elite HFBoard members?" As a fan of a team in the smallest market with the smallest arena and probably one of the smallest fan bases in the NHL I had no idea that Jet fans had this kind of power on HFboards.

 

[Lacaar]

The oldest player in the top 50 in scoring last year was 33.
The only player in the top 100 over the age of 32 was Henrik Zetterberg who finished 87th.
The year before Henrik Sedin was the oldest player in the top 100 at age 36.... he finished 100th.

 

[rynryn]

Jets with Wheeler = unanimous contenders. Jet's without wheeler = ? . If they couldn't sign him I'd guess everyone would say you have to trade him so...

IDK i think this contract is probably worth it if you're trying to maximize your team's chances at a cup while they're at or near peak. Financially speaking one round of playoffs at least cover's one year of Wheeler's salary.

Wonder what the back and forth was like for this negotiation vs. Trouba and what it says about the way they feel about each player's importance going forward..

 

[Filthy Dangles]

I give him 2 more years of 75+ point production before he regresses to the 60 point and below level.

So a guy better than Matthews for 2-3 years and than William Nylander for 2-3 years...not too shabby. Good signing by the 'peg.

 

[Afterburner]

This thread sucks. This is an overpayment, but everyone is affraid to say it. Winnipeg can do no wrong and elite HFBoard members are Jets fans.

Jets fans are elite members!? I thought we were generational?!

 

[BatVader]

Jets fans are elite members!? I thought we were generational?!

Both apparently

 

[Flyerfan52]

For the next 5 years after the Wheeler raise kicks in the Scheifele/Wheeler combination is signed for $14.375. Considering that regardless who plays with them that's 2/3 of a top line anywhere.
Compare it around the league from top to bottom & it's a good bang for the buck.

 

[Coach]

Trading the captain after a career high in points would be the easy thing? Pretty sure a lot of fans would be outraged. No, the easy thing was signing him to a deal like this. Trading him would be the kind of hard decision that few organizations have the stones to make. I'm thinking of teams like the Patriots.

So your using the New England Patriots a team with the League MVP Tom Brady who at 41 was resigned for 30 million this summer as an example the Jets need to get rid of Wheeler because this contract will take him to 37 years old and surely at this age he will be a huge anchor to his team.
Possible not the best example you could choose.

 

[ijuka]

For the next 5 years after the Wheeler raise kicks in the Scheifele/Wheeler combination is signed for $14.375. Considering that regardless who plays with them that's 2/3 of a top line anywhere.
Compare it around the league from top to bottom & it's a good bang for the buck.

It's the Scheifele deal that's good bang for the buck. This Wheeler contract is very poor.

Y0u could pair Scheifele with literally anyone's contract and pretend that the combo's good value even though it's all due to Scheifele's contract.

 

[KingBogo]

The oldest player in the top 50 in scoring last year was 33.
The only player in the top 100 over the age of 32 was Henrik Zetterberg who finished 87th.
The year before Henrik Sedin was the oldest player in the top 100 at age 36.... he finished 100th.

Pretty selective dividing points. You most have had to work hard on them. Wheeler is a year younger than Ovie. Where do you think he lands in this year's top 50?

 

[TheDoldrums]

So your using the New England Patriots a team with the League MVP Tom Brady who at 41 was resigned for 30 million this summer as an example the Jets need to get rid of Wheeler because this contract will take him to 37 years old and surely at this age he will be a huge anchor to his team.
Possible not the best example you could choose.

I'm using them as an example of being cutthroat and getting rid of key players without falling victim to sentiment.

I'm saying it's a tough thing that most franchises aren't willing to consider.

 

[Zhamnov5GoalGame]

He almost doubled his PP production from the previous year so that's a pretty bold statement.

I'm not saying I expect him to surpass last years numbers.
But we can't deny that Scheifele's absence had a negative effect (during that time) on Wheeler's production. My point was as incredible as 91 points was for him... he could have had more. Aside from a brief hot start with Connor and Laine; most of those games saw that line treading water with the MP / Little / Ehlers line and other lines doing the scoring.

If Wheeler and Scheifele both play 80 games and the Jets show the depth of scoring they have then it is possible that Blake might still have yet another career year.

We can always hope.

 

[Flair Hay]

You're overpaying later to get him signed at a very fair rate for the next couple years. Its what teams trying to contend do.

 

[kelsier]

R.I.D.I.C.U.L.O.U.S.

Is the type of a response you usually get when when the counter-party lacks any opposing arguments.

