Confirmed with Link: Wood Signs 4 Year Extension, 2.75M AAV

[BenedictGomez]

The salary cap is $80M, which means if you put together a roster of 23 guys with $2M in cap space, their average salary would be $3.39M. Miles Wood has a below-average cap hit for the next 4 years. If he gets any better, this deal is a win for NJ - if he gets much better, it's a huge win, and Wood has no real way of earning that 'lost' money back.

I think you meant to type 24. But dividing $79.5M by 24 is not how it works to think of reasonable average, because that completely discounts highly paid players, which is the reality.

I'm not saying this Wood contract is batpoop crazy, but I am saying it's excessive for a player who has proved very little, and in a very small timeframe. It didn't used to work like this. You used to have to prove repeatability, now they just hand you the cash like it's a hostage situation, and it definitely has an upward pressure on the cap. That gets us to the eventuality that in 'X' years, we'll once more be in a situation where certain teams have a monetary advantage.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I think you meant to type 24. But dividing $79.5M by 24 is not how it works to think of reasonable average, because that completely discounts highly paid players, which is the reality.

I'm not saying this Wood contract is batpoop crazy, but I am saying it's excessive for a player who has proved very little, and in a very small timeframe. It didn't used to work like this. You used to have to prove repeatability, now they just hand you the cash like it's a hostage situation, and it definitely has an upward pressure on the cap. That gets us to the eventuality that in 'X' years, we'll once more be in a situation where certain teams have a monetary advantage.

Wood's progression from 16-17 to 17-18 was incredible. He was a legitimately bad player in 16-17. If he can improve like that going forward, then the contract will be a steal. The Devils took a chance that he will, and with all the cap space they have it isnt that surprising they decided to try doing that.

 

[Oneiro]

RFA negotiations are always calculated rolls of the dice when it's not a star player.

The downside of this and the Severson deal is not all that bad with an 80M cap and the upside is too tempting. That Wood's a guy who can clearly impact a game emotionally makes the deal even easier in my mind.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Oh, the Severson deal at $4.2M for 5 more years I'd worry about more unless he starts improving. The good news is, he should if he follows a normal D/age progression path. What I worry about, is his brain seems to be (IMO) the biggest problem, and that's much less easily fixable. He routinely makes poor to dumb decisions. I wish you could put Andy Green's brain in Damon Severson's body.

 

[JimEIV]

It's a good deal.

 

[Triumph]

I think you meant to type 24. But dividing $79.5M by 24 is not how it works to think of reasonable average, because that completely discounts highly paid players, which is the reality.

I'm not saying this Wood contract is batpoop crazy, but I am saying it's excessive for a player who has proved very little, and in a very small timeframe. It didn't used to work like this. You used to have to prove repeatability, now they just hand you the cash like it's a hostage situation, and it definitely has an upward pressure on the cap. That gets us to the eventuality that in 'X' years, we'll once more be in a situation where certain teams have a monetary advantage.

Why would I divide by 24? NHL rosters have 23 players on them at maximum.

It's good for NJ that it doesn't work like it used to, because how it used to work was exceptionally dumb - teams would grind out their 22 year old good players to sign a bunch of overpriced 31 year olds. The Devils don't have many overpriced 31 year olds, so they don't need to grind Wood down to the lowest number he'd accept - they were able to get 1 non-arbitration and 3 arbitration years at 2.75M per, which is solid work for a player who has some pretty high upside.

I'd much rather see Shero betting on the future than paying for past performance. Paying for past performance is easy and it's also silly. He shouldn't care much about what a player has done, he should care about what a player will do.

In addition, there is no real upward pressure on the salary cap - the salary cap is determined by revenues, not salaries.

 

[My3Sons]

Oh, the Severson deal at $4.2M for 5 more years I'd worry about more unless he starts improving. The good news is, he should if he follows a normal D/age progression path. What I worry about, is his brain seems to be (IMO) the biggest problem, and that's much less easily fixable. He routinely makes poor to dumb decisions. I wish you could put Andy Green's brain in Damon Severson's body.

You can.

 

[njdevils1982]

It's a good deal.

i love the deal….4 years at a decent dollar.

what took so long?

 

[JimEIV]

i love the deal….4 years at a decent dollar.

what took so long?

What took so long for Wood to sign ?

 

[NJDevs26]

i love the deal….4 years at a decent dollar.

what took so long?

Likely Wood wanted to bet on himself with a 1-2 year deal but Shero wouldn't give him that kind of money unless he signed more long-term. That or the agent really did think he should get Tom Wilson kind of money on a 4-year deal.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Why would I divide by 24? NHL rosters have 23 players on them at maximum.

You're talking about the active roster.

Salary cap is different.

 

[njdevils1982]

What took so long for Wood to sign ?

ya, it looks a deal that both sides would think they got what they wanted

Likely Wood wanted to bet on himself with a 1-2 year deal but Shero wouldn't give him that kind of money unless he signed more long-term. That or the agent really did think he should get Tom Wilson kind of money on a 4-year deal.

that wilson contract is ridiculous

 

[JimEIV]

ya, it looks a deal that both sides would think they got what they wanted

The initial reports where that they were more than a million apart per...
If that was remotely true, management moved quite a bit to do this contract.

 

[Billdo]

The initial reports where that they were more than a million apart per...
If that was remotely true, management moved quite a bit to do this contract.

Or he was asking for almost 4 per

 

[MadDevil]

Without knowing what either side's initial offer was it's hard to tell who moved where. Ultimately I guess it doesn't matter either. They got a fair deal done, and now we don't have to worry about it dragging into the season.

 

[BahlDeep]

The initial reports where that they were more than a million apart per...
If that was remotely true, management moved quite a bit to do this contract.

Or Wood understood he had no leverage

 

[Emperoreddy]

My guess is he wanted 3+ and Shero wanted under 2.5, and they came together to this.

 

[Missionhockey]

I'm guessing that the Devils two year offer was probably under $2 million. Accepting a four year contract (as others have said) is them betting that Wood continues to progress. I think a good deal considering our cap space.

 

[MartyOwns]

don’t we have to pay the hit in the last year to qualify him at the end of the contract? if so i’d assume that last year was the sticking point

 

[My3Sons]

The back end of this deal is likely after the next lockout. Who knows what the rules will be as far as RFA vs UFA by then.

 

[glenwo2]

Didn't read the whole thread, just the title so I'll just say :

IT'S ABOUT TIME, MILES!!

@Ronnie Bass , sorry about the overreaction that you dislike.


I am very pleased he's finally signed up and ready to go, though.

4 years and the AAV isn't that bad either.

Nice Job, Ray.

Now that THAT's over, it's time to focus on getting back to the Playoffs!!

 

[glenwo2]

You're right. Complaining is our motto isn't it?

Now what makes you think that?

 

[EXTRAS]

Been a disappointment this season offensively.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Been a disappointment this season in every facet of the game.

Fixed

 

[devilsblood]

I think his game is fine, except for his finish. Needs to score goals. Otherwise I don't have a complaint about his game. Well staying out of the box would be nice too.