I’ve got to give a thumbs-up regarding the following column from Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen, and I’ll tell you why in a little bit:
All Detroit Red Wings fans should care about the Jake Sanderson eight-year $64.4 contract with the Ottawa Senators is how it will impact future negotiations with Moritz Seider.
The answer: probably not much.
Sanderson was drafted a year later (2020) than Seider (2019). The young Ottawa defenseman, son of forrmer NHLer Geoff Sanderson, opted to go for the security. The Senators want to show fans they are committed to winning with new ownership coming aboard. In theory, there’s some risk here for Ottawa because they are giving him eight years after watching him for only 77 games. But it’s not much risk because it is accepted that Sanderson will be an elite No. 1 defenseman.
This could eventually be a bargain for Ottawa if Sanderson matures into one of the top five defensemen in the game. That’s plausible.
The Seider situation is different. With 164 games on his resume, he’s already fully established as an elite D Man. He’s not getting there. Seider is there, and he’s going to keep improving. Unless the Red Wings surprise us and get Seider signed quickly, the Red Wings will see more of Seider’s potential this season. He becomes a restricted free agent next summer.
Sanderson and Seider will both be high impact performers, but Seider offers a physical level and a beastly presence that raises his value.
Continued; at first, I certainly thought, “Crap, the Sanderson contract is going to make Seider more expensive to re-sign,” but Mr. Allen is correct as usual here. Seider’s going to cost the Wings more to re-sign to a long-term contract, and he may or may not end up as the highest-paid player on the Wings’ roster.