How much more $ do you expect Laine to get than Wheeler?

I'd assume Laine's agent is drilling home the fact that Laine's ES ice-time needs to be higher to see his potential but there's only so much ES time in a game. Re-signing Wheeler keeps that ice-time to a limited quantity.

Yeah I don't think Chevy fully realized the seasons each of them were going to have. Maurice (who always does what he's told) iced Laine in a way that kept him scoring insane amount of points and made sure he didn't get any fair looks in the top unit. Meanwhile Wheelers resume didn't warrant over PPG+ season. So they banked on Wheelers getting his usual average of 65-75 pt/season which would have taken a few millions of the contract. At the same time they assumed Laine would sign during the off-season after a mediocre year due to low ice time and average performance. Of course neither instance took place and I wonder if they now regret these decisions, cause after all, Laine is getting paid no matter what (goal scorers always do), their run to the Cup came short and the soon-to-be-fossil got rich over night (Wheeler's still an alright player, ha). But you are right, it is more than likely that they will keep Laine's ice time in the bay and use him for a secondary scoring one more time while probably keeping the fingers crossed for him not to go in a hot-streak(s). If 32 yo Wheelers is worth 8,25million to the Jets, then Laine, who's prime years are short in the horizon and who actually is a primary producer, should quite easily land around 12m. Then again he might take the discount Wheelers never took and sign something short of 8/9m AAV. Never know.

They'll need cap space and people's gotta go. Perreault is the most expendable, but how are they going to sign Connor, Roslovic, Morrisey and Vesalainen when there's a third line player making 5m+/y and aging captain earning 8m+/y? Well, they can't, not without trading some of them or maybe even Ehlers.

 

[ffh]

Is the type of a response you usually get when when the counter-party lacks any opposing arguments.



Yeah I don't think Chevy fully realized the seasons each of them were going to have. Maurice (who always does what he's told) iced Laine in a way that kept him scoring insane amount of points and made sure he didn't get any fair looks in the top unit. Meanwhile Wheelers resume didn't warrant over PPG+ season. So they banked on Wheelers getting his usual average of 65-75 pt/season which would have taken a few millions of the contract. At the same time they assumed Laine would sign during the off-season after a mediocre year due to low ice time and average performance. Of course neither instance took place and I wonder if they now regret these decisions, cause after all, Laine is getting paid no matter what (goal scorers always do), their run to the Cup came short and the soon-to-be-fossil got rich over night (Wheeler's still an alright player, ha). But you are right, it is more than likely that they will keep Laine's ice time in the bay and use him for a secondary scoring one more time while probably keeping the fingers crossed for him not to go in a hot-streak(s). If 32 yo Wheelers is worth 8,25million to the Jets, then Laine, who's prime years are short in the horizon and who actually is a primary producer, should quite easily land around 12m. Then again he might take the discount Wheelers never took and sign something short of 8/9m AAV. Never know.

They'll need cap space and people's gotta go. Perreault is the most expendable, but how are they going to sign Connor, Roslovic, Morrisey and Vesalainen when there's a third line player making 5m+/y and aging captain earning 8m+/y? Well, they can't, not without trading some of them or maybe even Ehlers.

I can never follow you sometimes. morrissey will be signed this year so why is he a worry for cap space. We have the cap space As for connor and Laine next year you can make room by letting myers or trouba and Perreault go and kulikov if need be. More then enough money. Roslovic and Ves aren't getting off the 4th line for years. They're not a problem. And make no mistake about it as long as Lowry is here he is the 3rd line centre. They can bridge roslovic and Ves then. Move ehlers. Yeah o.k

 

[kelsier]

I can never follow you sometimes. morrissey will be signed this year so why is he a worry for cap space. We have the cap space As for connor and Laine next year you can make room by letting myers or trouba and Perreault go and kulikov if need be. More then enough money. Roslovic and Ves aren't getting off the 4th line for years. They're not a problem. And make no mistake about it as long as Lowry is here he is the 3rd line centre. They can bridge roslovic and Ves then. Move ehlers. Yeah o.k

You have trouble following me but at the same time you think cap hit sorts itself by letting players go and it's as simple as that? Kulikov was just signed and even if they traded him, they'd still have to find a replacement and whoever that was would still need to get paid. Same with Myers, same with Trouba, same with everyone. Roslovic was playing in the 3rd line already last year and he is currently pretty much the only player who can replace the declining Little in the 2nd line. Yeah I know, "but he just had a down year" (which covers nearly the entire 82 played games last year). At worst, Roslovic is a 3rd line player as of this moment and slotting him in the 4th line would do more damage to his development. He'd be much better in the AHL than playing 8-9 mins/game @ NHL. I don't get where this Roslovic being a 4th line player comes from. Anyway you do understand that Little still has 6 years left remaining, while Wheelers has 5? How many times over do you think they can bridge these kids? You really think they can afford the entire young core moving forward? Certainly if they are willing to cut the entire defence and replace all of them with AHL'ers, that might just do it. I didn't even list all the youngsters in the team and if someone like Niku for instance makes a breakthrough then that's just one more contract for the long run on the top of the pile of existing ones.

