[Signing] Pens re-sign Letang (6 yrs, $6.1 mil AAV)

[sureLoss]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1545084738897154048

[Geeoff]

Seems like a great AAV and a contract that is obviously gonna end on LTIR. Gaming the system a bit, for sure

[Winsor_Pilates]

How old is he?
6 years sounds long but maybe he's younger than I'm speculating.

[FlamesAreOne]

wut

[sureLoss]

Yup LTIRetirement is likely with this contract. Probably not likely Letang will play until he is 41.

[GreenLantern2814]

Letang at $6.1 is a good number for them.

[tvp2003]

That's a lot of term -- Letang turned 35 in April.

Wonder what Malkin will get... he turns 36 later this month.

[flambers]

Yikes, 6 years is way to long

Player is currently 35.

[ForeverFlameFan]

The power of LTIR

[agulati]

Aren’t there certain limitations if a player retires post signing a 35+ contract? Long term for Letang.

[bluejays]

Crazy how deals like this are allowed to happen. The guy already has one foot in retirement.

[rollie619]

Dosen't Burke not like deals that circumvent the cap?

[Erick Estrada]

NHL needs to fix this loophole fast as it's making a mockery of the salary cap.

[Strange Brew]

This always shows that a player like Gaudreau is not likely to look at his next contract as a retirement contract. IMO that reduces the advantage of the 8th year that Flames can offer.

$75 million over seven years is going to look a lot better than $76 million over 8 years. Especially with a significantly higher salary cap seven years from now.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by fleury

Crazy how deals like this are allowed to happen. The guy already has one foot in retirement.

Seems like the easiest solution would be to only allow max-2-year deals on players once they reach age 35.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

This always shows that a player like Gaudreau is not likely to look at his next contract as a retirement contract. IMO that reduces the advantage of the 8th year that Flames can offer.

$75 million over seven years is going to look a lot better than $76 million over 8 years. Especially with a significantly higher salary cap seven years from now.

They can’t offer Gaudreau an extra year at the same money and expect him to take it.

They have to offer $1M more, with the extra year.

Then it’s worth his while.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Seems like the easiest solution would be to only allow max-2-year deals on players once they reach age 35.

NHLPA would push back hard. I think they have to change how LTIR works for players over 30 where teams are allotted an LTIR cap or something like that.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

They can’t offer Gaudreau an extra year at the same money and expect him to take it.

They have to offer $1M more, with the extra year.

Then it’s worth his while.

Are you referring to AAV? Because I tend to agree, Flames need to beat the competition on the AAV of this deal (assuming they front load as everyone else will). Unlikely Gaudreau is staying here at less AAV than he can get elsewhere IMO.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

This always shows that a player like Gaudreau is not likely to look at his next contract as a retirement contract. IMO that reduces the advantage of the 8th year that Flames can offer.

$75 million over seven years is going to look a lot better than $76 million over 8 years. Especially with a significantly higher salary cap seven years from now.

One example does not a trend make. Gaudreau will be 35 in 7 years. Here's the present list of 35+ contracts right now (previous years look a lot similar):

https://www.capfriendly.com/browse/35-plus

Will Gaudreau sign an Ovechkin/Letang deal or a Parise/Perry (noting the latter two were after buyouts).

And the list of players who don't make it to 35 is a lot longer than those who do. For every Perry there's a Bure/Kariya/etc. There's a reason 35+ contracts exist.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Are you referring to AAV? Because I tend to agree, Flames need to beat the competition on the AAV of this deal (assuming they front load as everyone else will). Unlikely Gaudreau is staying here at less AAV than he can get elsewhere IMO.

Correct, the Flames need to beat the AAV and the term.

Using round numbers for the sake of argument:

7x10= $70m
8x10= $80m
8x11= $88m

The extra year at the same AAV doesn’t matter - he loses half of that to taxes, another 10% to agent fees and escrow, and maybe takes home $4M extra.

The extra year and extra $1m increases the value of the contract by 26%.

Nobody says no to 26% more.