Confirmed with Link: Penguins re-sign Justin Schultz (3 years, $16.5M | $5.5M AAV)

[eXile59]

26 years old, coming off a career year. Of course he got paid. Given the market for D Pens had to find a way to keep him.

 

[cygnus47]

Little higher and shorter than expected. Not sure why we didn't go for a longer deal. Not too bad though, and we have absolutely no-one in the pipeline anyway.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

I actually prefer they went this route instead of the six years, $30M+ that Orlov got. Outside of actual star players where your hands are tied, nothing good comes from handing out long-term deals.

Agreed. If Schultz doesn't end up being worth this deal, it won't be catastrophic in the same sense that a 5 or 6 year deal would have been. You can move a shorter deal like this if it comes to that.

Took a discount last year and played great. Knew it'd be at least 5m to keep him

The discount last year definitely had to play a role in it. Best thing for both sides that it worked out the way it did.

 

[deakka]

Ive been complaining for years now about that we should remove Letang from pp1. Be it Daley, Ehrhoff or whoever else we had available to replace him. Letang is not good on the PP.

But ive never got my wish before, so I expect Letang to be on pp1 whenever hes available. I rather have schultz there tho.

 

[PennDanzig]

Happy they got the deal done. Would have liked one more year with mayyybe a slightly reduced AAV but whatever can't really complain too much at all. Solid.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

11M now for Dumo, Sheary, and 2 centers

 

[Atren]

More than I hoped, but less than I feared. Hoped 5M for 5 or so years. I do wonder why this specific term.

 

[billybudd]

This is about the best we could have expected.

 

[Shrimper]

$0.5m too much but it could be worse

 

[CrosbyMalkin]

Why? He's still a risk, not to mention the fact even a player of his offensive caliber isn't worth a long term contract. We got his best years, when we needed them, and for a reasonable price considering what he brings offensively.

Anyone saying this is a steep price is just kidding themselves. He made 4 million when he came here, the cap has gone up and he has become a better player. Honestly, if he was a UFA, I think he could easily get Shattenkirk money.

I agree if he was a UFA he could get Shattenkirk money and they said He was offered more than the $6.65 million he took with the Rangers. I don't see much difference between them.

Was hoping for 5x5

 

[PensPlz]

Dumo gonna get 4 now.

 

[Empoleon8771]

After thinking about it, I think I'm fine with it. Just get Dumoulin back and put him on a pair with Schultz. I think this basically guarantees Cole is gone after next year though, they can't pay their defense that much money.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

For a right-handed OFD coming in to his prime, this is a very solid deal. We purchased what should be his best three years of hockey.

In a world where Yandle got what he got plus term, and considering what Shattenkirk got, this is a very solid deal for us.

 

[Ugene Magic]

For a right-handed OFD coming in to his prime, this is a very solid deal. We purchased what should be his best three years of hockey.

In a world where Yandle got what he got plus term, and considering what Shattenkirk got, this is a very solid deal for us.

Right.

I doubt we'll see a drop off for him either, Him and Cole should be 2nd pairing regulars now that Daley is gone.

It probably wouldn't hurt to have Maatta do some less minutes and switch in and out with Dumoulin on Letang's pairing.

 

[Coach Travis]

Imagine what his AAV would have been had we given him a 4 year deal last year? Ah well. Great signing. Schultz surely deserves it.

 

[CanadianPensFan1]

Shorter than I wanted. More expensive than I wanted. But I'm not pissed about it. Given what dmen are going for ... it makes sense.

 

[Darth Vitale]

Hate it. Way too much. Will never be as good as this season again.

Nightmare coming true that JR will overpay for our RFA trio. I knew he couldnt handle having cap space to play with

Nothing personal man but you need to ease back on the negativity throttle. This is HFB not Facebook.

There's no reason to think he won't continue to be a regular contributor to the offense, and as others have said, ideally you want more than just one D on your team who can put up 50 pts. Letang's injury history is enough to validate same. It's not an ideal amount of money but it's not insane either (see also: Vlasic).

$0.5m too much but it could be worse

That's pretty much how I look at it. And it's not like if down the road we're forced to move him or Hags or whoever to keep Kessel, that those guys aren't easily traded for a reasonable return.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

I don't see him running out his contract here.

 

[froods]

He had us by the balls. Whatever.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

That's certainly more than most here expected. Still, if that's what it takes, then that's what it takes.

EDIT: Also makes me wonder what Dumo is going to come in at.

Yup.

I had Schultz at 5.2 and Bones at 3.9. Hopefully that trend doesn't continue because I initially had Dumo at 3.9.

 

[mrwirez]

Great deal, wish it was a little longer for .5 less.

4x5m would be better for the team, but good for him.

 

[jmelm]

Y'all will complain about literally anything.

This ^

People complaining are working so hard just to complain. Absolutely nothing to complain about on this one

And this ^

People talk about this being an overpayment as if the cap is where it was 10 years ago.

And this ^

 

[ncm7772]

More than I wanted to see, but as already said by others, this was expected after seeing what other D-Men were getting.

Just happy to see him re-signed!

 

[jmelm]

That's certainly more than most here expected. Still, if that's what it takes, then that's what it takes.

EDIT: Also makes me wonder what Dumo is going to come in at.

Dumo is going to be signed for 6 years minimum, and I won't be surprised if they go to 7 or 8 years. He will be giving up a bunch of UFA years so he won't be in the range of 3-3.5 or whatever some people hoped for. My guess is between 4M - 4.25M.

 

[shureshot66]

Imagine what his AAV would have been had we given him a 4 year deal last year?

Which is why his agent wouldn't have let him sign a four-year deal last summer.

Not that the Pens would have necessarily offered that, of course. Easy to forget Schultz was benched for the entire third period of Game 6 against the Sharks. He came a long way this past year.