I think I'll jump into the Eriksson-Ek argument here. For what it's worth. I think he's done well enough to solidify himself as a legitimate 2C this year, but with the caveat that he's a low-end one. He's not a Cirelli or a Danault, or even a Koivu for that matter.

The current rub here, is points production, and until such time as he can crack a season above 40-50 points consistently, he's not going to get paid like a 2C. That's the bottom line. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The only way JEE sees a payraise north of $5M on his next contract is if he hits for 60+ points this year. Which would be a stretch.

Furthermore, a long term commitment would be foolhardy given our needs to re-sign Kaprizov and Fiala to long-term contracts as well. We simply can't afford to have that many long-term contracts on the roster if we want any future cap flexibility. I know your dismissive of and dislike Rossi wabit, but if the kid hits, then when his ELC is up he's likely looking at least at Barzal level of money.

Right now, I don't give Eriksson-Ek anything more than a maximum of 4x$4M. He hasn’t earned anything above $4M yet in my eyes, and should be given a contract between $3-4M on a 3-4 year deal.

I think I'll jump into the Eriksson-Ek argument here. For what it's worth. I think he's done well enough to solidify himself as a legitimate 2C this year, but with the caveat that he's a low-end one. He's not a Cirelli or a Danault, or even a Koivu for that matter.

The current rub here, is points production, and until such time as he can crack a season above 40-50 points consistently, he's not going to get paid like a 2C. That's the bottom line. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The only way JEE sees a payraise north of $5M on his next contract is if he hits for 60+ points this year. Which would be a stretch.

Furthermore, a long term commitment would be foolhardy given our needs to re-sign Kaprizov and Fiala to long-term contracts as well. We simply can't afford to have that many long-term contracts on the roster if we want any future cap flexibility. I know your dismissive of and dislike Rossi wabit, but if the kid hits, then when his ELC is up he's likely looking at least at Barzal level of money.

Right now, I don't give Eriksson-Ek anything more than a maximum of 4x$4M. He hasn’t earned anything above $4M yet in my eyes, and should be given a contract between $3-4M on a 3-4 year deal.

What he's been this year:
teep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7e8b7078-2f61-47e3-b60a-213acfb30203_2211x888.png" alt="https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7e8b7078-2f61-47e3-b60a-213acfb30203_2211x888.png">

Taken from here: [url=]https://hbanalytics.substack.com/p/analyzing-joel-eriksson-eks-breakout[/url]

If he hits he gets paid, if he does then what?

It's 4 years before Rossi will need a new contract. This is a slide year for him, and he's on an ELC. When Rossi needs a new deal Zucc, Dumba, and Fiala are gone. Parise/Suter have 1 year left on their current deals. Brodin and Spurgeon are the only ones left with any term after that. Him maybe hitting big and getting paid shouldn't be a concern when it comes to the current players on the team.

I think that’s a good bet to go 3-4 mil by 4 years. Like you said, he’s in that 2C conversation but still needs to put up the points. Let’s say he’s willing to go 4 mil by 6 years, do you do that term?

If I'm Guerin, yes, absolutely. If I'm Eazy-E's agent, not a chance.

Getting Eriksson-Ek on a long-term lower hit cap hit would be good for the team, less so for Eriksson-Ek himself. Despite what wabit thinks, taking a lower cap hit on a mid-term length second bridge contract type deal is more beneficial to Eriksson-Ek now than asking for a payout he has yet to earn. It would give him a way to show that this year isn't a fluke and put up numbers that will earn that big boy contract when he will only be 28 years old. At the height of his prime and when he has a very decent chance to have a career as long as Koivu's.

If I'm Guerin, yes, absolutely. If I'm Eazy-E's agent, not a chance.

Getting Eriksson-Ek on a long-term lower hit cap hit would be good for the team, less so for Eriksson-Ek himself. Despite what wabit thinks, taking a lower cap hit on a mid-term length second bridge contract type deal is more beneficial to Eriksson-Ek now than asking for a payout he has yet to earn. It would give him a way to show that this year isn't a fluke and put up numbers that will earn that big boy contract when he will only be 28 years old. At the height of his prime and when he has a very decent chance to have a career as long as Koivu's.

Yeah, I get that JEE is having a career year but it’s still important to consider the sample size. He’s always been a great defensive C and he’s added some offense to his game this year, I would expect him to remain an elite defensive C for years to come but a 20 game sample isn’t enough to convince me that his offense is truly a hallmark of his game and not an outlier. That’s not saying he can’t continue his offense but we would be having a different conversation if he had flipped this years and last years offensive numbers. There’s a lot of decency bias at play here, he’s played 5 seasons and broken the 30 pt mark twice (if you assume he continues his current pace).

If JEE wants to bet on himself and go shorter term, he should. But that’s going to mean less money now. He’ll have to wait until UFA for that and risk that money on the bank.

Are we changing the name to Eazy-E now? Not sure how I feel about that.

If I'm Guerin, yes, absolutely. If I'm Eazy-E's agent, not a chance.

Getting Eriksson-Ek on a long-term lower hit cap hit would be good for the team, less so for Eriksson-Ek himself. Despite what wabit thinks, taking a lower cap hit on a mid-term length second bridge contract type deal is more beneficial to Eriksson-Ek now than asking for a payout he has yet to earn. It would give him a way to show that this year isn't a fluke and put up numbers that will earn that big boy contract when he will only be 28 years old. At the height of his prime and when he has a very decent chance to have a career as long as Koivu's.

A 2 year bridge deal takes him into UFA status. That would be great for him, and awful for the team. MN did that with Koivu, based on cap % that $6.75m/yr would be a $9.26m/yr contract with today's cap.

I don't understand how Wild fans are okay giving Spurgeon that albatross contract and yet won't pay JEE more than $4m/yr.

A $4m x 2 would take him to UFA and that's less than Domi and Strome (NYR). No way he takes $4m x 6. Danault will get $6m this summer. Cirelli got a $4.8m bridge deal, with no arbitration rights. FFS Foligno just got a $3.1 x 3 deal.

JEE has bee a .5ppg player since early last season with basically 0 PP time. He's an adv stats darling 5v5 while playing the shutdown center role. He's have a career year in a contract year.

Oof. That’s an over pay. Couts in PHI got 4.3 mil by 6 years and he had at least 3 consecutive 35 pt seasons in a row leading up to that. 6 year term, definitely, but I think he could be had at 4 mil or less.

I think that’s a good bet to go 3-4 mil by 4 years. Like you said, he’s in that 2C conversation but still needs to put up the points. Let’s say he’s willing to go 4 mil by 6 years, do you do that term?

I get your point, but Couturier’s contract is already yesterday’s news. Plus, I don’t think I would trade Ek for Couturier straight up...would you?