Some people are suggesting McDavid did the safe move anyone else would do by signing the $100 million eight year contract. I don’t think that’s right. McDavid’s contract (and Draisaitl’s contract) set the market to what it is today. McDavid absolutely should have signed an offer sheet with any willing team after his entry-level contract ended. Plenty of teams would have stepped right up and virtually offered him anything he wanted in terms of money and term.
I could be wrong but I think the maximum amount of the cap that could be devoted to a single player at that time was something like $14-15 million. If that’s the case, he could could have signed a 5 year contract for $15 million per year. The oilers would have matched that offer rather than lose their golden goose. That earns him approximately $75 million in that contract and makes him a UFA at the age of 26. At which point, he would be eligible to sign a contract with any team and would probably get $20 million per year for 8 years (provides there are no new limitations in the next CBA). That puts his career earnings at more than $235 million in salary alone while still getting to choose which team he gets to play for during his prime years.
Even considering the unlikely possibility that his career ends early due to injury (at say age 25), he would have been smarter to put himself in better control of his destiny. He probably feels trapped and pressured right now cause he’s wasting his talent in garbageville. He got scammed by that franchise to take max term at a discount so that they could “build a contender around him.” That might be possible with other franchises but not when it’s the oilers.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
|