tbh, if point got a 6.75Mx3 deal, no reason to believe Barzal couldn't get similar on a bridge deal

Yeah i've been saying that on here for months and get attacked every time lmao glad i'm not alone

NYI even has the Lou factor going for them. He'll just sit Barzal down in a room and glare at him for 3 hours, smoking a cigar and grinding his teeth, they'll make a deal one way or another lmao

That could be the only way he gets NJ to take that Boychuk deal....

Laine got 6.75x2 after a down year, . Point didnt take that deal because it was market. And if Lou was that good at contracts then he'd have gotten some value out of the bunch of terrible ones he signed in the past 5 years

Pulock is gonna be a UFA when his deal expires though, so he's really maximizing his next contract, guy deserves to be paid and he will be. Question is where.

Is that what he did when he signed Leo Komorav...

but komarov something something sandpaper something something grit

He’s terrible at hockey, but at least he’s terrible with veteran poise

Pulock basically took a discount on AAV, but he has all the leverage in 2 years. He would have gotten at least 5.5-6 mill in arbitration.

I love it when komarov takes bad penalties late in games and trotz rewards him by giving him more ice time

Agreed. Could also see Isles replacing him with Dobson after year 2, but don't feel like Lou would let Pulock walk for nothing, maybe a trade for a goal scorer. I feel like your cap will be figured out by next deadline, and then Clutterbuck, Leddy and Boychuk (if not already) off the books by that summer.

Maybe Barzal takes a bargain 2-3 year deal with it being backloaded so the QO is a bit higher? It would also save a little on escrow.

Dobsons underlying numbers were great this season, I wouldn’t be surprised if he surpasses pulock by the end of next season. Regardless i would say most likely they’ll end up signing him in 2 years when multiple bad contracts are off the books.

So much can happen in 2 years though - as of right now I don’t see bode wilde as a tough minutes defenseman, but if he kills it in the AHL next year, he could make pulock expendable. We’ll see.