Projected Point Totals and Career Highs
There are presently eight players on pace to score +100 points. There have been only five players to hit this mark since 2010, and there have not been multiple +100-point-scorers since the 2009-10 season.
The big increase in NHL scoring this season has the Flames appearing to be in excellent shape moving forward, with their top two scorers locked down for five more years at under $7.0 m each.
It will be interesting to see how increased scoring will affect player contracts in the next season or two. Do lower historical precedents increase the value of impending deals for Backlund and Tkachuk?
On the other side of this, Leon Draisaitl presently carries the eleventh highest cap hit in the NHL. He is on pace to score 78 points, which would essentially match his output from last year. But unlike last season in which he cashed in on a place in the top-ten NHL scoring leaderboard, he is currently on pace to end up somewhere on the bottom of the top-60. Oilers fans take solace is his production relative to last year, but in a new context he has clearly fallen well back from where he was projected to perform.
Will Draisaitl’s contract and performance serve as a cautionary tale?
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