On Monday, The Athletic’s Max Bultman offered an assessment of the shapes which the next contracts for Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond might take, and MLive’s Ansar Khan delves into the same topic this evening, noting that both players will be restricted free agents next summer (and, thus, are eligible to be extended as of July 1st of this year):
Seider, 22, has shown in two seasons that he’s destined to be an elite player for years to come. Yzerman surely would like to get him signed long term, but for how many years and for how much?
With defensemen, there are more factors than production to consider. But one comparable is Miro Heiskanen, who Dallas signed for eight years at an $8.45 million average annual value two years ago at age 22. Seider would probably slot in at around the $8.5 million range for eight years, if both sides want the maximum term. That would come just under Larkin’s $8.7 million AAV for his eight-year deal that starts this upcoming season.
But perhaps the 2022 Calder Trophy winner as rookie of the year prefers a shorter term (5-6 years) for a chance to cash in bigger when he’s still in his prime at age 27 or 28?
Yzerman last week hinted at his own preference for “mid-term deals,” calling them a good compromise for both sides.
“You’re starting to see more players, at least this offseason, and I think it might be a trend, signing shorter-term contracts, not necessarily going the full 7-8 years,” Yzerman said after acquiring Alex DeBrincat. “I’m not sure I have a hard set philosophy on contracts. There’s risk in every deal. There’s short-term risk you lose control of the player. On the back end, the long-term risk is a lot of things can happen that affect a player’s ability to perform on a long-term deal. What is my philosophy? I try to make a deal with the player, try to understand what they’re looking for and what’s important to them, but ultimately, I’m comfortable. I like these mid-term deals.”
Continued with discussion of Raymond’s possibilities of taking a “bridge deal” or maximizing his term and salary ASAP…
