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Originally Posted by Bingo
Not sure how you can speak in certainties in this area.
Kovalchuk's contract is bigger for the "window" that Calgary is trying to take advantage of.
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750k bigger. That's less than we're paying Prout or Czarnik to sit in the press box. The big difference would come in the lone 2019-2020 season where we need to penny pinch because in 2020 we have around 16M coming off the books. Meanwhile we stand to extend our window with the cap savings in 2022, which is Gaudreau's final year of his deal and could determine whether Gaudreau signs and extension.
And specifically pertaining to contracts, Neal's buyout if it came to that (say, 2020 offseason) would be on the books
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Neal is no defensive dynamo, but Kovalchuk is the King's third worst relative corsi player this year, he isn't playing all that well and is more likely to keep going in that direction at his age than Neal will in the next couple of seasons.
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I agree, Kovalchuk's CF%s are not great. I also don't think Neal's CF% has been half decent away from Bennett. Kovalchuk has a point on 85% of goals scored when he is on the ice and his P/60 of 1.64 would be 7th best on this team. I believe Bennett would positively influence Kovalchuk's CF% and Kovalchuk would positively influence the overall offense on that line.
But yes, you make a good point - it really isn't a sure thing.