Quote:
Originally Posted by Jacks
Nobody said to cheap out, big difference between that and overpaying.
Maybe do a rebuild right this time instead of trading away multiple 1st round picks and signing ridiculous UFA contracts for depth players at the first sign of being a playoff team. We are where we are but compounding the mistakes isn't going to make it better.
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We don't individually decide what overpaying is though. The market sets market value.
Johnny Gaudreau at $9.5M AAV is not overpaying.
Jarome Iginla signed a 3-year deal in 2005 which paid him 17.95% of the salary cap.
He then signed a 5-year deal in 2008 that paid him 13.92% of the salary cap.
The salary cap is poised to be $82.5M next season. 11.5% of that going to Johnny (9.488M AAV) is not overpaying, and I genuinely believe that would be a very good deal for the Flames.
Artemi Panarin is probably the closest comparison in recent seasons - and he signed in New York for 14.29% of the salary cap at the time of his deal, or $11,642,857 AAV for 7 years. That's New York - one of the historically more desirable locations in the league, and a team poised to be pretty good going forward (so that's winning + location as selling points).
Markets like Calgary generally have to pay a premium, which again - is not "overpaying", it's paying a salary to compensate for the perceived downfalls of the market when compared to other more desirable locations. The key for teams like Calgary is spending the dollars wisely, and not unwisely like investing it in poorly scouted/players with bad underlying numbers (James Neal, Troy Brouwer). Invest market value in your top players, and then challenge your GM to fill out the roster with bargains/hidden gems/young internally developed players.