 

[libertarian]

Is the type of a response you usually get when when the counter-party lacks any opposing arguments.



Yeah I don't think Chevy fully realized the seasons each of them were going to have. Maurice (who always does what he's told) iced Laine in a way that kept him scoring insane amount of points and made sure he didn't get any fair looks in the top unit. Meanwhile Wheelers resume didn't warrant over PPG+ season. So they banked on Wheelers getting his usual average of 65-75 pt/season which would have taken a few millions of the contract. At the same time they assumed Laine would sign during the off-season after a mediocre year due to low ice time and average performance. Of course neither instance took place and I wonder if they now regret these decisions, cause after all, Laine is getting paid no matter what (goal scorers always do), their run to the Cup came short and the soon-to-be-fossil got rich over night (Wheeler's still an alright player, ha). But you are right, it is more than likely that they will keep Laine's ice time in the bay and use him for a secondary scoring one more time while probably keeping the fingers crossed for him not to go in a hot-streak(s). If 32 yo Wheelers is worth 8,25million to the Jets, then Laine, who's prime years are short in the horizon and who actually is a primary producer, should quite easily land around 12m. Then again he might take the discount Wheelers never took and sign something short of 8/9m AAV. Never know.

They'll need cap space and people's gotta go. Perreault is the most expendable, but how are they going to sign Connor, Roslovic, Morrisey and Vesalainen when there's a third line player making 5m+/y and aging captain earning 8m+/y? Well, they can't, not without trading some of them or maybe even Ehlers.

When Laine can carry the play and create his own scoring chances he is not worth 10m. Until he can do this on his own he is not worth any more then Wheeler has just received. Laine can score like few others in the NHL but he is far from being a complete hockey player that can help the Jets win the Cup. Jets needed his scoring last PO season but it disappeared. He is still a kid that should get better but right now he not worth 10m a year.

 

[kelsier]

When Laine can carry the play and create his own scoring chances he is not worth 10m. Until he can do this on his own he is not worth any more then Wheeler has just received. Laine can score like few others in the NHL but he is far from being a complete hockey player that can help the Jets win the Cup. Jets needed his scoring last PO season but it disappeared. He is still a kid that should get better but right now he not worth 10m a year.

When they re-signed Wheelers they banked money on today & near future. When they'll re-sign Laine they will bank money on today and for the long distance, which is by far more valuable than whatever Wheelers can provide in the next few years before he starts to decline. Laine was ahead of Wheelers primary scoring (goals and points combined) as well as P/60 last season already so while it may not look like he's "creating his own scoring chances" or whatnot, he was still more effective with lesser line mates. Also as I said there were other forwards in the team that were also ahead of Wheelers in the P/60 and had they been given his minutes, they probably would have outscored him. Having the motor and breaking the sweat does not equal to efficiency. Wheelers had more crucial role in the playoffs and he wasn't able to take the team into the finals anymore than Laine did. There's no question who's the more valuable player moving forward and you cannot possibly know what Laine looks like in 18-19 until 18-19 actually begins. For what it's worth, this isn't Laine vs Wheelers debate, but a discussion about Wheeler's contract.

 

[libertarian]

Wheeler at this moment is worth 8.25M to win a cup Laine is not at this time. That does not mean he won' be worth more in the future. If Laine learns from Wheeler and Scheifele's example he could become a great player in the league and a leader for the Jets. Not convinced he will ever get there. Great scorer that will win Rocket trophy's in the future because he will play with great players. What I want to see is if he can generate his own offence no matter who he plays with like Scheifele and Wheeler do now. He does that then he is worth 10M a year. Until then I'll take Conner over Laine to be the higher paid player between the two.

 

[SenzZen]

He doesn't have the same kind of mileage on him as most 32 (just) year olds.

The USHL year and NCAA years following his draft aren't the same as time in the CHL/AHL- so I doubt this is as bad as the nay-sayers are making it out to be.