Quoting: drewjenkins
1. McAvoy (23) is already better then Pulock (27).
2. Pulock had just finished his rookie season at 23.
3. McAvoy's been a top 10 defender for like 3 years.
Also this:
McAvoy's deal starts when he's 24 and ends when he's 32.
Pulock's deal starts when he's 28 and ends when he's 36.
A players prime is usually around 26-27, so that's quite a disparity.
PS - I'm a Leafs fan.
A. Actually the prime for defensemen is actually 25-26. But if you actually new anything about those statistics, you'd know that defensemen have a much slower decline in their ability than forwards. Which is why defensemen can tend to play well at say 34 where forwards don't.
B. Pulock and McAvoy are two different kind of defensemen. Don't confuse that for one being "better" than the other. Pulock is much better than McAvoy in his own zone. Period.
C. it's not when you got your start that determines how good of a player you are. When did Panarin finish his rookie deal? 24? does that mean guys who finished theirs at 21 are better players....clearly it does not.
D. McAvoy hasn't been a top 10 defender for 3 years. If anything over that time frame, McAvoy has been prone to be injured. He's had how many concussions at this point?
His health on the ice is suspect. You can't say that about Poluck.
So when you want to sit here and talk about the length of the deal and act like McAvoy is younger and that's so much better, it really avoids the question of will McAvoy actually last longer in the league than Pulock at a high level.
There is no really proof of any of that but you like to assume it. Pulock declining, past 34 is just as likely as McAvoy getting injured throughout that contract and eventually on a LTIR out.
On top of it, McAvoy on a rebuilding BOS team without support is a far less effective player than a Pulock on a NYI team that will continue to be competitive. So I wouldn't be rushing to use stats as your end all be all of judgements.
Fact is Pulock took a huge discount. He should have been paid more, and that is really on his agent. If you don't get that, somethings wrong with you.