Confirmed with Link: Lightning extend Andrei Vasilevskiy | 8 years, $9.5M AAV

[DFC]

YAY!, sure its a lot of money right now but I think the cap will be much higher and this contract will look much better the longer it goes. Plus he's still only 25 so its not like this deal is running till he's 37-38.

Its nice to have the goalie position settled for the foreseeable future.

Honestly I think we're banking on that too. Still though, makes you wonder if we're thinking the same thing with Point.

I go both ways with it. Part of me thinks this means we're gonna give point big money. Another part of me thinks this is just more proof we give paydays after bridge deals.

It might get difficult if point really digs his heels in on term though.

 

[Master P]

Honestly I think we're banking on that too. Still though, makes you wonder if we're thinking the same thing with Point.

I go both ways with it. Part of me thinks this means we're gonna give point big money. Another part of me thinks this is just more proof we give paydays after bridge deals.

It might get difficult if point really digs his heels in on term though.

Well the track record with bridge deals is there so I think there is a high percentage chance that Point takes a 3 year deal, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him signed to an 8 year deal either.

If we do have to move out another player I think we can use that extra first round pick we have in order to entice a team to take someone since everyone knows how cap strapped the team is.

 

[Master P]

So this should pretty much end all "BUT MUH TAXES" talk by other fans right?
I know it won't, but it should.

 

[Stormbreaker]

 

[Maelmoor]

As I said, we obviously had to offer a big contract to a top goalie like Vasy. My problem is not Vasy himself but goalies in general, they are really fickle.

Three seasons ago the top 10 in sv% who played at least 30 games (actually all but Darling played 40 or more games)

1. Bobrovsky
2. Anderson
3. Holtby
4. Gibson
5. Darling
6. Murray
7. Dubnyk
8. Price
9. Raanta
10. Lehner

and six seasons ago like this:

1. Varlamov
2. Fleury
3. Niemi
4. Bishop
5. Rask
6. Price
7. Lehtonen
8. Lundqvist
9. Mason
10. Bobrovsky

Just a general concern putting so much into a goalie. We've seen that hot goalies wins you the cup, not necessarily the best goalies.

 

[VinikToWinIt]

Hmmm... That looks an awful lot like a day off.

 

[Master P]

As I said, we obviously had to offer a big contract to a top goalie like Vasy. My problem is not Vasy himself but goalies in general, they are really fickle.

Three seasons ago the top 10 in sv% who played at least 30 games (actually all but Darling played 40 or more games)

1. Bobrovsky
2. Anderson
3. Holtby
4. Gibson
5. Darling
6. Murray
7. Dubnyk
8. Price
9. Raanta
10. Lehner

and six seasons ago like this:

1. Varlamov
2. Fleury
3. Niemi
4. Bishop
5. Rask
6. Price
7. Lehtonen
8. Lundqvist
9. Mason
10. Bobrovsky

Just a general concern putting so much into a goalie. We've seen that hot goalies wins you the cup, not necessarily the best goalies.

Goalies might not "win you the cup" but they for sure win you playoff series on route to that cup. There are times when a team had no business winning a series but the goalie just stood on his head and they were able to do it. Sometimes thats all a team needs. Just look back at the Caps series. If not for Vassy that series is probably over in 5.

 

[DFC]

Well the track record with bridge deals is there so I think there is a high percentage chance that Point takes a 3 year deal, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him signed to an 8 year deal either.

If we do have to move out another player I think we can use that extra first round pick we have in order to entice a team to take someone since everyone knows how cap strapped the team is.

Yeah, that would come next year though when some of the NTCs get relaxed. Killorn's not a cap dump. Palat may or may not be by then. I believe Johnson's deal also gets easier to move after this year and we'd probably get solid value there from some team desperate for a 2C. SJ might be a good landing spot if Thornton retires this year.

We really need a couple of prospects to pan out though in order to take a step forward. I really think Cernak could be in a position to ask for 4m after this year. He looks a lot better than the guys who recently got 3-4.

 

[Master P]

Yeah, that would come next year though when some of the NTCs get relaxed. Killorn's not a cap dump. Palat may or may not be by then. I believe Johnson's deal also gets easier to move after this year and we'd probably get solid value there from some team desperate for a 2C. SJ might be a good landing spot if Thornton retires this year.

We really need a couple of prospects to pan out though in order to take a step forward. I really think Cernak could be in a position to ask for 4m after this year. He looks a lot better than the guys who recently got 3-4.

