Subban arbitration UPDATE: Signs 8 year/72 million deal

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

I actually think Montreal is being smart here...

I agree with everything you say here, if Montreal's end game is to trade him. If the plan is to retain him, I think it's a misstep by Montreal.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix

It won't look so smart when Subban insists on a 1 year deal next summer.

Subban won't insist on a 1 year deal next year, he'll be handed one as his qualifying offer, which Montreal is guaranteed to give him. He'll take the 1 year qualifying offer and then he'll be a ufa the following year. Subban is gonna get paid big no matter what, it's just a matter of when and where, and his agent knows this, the media is making Montreal look like they are the ones playing hardball when they are likely the more desperate of the two parties in this negotiations.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

Subban won't insist on a 1 year deal next year, he'll be handed one as his qualifying offer, which Montreal is guaranteed to give him. He'll take the 1 year qualifying offer and then he'll be a ufa the following year. Subban is gonna get paid big no matter what, it's just a matter of when and where, and his agent knows this, the media is making Montreal look like they are the ones playing hardball when they are likely the more desperate of the two parties in this negotiations.

Yeah, he'll take the QO and get traded at some point after. I could've worded that better.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Subban doesn't have to insist on anything next summer. He can force the Canadiens to make a decision by signing a RFA offer with someone else (and someone likely will that probably won't get him as a UFA...like Edmonton for instance). The Canadiens can then decide if they want the compensation for losing a RFA (and considering what he'll sign for it'll be multiple 1st round picks), or if they'll overpay then. They've set themselves up to at worst lose him for picks. Had they signed him to a bigger deal 2 years ago that gets him to UFA when it expires, they could lose him for nothing.

As I've seen mentioned before to give a guy $8 million+ a year, you have to love the player. Clearly the Canadiens like, but don't love, Subban as a player. No point to tying yourself to a player you don't love.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Fair enough. The habs may not love him, but some other team surely will. The whole situation will help define Bergevin's legacy for sure. Hopefully for his sake he hits the trade out of the park.

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

I actually think Montreal is being smart here. Subban is a great offensive defensemen, but so what? Those players don't win Stanley Cups. Great all around defensemen like Doughty and Weber and Chara help you win Stanley Cups. Subban has not yet proven he's at their level, and frankly his style suggests he never will. He needs to play tighter with less risk taking, but that will affect his offensive output. He may end up as the best offensive defenseman in the league, but will that be enough to mask some of his defensive deficiencies?

I get that market would overpay Subban, but that doesn't mean the Canadiens should. The Canadiens will hold his RFA rights again next year, so they'll still be able to trade him for a very nice haul later on. I wouldn't offer him more than $7 million a year if I was Montreal and it sounds like that's about as high as they'll go. Overpaying him because other teams will is what teams with bad management do. See the Maple Leafs.

Doughty and Chara won cups because they had/have amazing teams. Weber is probably the best dman in the league and look where the Preds finished last year. For what he may lack defensively he definitely makes up in other areas. The whole he's only offensive arguement isn't really the best. He's not Mike Green. The guy is definitely a game changer and for someone who just turned 25 that's near impossible to find. Letting him go would be a huge mistake unless they can get a huge package back.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

I don't get this talk of Subban as a bad dman in his own zone, IMO he's no worse than average on his worst day. Some games I've seen him in, he's actually quite good in that regard. He can be guilty of trying to do too much, which stretches him thin and causes problems at times. I think as he matures, he will round his game out more, it's not like he's Phaneuf with zero hockey sense, he's just a little too exuberant at times. People seem to see dman putting up big point totals and assume they must be weak in his own end. Believe it or not you can be a decent 2way dman and still score lots of points.

[getbak]

Well, this is interesting, if true...

Bob McKenzie ‏@TSNBobMcKenzie

A settlement between PK Subban and MTL is imminent. New deal coming.

[AcGold]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Then maybe you shouldn't say things that you don't really mean. I agree with you that the Canadiens are dramatically worse without Subban.

Or maybe you shouldn't nitpick peoples opinions that are perfectly clear

[KootenayFlamesFan]

8 year deal. No word on money yet.

[albertGQ]

My guess, 8 years for $60M - $64M

[Senator Clay Davis]

Well that's not any fun. I'll say 8 years and $62 million.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

McKenzie says an average of 9 million.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I guess he'll be getting over going to arbitration pretty quickly. That's a lot of money.

[Nufy]

Crikey...thats a lot of cash...

[jg13]

This makes him the highest paid defencemen ever?

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Wow.

David Pagnotta ‏@TheFourthPeriod

Subban's new deal also includes a full no-movement clause for the entire 8-year term.

[pylon]

If any current player deserves this type of cash, it's Subban.

The guy is one of the best game breakers in the last couple decades, and he is only going to get better. He is what we wished Phaneuf could have been.

[united]

Elliotte Friedman ‏@FriedgeHNIC 7m
After yesterday, a day that surprised the Canadiens -- the organization regrouped and decided to end the stalemate. A wise decision.

I take that to mean Subban's team put together a much better argument than the Canadiens' reps. They probably figured they would have to pay him a lot on a short term deal so just sucked it up and gave him the long one, buying UFA years.

[united]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

Wow.

That isn't correct as those clauses only apply to UFA years - so his first two years he wont have protection. Not that it matters.