Okay, so it’s 2 AM on a Saturday in late August, and it’s annoying me that nobody’s talked about this, so it’s my blog, and I’m going to talk about it.
Filip Zadina was signed to a 3-year contract at $1.825 million in its Annual Average Value, or AAV. But the contract vacillates pretty wildly from year to year.
In its first year (use PuckPedia or CapFriendly, whatever you prefer), Zadina will only earn $915,000 in real-world dollars, which is easy to swallow and fairly easy for a GM to say, “Well, if we have to waive him to put him in the AHL, we’re not losing much, nor is a team that might want to take a chance on him.”
But there’s a catch. In year two, Zadina makes $1.83 million, and by year three–2023-2024, when the salary cap is expected to rise significantly–Zadina earns $2.73 million, for a total of $5.475 million in salary.
So Zadina, who’s 22 now, will have arbitration rights after the 2023-2024 season, and he’s going to have to be given a qualifying offer at at least that $2.73 million, ensuring that he’s paid accordingly.
That’s both smart negotiating by Zadina’s agent, Darren Ferris, and a bit of a, “We believe in your potential” by the Red Wings’ GM, which is smart negotiating for both sides…
But at the same time, by 2023-2024, under a higher cap, $2.73 million goes down a lot easier as an AAV with which to move Zadina if he doesn’t work out.
It’s a great “eff around and find out” deal for both sides involved, because there’s incentive to perform and get a good salary and/or arbitration ruling coming out of the deal on Zadina’s side, and the combination of real-world dollars paid out and mobility if he doesn’t work out yield the Red Wings having options if Zadina’s still only pumping out 10-15 goals a year at the end of his contract.
Both sides win in best-case, worst-case and middle-of-the-road scenarios. You don’t see that very often.
Good info George, thanks