I'm still betting that Volkov and Foote (Cal) make the roster this year. At the very least it should make some of the other guys pick up their game knowing there are some young guys gunning for their spot.

 

[Todd1a]

Signing Vasilevskiy was a need and a must reminds me of signing Hedman was a need and a must! When we were thinking about signing stamkos that was a option we wanted to keep him but we could have moved on from stamkos and still have been a good team. If we moved on from Hedman and Vasilevskiy what would have been our back up options to replace those two ?

 

[LTIR Trickery]

Signing Vasilevskiy was a need and a must reminds me of signing Hedman was a need and a must! When we were thinking about signing stamkos that was a option we wanted to keep him but we could have moved on from stamkos and still have been a good team. If we moved on from Hedman and Vasilevskiy what would have been our back up options to replace those two ?

Now we're talking, Todd. I've seen the product of great teams without a goaltender, and bad teams with a great goaltender. You can sign forwards and defenders at various times, deadline pickups, etc... but rarely if ever does anyone give up legit, #1, vezina goaltenders. I have no issues really paying the kid, and this is one less offseason headache to deal with.

 

[SRQKiter]

Oof. That's too much for a goalie.

Thought we'd get off a bit easier than this.

 

[God King Fudge]

A goalie can lose you the Cup single handedly with a bad stretch. There's enough F and D that if someone is having an off series (Or playoff career, like Stamkos) you can generally get through a rough stretch. If your 9.5M goalie has a rough stretch, you're done.

It's just too risky to dish out that kind of money. Already seeing the hopes of rookies filling a spot. Gonna be fun to see when we have to deal out 2-3 guys to fit the core and half the team is league minimum guys and rookies on ELCs.

Good times.

 

[Letsgobolts21]

It is good times. If you want to go back to almost no talent, start following the Sens. Any "good" goalie starting next season will be $5M and if the goalie is actually good more than that. I just don't see that $3-4.5M difference to spend on another player being worth it.

Of course you have to make choices on guys when you have an expensive core, but almost all our core guys are locked up during their perceived premium years.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

I'm still betting that Volkov and Foote (Cal) make the roster this year. At the very least it should make some of the other guys pick up their game knowing there are some young guys gunning for their spot.

We definetely need to see what we have in those handful of guys who are close to making that jump. Knowing that Volkov, Stephens, and some of the others are viable (not to meantion cheaper) options to plug into our lineup will help if/when other hard decisions need to be made on older players to free up cap space.

 

[dechire]

I don't like it but he needed to be locked up so I don't hate it either

 

[Flat Ronnie]

I don't like it but he needed to be locked up so I don't hate it either

What dont you like about it?

 

[CupsOverCash]

Will probably have to be cheaper on the bottom 6 going forward but to have a core of Vasi, Hedman, Kuch, Stamkos, McDonagh, and Point is not bad to build around. There are far worse situations to be in.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Look at those legs on Vas. Tree trunks.

 

[DFC]

I'm still betting that Volkov and Foote (Cal) make the roster this year. At the very least it should make some of the other guys pick up their game knowing there are some young guys gunning for their spot.

I think volkov has an easier path than Foote. For this year anyway. I think rutta is our D Martel, and Foote will come up when there are injuries.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

Lots of money for a goalie but he's the most valuable player on a stacked team, and all his workmates know it. Kid is only 24, he gets paid for his current/projected performances, not his past. I'm good with that. Trimming payroll is now inevitable tho.

The good news I can't see Point getting near this kind of money now, not yet.

 

[These Are The Days]

Look at those legs on Vas. Tree trunks.

We couldn't get their shirts off for this?

 

[berlin]

If you don’t believe in him then obviously you don’t like this deal. I do believe he is elite and this deal will look great in a couple years, especially with the cap increasing.

 

[OurlordAndSaviorKuch]

Am I the only one kind of shocked that we resigned Vasy this year? Also that term is kinda scary

 

[Todd1a]

Am I the only one kind of shocked that we resigned Vasy this year? Also that term is kinda scary

I’m not shocked at all Kucherov and Vasilevskiy have the same agent and Kucherov did the same thing signed one year out before being a free agent as a RFA. That’s smarts business by a agent hey let’s get this contract done early before Tampa has less cap space to work with next summer! If point had a good agent he would have tried for an extension last summer. Or at the very least tried to do an extension with Tampa back in December.