Confirmed with Link: Report: Couture to sign 8-year, $8m AAV contract extension (begins for 2019/20 season)

[tahoesharksfan]

 

[FunkyPhin]

So what, in general we are overpaying by 1-2 million per year?

As long as they stay productive, I don't care.

IF we do end up getting tavares and what he'll most likely command those two contracts are going to make our situation really tight. If we don't, then it doesn't really matter. I'm just not a fan right now of DW throwing max term at some of our players that really shouldn't be getting it.

 

[Maladroit]

Maybe it's too much money and term but what other choice do the Sharks have here? This is the price for passing on centers like Barzal and Fabbri in the draft and therefore having nobody in the system who can conceivably replace Couture.

 

[FunkyPhin]

If the cap continues its upward trajectory (no reason to think it won't at the moment), these hits become a lot less daunting in a couple of years.

Even if the cap held steady for the first year of the extension's life, the AAV is about 10% of the cap figure.

Comparatively, Cooch signed his current deal of $6m per in 2013 where it was 9.33% of the pending 13/14 cap. And as of the final coming year will be 7.5% of the cap. I recall people saying it was too rich at the time, and now it seems eminently reasonable.

Unless NHL revenues tank in the next 3-5 years, the actual impact on the team's financial structure should scale to be wholly manageable and only improve with time. And yes, it means the Sharks bought into his age 35-37 seasons when he's likely going to start deteriorating a little bit, but that's generally a cost of doing business with good players in their primes across the league. Hell, it'll be a cost of doing business with Tavares too if the team manages to go that direction. The hope will always be that either a) the player remains reasonably productive in that period so that the hit isn't that bad, or b) it times with the team's window/fortunes waning at that point and having some of your cap tied up in dead(er) weight money isn't a big deal since you're transitioning into a cheap young rebuilding model.

I understand that against a rising cap these deals may look a lot better in a few years time. Though IF it does start to stagnate or rise only slowly these deals begin to make our situation a lot tougher. Like I said in an earlier post I'm just not a fan of DW throwing max term to some of these guys, he honestly doesn't even look like he's trying to negotiate with some of our players.

 

[The Nemesis]

IF we do end up getting tavares and what he'll most likely command those two contracts are going to make our situation really tight. If we don't, then it doesn't really matter. I'm just not a fan right now of DW throwing max term at some of our players that really shouldn't be getting it.

Next year's problem is next year's problem. Sign Tavares in a way that fits right now and then spend the next 365 days figuring out how to make it work out in the future.

At the very least, Pavs comes off the books and if he continues his gradual backwards slide into his mid 30s, there's savings to be had there on a fresh contract (or, worst case, moving on entirely). Maybe you also find a taker for Braun or Dillon's expiring deals, or Dell, or who knows what else they can do)

Or who knows, maybe the pending Seattle expansion and continued league success jump the cap up another $4-5m and extra wiggle room gets to magically appear out of thin air.

 

[Gene Parmesan]

Next year's problem is next year's problem. Sign Tavares in a way that fits right now and then spend the next 365 days figuring out how to make it work out in the future.

At the very least, Pavs comes off the books and if he continues his gradual backwards slide into his mid 30s, there's savings to be had there on a fresh contract (or, worst case, moving on entirely). Maybe you also find a taker for Braun or Dillon's expiring deals, or Dell, or who knows what else they can do)

Or who knows, maybe the pending Seattle expansion and continued league success jump the cap up another $4-5m and extra wiggle room gets to magically appear out of thin air.

Exactly.

 

[The Nemesis]

I understand that against a rising cap these deals may look a lot better in a few years time. Though IF it does start to stagnate or rise only slowly these deals begin to make our situation a lot tougher. Like I said in an earlier post I'm just not a fan of DW throwing max term to some of these guys, he honestly doesn't even look like he's trying to negotiate with some of our players.

the cap has been around for 13 years and has stayed steady-ish exactly twice (and one of those was mandated/intentional on account of lockout#2). It's averaged a 6% jump every season since inception, maxing out at 13/14% in the first couple of years and with non-mandated growth adjustments bottoming out at a still-respectable 2% around the lockout (I say 'non-mandated' adjustments because what ultimately borks things a bit is the pro-rated cap from lockout #2 and the mandated steady cap for the first post-lockout2 season. The first natural, untinkered cap adjustment away from the lockout was still a 7% increase over pre-lockout levels)

The chances of it plateauing hard or falling are not terribly high, and managing to unlikely scenarios is asking for trouble.

Besides, at worst this is a mild overpayment on a long term that should still be mostly productive for the player. It's not like DW went full Clarkson.

 

[Kcoyote3]

And the Martin buyout decreases by 600k and then by another 1.4 million. It's gonna be tight, but they'll make it work.

