The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn posted a column ranking the NHL’s 10 best “value contracts per Luszczyszyn’s metrics as to a player’s value over the remainder of the contract.
Lucas Raymond makes the cut with his $8.1 million contract, which Luszczyszyn says is worth $12.6 million in market value, but Moritz Seider does not make the cut (nor does any defenseman or goaltender):
8. Lucas Raymond
Contract: $8.1M x seven years
Surplus Value: $31M
Positive Value Probability: 92 percentLucas Raymond has reached another level. That was clear to close out the 2023-24 season and confirmed the following year with a near point-per-game season. Raymond is the real deal and the Red Wings are about to benefit greatly from it.
That’s because of his $8.1 million cap hit, an amount that will equate to a high-end second-line player during the remainder of Raymond’s deal. It’s a mark he looks likely to blow past. Raymond is already a bona fide top-line talent and looks likely to ascend to stardom as he enters his prime. He’s on track to become a franchise winger, a legit star-level threat and his current price tag is a pittance for the kind of value he should bring.
Raymond’s deal looked like a win last year before he truly established his current level. Now, it’s a slam dunk. The fruits of Detroit’s rebuild are finally coming together.
Continued (paywall); it’s great to read some due praise for Raymond’s value. There’s no doubt that, with the salary cap rising, Raymond’s $8.075 million cap hit will be a pittance soon.
I’m just a little puzzled as to why all 10 of Luszczyszyn’s deals are forwards. There are some great deals out there for defensemen, like Seider and his $8.55 million cap hit deal.
