MLive’s Ansar Khan answers mailbag questions this morning, including this question regarding defenseman Moritz Seider’s next contract:
Q: How will Jake Sanderson’s new contract impact the Wings’ negotiations with Moritz Seider? If Sanderson is worth ($64.4 million over eight years for an annual average value of $8.05 million), I have to believe Seider is worth at least $9 million a year. – Jack
A: Agreed. Seider, with 164 NHL games and a Calder Trophy to his name, is worth more than Sanderson, who is coming off his rookie season (four goals, 28 assists in 77 games with Ottawa).
Seider is entering the final year of his entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent after the season. I think the first question is how much term will he get in his new deal. General manager Steve Yzerman prefers shorter terms – Larkin being the exception. But I’m guessing he’d love to get his franchise cornerstone defenseman locked up for the maximum eight years.
Seider might prefer a shorter term, three or four years, before cashing in bigger on a max-term deal in a few years when the cap increases significantly.
My guess is that is what will happen.
Seider is worth an AAV of more than $9 million a season. Will Yzerman want to pay him more than Larkin, whose AAV is $8.7 million? It wouldn’t be surprising to see Seider sign a bridge deal in the $8.5 million range before becoming the team’s highest-paid player in his next contract.
Continued; for better or worse, the Sanderson contract sets an $8 million salary as the minimum “comparable” for Seider. He’s going to get paid–the only question is whether he’ll make more than Larkin, as Khan notes.
