Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
They are over paying by $2M for a tough guy instead of having a player that just didn't fit making $5.75.
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I think this is a fair way to look at it.
Lucic is overpaid, call it 2M, seems close enough to be reasonable (3.25 for a Reaves-like player is still high, but by 500K maybe). But without scoring, he brings
some value (not value on the current contract, but value on the ice).
Neal, when he isn't scoring, brings zero value. So if he doesn't magically turn around his game he's either a buyout candidate next year or you're offloading at least a first-round pick to get out of the contract. If you buy him out next year, you're paying 1.9M over 6 years.
So instead of overpaying a player by 2-2.5M for 3 seasons starting next year, you're paying 1.9M in dead cap for nothing. The difference is pretty negligible in price, but getting out of that money 3 years earlier is huge.