 

[Pistol Pete]

I don’t mind this at all. As others have mentioned, with the cap’s expected rise, this should be in line with what players are worth. It’s a $2mil raise. Pavs comes off the books next year. Martin’s buyout comes off the books the following year along with Karlsson if he’s still around. This doesn’t have any negative impact on potentially signing Tavares. If anything, it’s helps the Sharks’ cause by showing their commitment to their core players.

 

[KarlssonsGroin]

Factor in the eventual cap rise and this deal isn't bad. Couture isn't a player that relies on breakneck speed, so as long as he keeps his body in good shape the contract should be fine.

this. most had a similar reaction to Burn's deal last offseason "too long" "about 1m overpaid" etc

then boom John Carlson got 8x8 and Burns likely coulda got 8x10 this offseason if he wanted with Drew getting 8x11.

 

[hohosaregood]

this. most had a similar reaction to Burn's deal last offseason "too long" "about 1m overpaid" etc

then boom John Carlson got 8x8 and Burns likely coulda got 8x10 this offseason if he wanted with Drew getting 8x11.

Yea definitely seems like NHLers are finally deciding "I deserve to be paid what I'm worth". We kinda had a lull for a while which was probably because Crosby and Ovi took these huge contracts near the beginning of the salary cap and it was hard for anybody to justify to teams that they should be paid more than the best player in the league.

 

[Alaskanice]

So pleased to see Logan in teal for a long time. Good job DW!!
Go Sharks!!

 

[Gene Parmesan]

Yea definitely seems like NHLers are finally deciding "I deserve to be paid what I'm worth". We kinda had a lull for a while which was probably because Crosby and Ovi took these huge contracts near the beginning of the salary cap and it was hard for anybody to justify to teams that they should be paid more than the best player in the league.

I don't worry about it. This is why teams employ capologists. The Sharks are an extremely well run org so I'm sure they aren't just going at it on a whim.

 

[hohosaregood]

I don't worry about it. This is why teams employ capologists. The Sharks are an extremely well run org so I'm sure they aren't just going at it on a whim.

I don't worry about it that much either. High numbers definitely make me feel uneasy but when you really think about it, it's been a long while since the Sharks have extremely overpaid a player a la Bobby Ryan or Brent Seabrook. Like others have said, Kane and Couture are paid maybe ~$1m more than we'd like and that's not much. Additionally, there's a lot of cap we could potentially shed like Karlsson, Braun, and Dillon if worst comes to worst.

 

[Friday]

 

[OffSydes]

Logan a true team player by driving up the price around the league

 

[hohosaregood]

Logan a true team player by driving up the price around the league

It's probably good for the NHLPA. Doug Wilson = True Players' GM

 

[matt trick]

We need to find a Donskoi for the defense. With all these big contracts we're going to need a few dirt cheap contributors. Someone who can come in for a one year contract in the #4 D spot for 700k and then get another below market deal for 2M per year.

Maybe Heed is that guy, but hopefully Sundstrom starts finding two guys per year to sign. Outside of Merkeley who is the definition of boom bust, I don't see a whole lot of people ready to replace Heed and Demelo, let alone Braun or Dillon.

 

[BCShark]

only true clutch player the sharks have ever had. great signing

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

We need to find a Donskoi for the defense. With all these big contracts we're going to need a few dirt cheap contributors. Someone who can come in for a one year contract in the #4 D spot for 700k and then get another below market deal for 2M per year.

Maybe Heed is that guy, but hopefully Sundstrom starts finding two guys per year to sign. Outside of Merkeley who is the definition of boom bust, I don't see a whole lot of people ready to replace Heed and Demelo, let alone Braun or Dillon.

We already have Joakim Ryan, but we’re kind of counting on Merkley and Ferraro to step in and play well at a young age.

 

[hohosaregood]

We already have Joakim Ryan, but we’re kind of counting on Merkley and Ferraro to step in and play well at a young age.

I'd be very happy if our defense developed such that it'd end up like:
Vlasic-Burns
Ryan-Merkley
Dillon-Ferraro
Roy

 

[Maladroit]

Yeah we're gonna need Merkley, Ferraro and Roy to replace Braun, Dillon and Heed respectively as early as 2019-20 if possible. Gonna need to take full advantage of those ELC deals.

And then hopefully we'll have a Tavares/Couture/Kane/Hertl core to build around up front with Donskoi, Labanc, Meier and any two of Suomela, Balcers, Sorensen, Gambrell, Norris, Chmelevski, Chekhovich, etc. filling out the top nine. It's definitely doable to field a competitive team with all these big contracts on the books but it's (obviously) going to take some younger guys developing quickly.

 

[DG93]

Not unexpected after that Kane contract disaster...it's going to sting in 4 years, but considering that is the case for 2-3 other players already (Burns/Vlasic/maybe Kane), who cares lol. Good to have Couture locked up.

 

[Alwalys]

Wilson is playing an interesting game with the cap recently. And I'm sure it's not coincidence that this information was pushed out there today.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

My dream involves us upgrading on Braun with a player somewhere in between Tanev and Trouba and then replacing Dillon/Heed with Ferraro and Merkley in a year.