mckinnon was just average when that deal was signed

Everyone's retconned the MacKinnon contract as him being a team player instead of him not being worth more than what he got.

Alright a year later, his contract's about to start! Have you changed you mind with one year of hindsight?
@Zwui21 @tkecanuck341 @DragonRaptorHybrid @KoneDome @jpsnow13 @Lime @DoctorBreakfast @AndrewLadd @paranoidpanther @Random2152

Stats: GP70 G17 P44 plus/minus-6

(Please remove the tags if you quote me so people don't get spammed thank you)

People are yelling that Domi shouldnt receive an 7M AAV contract even if he had a 75 pts season, so no.

The kid IS good and in progression. It COULD become a cheap deal. But that contract is just too much of a gamble at that price.

I've definitely soured on him since this contract was signed.

On one hand, he gets very favorable zone starts and doesn't play against other teams' top lines, so his lack of production and weak underlying numbers are a cause for concern.

On the other hand, Arizona isn't exactly filled with talent so the best forwards he's been on the ice with are an aging Phil Kessel, Derek Stepan, and Nick Schmaltz. He also saw a dip in his ice time this season and is still pretty young.

Having said all that, this deal isn't looking too great. He's still a very talented player, but hasn't been able to put it all together thus far.

I'm with you, your last sentence screams "bridge deal" not 57M$ mega deal.
It's appalling that this team just seems to be bad at every single level of the organization. Let's say that they aren't the wealthiest team in the league, their GM's giving away risky deals and the team has picked top 12 in 6 of past 7 drafts (Make it 7 out of 8 but they traded their 2020 pick for a guy walking out in FA) but their farm system's only middle of the pack.

Based on the deals given to Keller, Schmaltz, Dvorak, and Chychrun, Chayka likes to bet big and early on his young talent with the hopes that they progress into great players. It's a smart move, assuming all your players grow the way you hope they do, but can end up handcuffing you for a long time if they don't pan out.

I mean it's gambling plain and simple. Maybe it works out, who knows I can't see the future, but as of now he hasn't shown anything that this is more than pure gambling. I prefer to have a base of strong underlying numbers before I make a long term commitment to a player and Keller just does not have it.

I think an important question though, is how much of this is on coaching? Arizona is where all offense goes to die; Hall, Kessel, etc. Are his results being killed by poor systems/coaching and if so could he look better with Gallant or a new team?

All maybes and still gambling so I do not like it.

I think it’ll still b worth it. The kids really talented, and I think it’ll at the very worst become a fair contract. Once they get a true 1C the kid will b a consistent point per game player. It’s still a low risk very high reward deal for the Yotes IMO

If I were Chayka and were strapped for cap space, I would’ve done a bridge deal here