Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperMatt18
Gaudreau is great but IMO he’s not Ovechkin, Malkin, Crosby tier.
He’s more in the Perry, Getzlaf, Carter type of tier, and those guys were all more in the $2-4M contract type of range.
And my guess is 8 years from now the age is trending even younger, just like it’s much younger than it was 8 years ago at this point.
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The league is very much going to RFA players being the core of teams. And not only are a lot of players like you mention signing one year contracts for 2-4, there's also injury risk, fatigue/burnout risk, family risk. Not every elite player even wants to play forever. Datsyuk, who people compared to Gaudreau early on, played NHL hockey only until 37 (and then only played 1/2 to 2/3 of a season in his last 4 years). His buddy Zetterberg played to 36. Would anyone be shocked if Max Pacioretty retired within 2 years? Or sometimes the skills drop. Kessel had 92 points in 2017-18 at age 29. Last year he had 52 at age 33 and looked terrible. I guarantee he's going to sign a very team friendly contract somewhere.