I don't see him as being better than a 2nd pairing guy in his absolute peak, his offence is too limited, he's never put up big points at any level not even junior. Valuable player who brings a lot but for me while I know the cap is going up I'd like to see it between 4-5 a year on a longer term deal as I could see him sliding down into the bottom pairing eventually in 3-5 years if the Flames add a LHD who is a better puck mover/more well rounded.
It makes sense to me that Bahl would want a long deal deal too, he was a tweener for a bit and now had two full NHL seasons where he's put up 11 and 20 pts. Offer him 40 mil over 8 years and you're basically setting him up for life and he's not a player who you'd guarantee will get that top 4 opportunity anywhere else, he could easily still be bottom pairing or press box on a deep contending team, feels like a win win.
|