We also have to take into account, that virtually everyone on the team has more icetime and opportunity than most other teams in the league. That alone slightly inflates stats and value....but it's an artificial inflation. If the team actually improves with the kids, suddenly those 'good' contracts start looking lousy when the vets drop down the lineup.
That's why I like the length of the deal. Got to keep those vet deals as short as possible in a situation like this.
Yeah but it's also what the player does with the ice-time. Look at Pageau, proved himself and got a 5.0 AAV as a result. Tierney is not as good but has been historically more productive so 3.5 certainly doesn't look bad vs Pageau. Like I said, Tierney gets more in a non-covid world
I understand your point that Tierney's value diminishes if he gets bumped by younger guys but the way this contract is made is also why he is tradeable or a possibility to be taken by Seattle... Going long term with Tierney would have been way less ideal but 2 years at 3.5 is absolutely no risk
Finally, yes Tierney got an opportunity in Ottawa but he also did in San Jose and had 40 pts in 2017-18. San Jose lacked forward depht that season but they were a contender and Tierney did well.
40-50 pts forwards are easily worth more than 3.5 in a non-covid environment, opportunity or not. Teams can't really use that argument during negotiations and say to the agent "your player was only good because we allowed him to be"
I say all this as a big non-Tierney fan.
Sure, call it what you want, but there are less and less teams willing to do that - or rather, there should be less and less teams because inevitably we hear about the whining and crying about cap space and if we could only move PLAYER X, then we could sign yet another guy to another massive contract that in 5 years they'll be trying anything to get rid of.
Some cycles are smart, some are meant to be broken.
If you want to look at how it's done correctly, then look no further than TB, that has but 1 guy signed past 35. And even they're in cap hell, but they paid their players correctly (perhaps not Johnson etc., but the idea is there) and won a Cup without dipping out into the realms of the dead contract, the over 35 and done contract.
Your initial point is that "many GMs cant resist giving massive money to plays as free agents that take them into their late 30s". They know the risk, they know players are always 1 injury away from becoming less efficient. They have the approbation to proceed by their ownership. Rich teams like Montreal (for example) are not scared to sign players (although Bergevin is a real penny pincher) and they'll deal with it if necessary (look at Alzner). Do you know much money the Habs print every year?
TB is one the favorite destination in the NHL. Very low taxes and the perfect weather all year. But yes they did a great job with their salary cap structure. I don't think it's realistic to expect that in certain markets though.