[Signing] Panthers extend Niko Mikkola (8 yrs, 5M AAV)

[jg13]

8 year extension reported 5M AAV via TheScore

https://twitter.com/user/status/1973750223701979607

[Cali Panthers Fan]

LOL. Locking up the core long term. This will absolute come back to bite them in the butt at some point with so many guys on long term deals, but for now, I approve.

[Toonage]

Riiiiiiiiicolaaaaaaaa

[Flames1217]

He is currently 29, deal kicks in when he is 30.

Like the player but not exactly convinced that he will be playing the entirety of this contract. I may be wrong but defenseman of his stature tend to not age the best.

The Panthers are in win now mode though so I completely get why they do this.

[Canada 02]

he was a bottom pair D-man with the Blues playing 14-16 min a night, and a throw in on the Vladimir Tarasenko trade to the Rangers.

Now he is playing top 4 minutes on the 2-time champs and signing an 8-year deal.

probably says something about the ups and downs of player development, and how some players take longer to get there.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

he was a bottom pair D-man with the Blues playing 14-16 min a night, and a throw in on the Vladimir Tarasenko trade to the Rangers.

Now he is playing top 4 minutes on the 2-time champs and signing an 8-year deal.

probably says something about the ups and downs of player development, and how some players take longer to get there.

Other than goalies, defensemen take the longest to develop, and very tall players take a long time to develop as well. Given those two factors combined, very tall defensemen should be given until at least 27 to show what they can do. That's about the time Mikkola started to flourish.

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

LOL. Locking up the core long term. This will absolute come back to bite them in the butt at some point with so many guys on long term deals, but for now, I approve.

3 straight years to the Stanley cup finals and have the core locked up with 0 players over $10M a year. Age is the only thing that will eventually stop this teams and maybe injuries.

When players are getting $17M and your top players are making half of that, they could be the 1st true dynasty of the cap era.

Bob will sign short term for less and eventually he needs to be replaced, other than that no reason they can't be a the top for 5 more years.

[Erick Estrada]

Probably the right thing to try to win as many cups as they can while the window is open but it's looking like things may get Penguins ugly once that window closes. Still I think most Flames fans would take this all day everyday over the Flames decades of mediocrity.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Riiiiiiiiicolaaaaaaaa

His parents...missed opportunity to name him Nikola and then, of course, Rikola as a middle name.

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by Locke

His parents...missed opportunity to name him Nikola and then, of course, Rikola as a middle name.

You could never be mad at the kid. Saying his full name you practically have to sing it.

[Cole436]

In two years time on a 113.5 mil salary cap this won't be anything. 4% of the cap for a top 4 dman who they can buy out by year 6.

[InternationalVillager]

Panthers have $18M in cap next year, $35M in cap after that......

They could technically sign McDavid if they wanted to....and ADD him to that team.

McDavid/Barkov/Bennett....

Yeah good luck with that.

[D as in David]

Where's the no-state-tax discount on this deal?

[Slanter]

Boy, a lot of people who obviously want to stay with their teams have signed in the last couple days.

I wonder what it means for players who haven't signed yet...