[Signing] NYR sign Lafreniere to extension (7 yrs, $7.45 mil AAV)

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by BigThief

Which is why you do it now... the Flames need to identify a few players that they think are long term bets. Rasmus Andersson had six career goals and 30 points when he signed his six year deal, kudos to Treliving for this.

Connor Zary is exactly the type of player you buy into now.

Dustin Wolf is another.

They should only identify those players if they actually think are long term bets.

If Zary scores 25 goals this year, sure sign him, I doubt the cost won’t go up from $7M. But I wouldn’t jump the gun. Same for Wolf.

[driveway]

Based on projections, 7 million would represent about 7% of a team's cap by 2027-28, which would be year 4 of this hypothetical deal.

Ten seasons previous, in 2017-18, the cap was $75 million and a 7% deal would have been 5.25 million. That season, the Flames signed Mikael Backlund to a 6-year, $5.35 million dollar deal. At the time, Backlund had 8 seasons under his belt, and scored 20 goals twice. He was also 28 years old.

[Jay Random]

I think 7 x 7 is reasonable for Zary if he can put up top-6 numbers over a whole season. He's easily on pace for that now, but wasn't quite last year. It would be an even better bet if he can transition to centre and still produce.

[Saqe]

Originally Posted by traptor

$7.45M is going to be like 3rd liner money in a few years.
.

This is a fallacy going around for some reason. When championship teams have players like Lundell or Luostarinen at 3-5 million on their third line, 7. 45M won't be third line money until the cap is like 150 million.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

I think 7 x 7 is reasonable for Zary if he can put up top-6 numbers over a whole season. He's easily on pace for that now, but wasn't quite last year. It would be an even better bet if he can transition to centre and still produce.

He started off hot last year and tailed off as the year went along. If he can keep consistent throughout the year then he may just be worth that 7 x7.

As for center, I suspect they'll keep him on Backlund's line for as long as they can and then see what he can do up the middle next year... if their plan is to turn him into a center.