Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashasx
That's not what I said at all.
If Jankowski's burns a year off his contract this season, that's 1 less year on his contract, but he doesn't make a full year's salary.
What if, once his contract is up, nobody offers him a contract? If he doesn't burn a year now, he has an extra year of security.
Just thinking from Jankowski's perspective.
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It's basically a wash if he doesn't play any NHL games over the next two seasons, but could be a huge benefit for him if he can establish himself as an NHLer next season.
Because of his age, his contract will be a 2-year ELC. If he burns this year, that means that next season will be the final year of the ELC. Even if he struggles in the AHL next year, there's no way the Flames will give up on him that soon, so the danger of not getting a second contract are minimal (it's really only an issue if he gets injured).
Compare two players in similar situations two years ago: Bill Arnold and Kevin Hayes...
Arnold signed with the Flames once BC's season was done, burned the first year of his contract, and got to play in one NHL game.
By signing his ELC in 2014, he received his signing bonus plus one game's pay for 2014. Last season, he received the second year of his signing bonus and his AHL salary for a year. Last year, when the season ended, he signed his Qualifying Offer, which pays him 5% over his ELC NHL salary if he plays any NHL games. His AHL salary is the same as it was for his ELC.
If he had waited to start his ELC last season, he would have received his signing bonuses last year and this year, and he would have received the same AHL salary for the last two seasons as he has received.
As it worked out, the only difference for Arnold is that he got one NHL game's salary two seasons ago. Otherwise, nothing would have been any different.
On the other hand, Hayes waited until the summer of 2014 to sign his two-year ELC. He has been a full-time NHLer since turning pro. He received his signing bonus for the last two seasons, plus his NHL ELC salary. He'll become an RFA at the end of this season, but will probably receive more than the 5% raise of his Qualifying Offer.
If he had signed in 2014 and burned this first year of his contract (assuming everything else would have played out the same -- which it wouldn't because he would have had to sign with Chicago), he would have received his signing bonus in 2014 and last season. He would have been paid his NHL ELC salary last season.
He would have become an RFA at the end of last season, after putting up 45 points, and would likely have received a significant raise for this season, rather than receiving another year of entry-level money.
By burning the first year of his contract, Arnold didn't lose any money in the long run. In fact, it got him one game's NHL pay that he wouldn't otherwise have received.
By not burning the first year of his contract, Hayes did lose money because he's earning ELC money this season, where he would be earning a lot more if he had become an RFA after his rookie year. (Again, this isn't the perfect example because he isn't with the team that drafted him)
If Jankowski signs now and gets 6 or 7 NHL games under his belt, that will put about an extra $60,000 in his pocket. Long term, it won't hurt his income if he burns a year, but could hurt if he doesn't burn a year and has a rookie season like Hayes next season.
