[Jacks]

If we sign Gio to 7 or 8 years he will be turning 33 at the start of the extension. Situation is very similar to Chara and shows the dangers of a 7 or 8 year contract.

7 yrs / $45,500,000 Average Salary $6,500,000

2011-12 34yrs S7,500,000 cap hit $6,916,665
2012-13 35yrs $6,000,000 cap hit $6,916,667
2013-14 36yrs $8,000,000 cap hit $6,916,667
2014-15 37yrs $7,000,000 cap hit $6,916,667
2015-16 38yrs $7,000,000 cap hit $6,916,667
2016-17 39yrs $5,000,000 cap hit $6,916,667
2017-18 40yrs $4,000,000 cap hit $4,000,000

It was a good deal when he signed it, franchise defenceman and team leader. Today he isn't nearly as effective and is getting less so each year. Boston has 3 more years of cap hit on that contract, one of the reasons they have major cap troubles today. Also note that Chara has been much more durable than Gio missing only a handful of games each year until last year.

I want Gio to be a part of this team until he retires but we need to remove emotion from the equation. Max term should be 5 or 6 years and if he wants 8-9M/year then it should be a 2 or 3 year deal. I trust Treliving to get a decent deal done but they should tell the agent to revise their initial ask.

Edit: If of course that really is the initial ask and Kypreos isn't full of crap.