Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
A lot of people promised Gaudreau would get 11-12.
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Yeah, funny that. I pointed out a while back that no UFA had signed a deal with an eight-figure AAV since Covid hit.
There are now 14 active contracts in the NHL with AAVs of $10,000,000 or more. The only one signed since the beginning of 2020 is Aleksander Barkov ($10,000,000 exactly), and he did not change teams.
The contracts that were going to rival or surpass McDavid or Panarin just haven't been happening. Until the escrow debt is paid off and the cap begins to rise significantly, I don't see players having the leverage to get those huge deals again. Teams haven't got the cap space or the appetite for it.
A few years ago, GMs counted coup by signing the biggest stars to the biggest deals the cap would allow. Now they count coup by figuring out the most ingenious ways not to get trapped in the kind of cap schemozzle that has been wrecking the Vegas Golden Knights. Different times, different mentality.