What does Kevin Bahls next contract look like?

[Toonage]

My guess is 6 x $6.5M

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Toonage

My guess is 6 x $6.5M

I hope not as he would have a difficult time living up to the contract. With the cap going up it just means that the top players are going to make that much more. Can't tie up $6.5 million on 4/5 guys for over half a decade.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I hope not as he would have a difficult time living up to the contract. With the cap going up it just means that the top players are going to make that much more. Can't tie up $6.5 million on 4/5 guys for over half a decade.

I would bet they look at Guhle's new deal.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I would bet they look at Guhle's new deal.

Yeah something in the range of $5 million would be more palpable. I think the Flames should still be pretty measured with their spending even with the cap going up as they need to make sure they can keep any and all of their young players that may pop as you have to pay those players much earlier now. Also they are probably going to have to dip into free agency on occasion to fill some skill positions that they may be lacking as there's a bit of a gap between the age of the top players on the team and the organization's top prospects.

[IamNotKenKing]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Yeah something in the range of $5 million would be more palpable. I think the Flames should still be pretty measured with their spending even with the cap going up as they need to make sure they can keep any and all of their young players that may pop as you have to pay those players much earlier now. Also they are probably going to have to dip into free agency on occasion to fill some skill positions that they may be lacking as there's a bit of a gap between the age of the top players on the team and the organization's top prospects.

I wonder if perhaps you mean palatable?

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

IMO Bahl can’t be better then your 4th best D on a true contender

I don’t know why , but I feel like last year may be a high season for him - and I loved what I saw from him

I would be hesitant to lock him up long term .

It reminds me a bit of the Sharagovich contract situation which (IMO) already looks horrible and an anchor

I would aim for a shorter contract (2 years) and still Hold some leverage and re-evaluate in a few seasons

Fans constantly do this, despite being proven wrong, over and over.

Giordano was 'never going to be more than a 5-6 guy' until he became a top pairing Dman, and won the Norris.

TJ Brodie was 'a bottom pairing defenseman' until he became a top pairing guy.

Bahl is 24. For defensemen, that's a baby. He is just growing into his massive body. Also, defense is a learned skill - playing every day in the NHL will make him better. He has incredible tools, and the sky is the limit.

That doesn't mean he is definitely going to become a top pairing guy - who knows? But he might. He can.

As I said before, if I am Bahl, I am NOT signing an 8 year deal (unless for some reason they offer me at least $6M per). Either 2 or 4 years makes the most sense for both sides

[yourbestfriend]

Will be interesting to see the direction both parties go. Based on his play last year, I personally would like to see an 8year contract. This isn't the type of contract that gets teams in trouble if they overpay by a few million over 6 - 8 years.

I think we can use Andersson as a similar flavor comparison. He signed a $4.55M x 6 year contract worth about 5.5% of the cap at the time and ended up with 22pts in 70games that year. That's a win win situation for both the team and player at that time and a homerun for the team given how he's developed. However, if the team had taken the risk and given him a ~$6M x 8 year deal, it would of paid off even more. I don't think anyone would complain having him for another 3 seasons at $6M AAV.

Bahl doesn't have nor will he ever have the same level of offense Andersson does, but as others have stated, probably projects to be a bigger Tanev #3 type defensemen - and that's perfectly ok.
~$4M on a 6 year team or ~$5M on an 8 year term seems reasonable. He's already averaged 21mins a game last year, meaning he's definitely capable of being a top4 guy, how good of a player he develops into is the question. I don't think there's a massive risk by giving him an 8 year deal, in no world do I see him as a bottom pairing defenseman as some others have pointed out.