Adam Fox getting 9.5 is right on market value, it's really not a hometown discount, and he was never gonna get more than 10.

There are currently only two defensemen who are paid more than 10 mil, and they're Erik Karlsson and Drew Doughty, and neither of them are seen as good contracts. It's important to note, Karlsson, who is the highest paid defenseman in the league, signed his contract in 2019, at a point where he was already established as an all time great, with two Norris trophies, multiple seasons at or near a point per game, and multiple seasons at or near the 20 goal mark. He signed it while his 2017 playoff stint was still fresh in the mind. He's still a great defenseman, but he's never been able to live up to that contract, because to live up to that contract you'd have to be unreasonably good all the time. Doughty, who's the 2nd highest paid defenseman is paid 11M. He didn't quite have the same insane numbers as Karlsson, but he was still established, had a norris trophy, and had a history of being extraordinary in the playoffs. Similar to Karlsson, he hasn't been able to live up to his contract.

Now, the market value for defensemen is not 11 million. Even for the best defensemen in the league, the likes of Josi, Hamilton, and McAvoy, is around 9-9.5 million, and these are all established defensemen who have a history of being in the Norris conversation.

Now, the reference for Adam Fox should be the likes of Makar, Heiskanen, and Hughes, who are all young, extraordinarily talented defenseman, who've all recently signed big contracts. Hughes is the best defenseman on the Canucks and someone who'll be an important part of their core for a long time. Yes, his contract is a discount at 6*7.85M, because of the Canucks cap situation, but even at the high end the talks were still only around the 9mil mark. Heiskanen has the longest term contract at 8 year, but other than that it's pretty similar to Hughes. He's very talented, and will be a part of the Stars core for a long time as a top defenseman in the league. Cale Makar is the highest paid player of the 3, with a 6*9M contract, but he's also already one of the best defensemen in the league. He won the calder in 19-20, and was a finalist for the Norris last season after scoring at a point per game pace as a defenseman. His contract is arguably a discount, but once again, the high end mark was still talked about being around the 9.5-10 mil mark, he was never gonna get close to 11 mil.

Now I quickly wanna mention that the best defenseman in the league, Victor Hedman, and Shea Weber are both paid under 8mil. Not because their contracts signify the market value for defenseman, but because that would be what an actual discount would look like for Fox, around the 8 mil mark.


Adam Fox got 9.5 mil over 7 years, this is pretty much where the market value for the top defensemen in the league is right now. Keep in mind, Fox has yet to play a full 82 game season, he should be amazing for a long time, but he's never gonna get McDavid money for two shortened seasons.

Now can we stop saying Fox is worth 11-13mil, because he just isn't. Thank you for listening to my tedtalk.

It's bizarre that you didn't mention the fact (barely was alluded to even) that EK65 and Doughty are earning that for their age 30ish to 35ish seasons... 🤨

NHL players almost all peak between 23ish & 31ish

Fox and Makar would* get 11-13 for those years ^

McDavid signed his 12.5M$ deal on July, 5, 2017 when the cap was 75M and he was arguably worth more then, with cap going to 82.5M next year... yeah😎

*should

first of all, its ridiculous to even be talking about mcdavid in the same sentence as fox or makar. yes they're great, but mcdavid is already one of the best nhl players of all time. if you were to trade fox for mcdavid, how much more would you have to add on to actually make it worth it? sure yes, mcdavid might be worth a bit more than 12.5 now, but not significantly more.

its just ridiculous to think fox or makar would get 11-13 mil at this point. i mean they look really good, but they've both barely played over 100 games, and even the top prime defensemen right now like josi and mcavoy get 9-9.5, and peak subban got 9 mil. theres just no reference for a deal like people were suggesting.

btw dmen have longer primes than forwards, their peaks usually last well into their 30s. i mean nick lidstrom won the norris after scoring 62 pts in 82 games at the age of 40, and he had an 80pts in 80 games season at 35. i only mentioned karlsson because he's unarguably the greatest defenseman in recent history, and even for him 11.5 was steep. what makes you think fox or makar, even if they do end up being as good as people think, are worth up to 13 mil?

How much do you think McDavid is worth?

I thought hed get 10.5 since its a million more than his value and the Ramgers seem to like to over pay people.

mcdavid shouldn't even be in the same conversation as fox. he's the best player in the world by a long way, and he's proven that for years now. he's definitely worth his contract, and probably a bit more. his contract is a bit irrelevant to discuss cause you could say someone like him is worth 15 mil, even 16 mil. his value is just so hard to measure, cause there's really no reference to him in the modern era. mcdavid's already had three seasons where he was on pace to beat crosby's career best 120 pts, and he looks to be even better this season. his career average points pace is 1.41 points per game, or 116 pts every 82 games. the only reason i even mentioned mcdavid was to make clear how crazy 11-13 mil actually is. its insane to assume a defenseman who hasnt even played a full 82 game season yet is worth even close to that much.

Shea Weber is not in the same sentence as Hedman lol

yeah no i know, i just wanted to mention them because they both have similar salary, and are both experienced defensemen and norris trophy winners. they're also both underpaid.

hedman is definitely the best defenseman in the league atm

I dont think anyone legitimately thought he would get 8 figures off his ELC

no people did think that he would.

We have to recognize tho, those guys signed contracts; and those were expensive-ish. Toews was the highest paid with Kane at 10.5. So they were 3m> off the biggest guys.

That’s why I think Fox for example; would be worth 10+ when compared to a guy like McAvoy because I’m a fan of McAvoy but Fox already surpassed him in production so it’s very fair to have him at 9.5. But if he signed at 10.5 I wouldn’t blame him. I’d take Fox over everyone on the backend except for Hedman, Charlie McAvoy, Makar, and Miro H. Those 5 are the top D for me. Hedman is the best, McAvoy is an unreal 5v5 guy just needs points, Makar is pure OFD star, Miro is chasing Makar, and Fox is tryna be a two way and is succeeding so far while having great production.

I don’t think it’s bad that these players are earning so much so young; but I do see the error in being paid before you proved your record of team success.

Those people werent very smart

Not saying you’re wrong but I do see the argument Fox had to earn more than Makar, McAvoy, and Miro.

If he got 10m I could see why.

How many players have won a Norris trophy on their ELC?

so what? because he won a norris trophy in a shortened season he's now worth 11-13 mil? it doesnt really matter.

btw, erik karlsson did, and he only got 6.5mil, so im not sure what youre trying to prove

I agree here, I think Fox is being payed what he should be.

I'd argue that winning a Norris on his ELC puts him above his comparables, which would put him in the eight figure range. Shortened season or not, a trophy is a trophy.

it just doesnt tho.. especially since makar was also nominated for the norris, and arguably would've won it if he hadn't missed 12 games due to injury. he was at a far better points pace, and while i think fox is a better all around defenseman it doesn't put him into the 8 figure range. absolutely not in the 11-13 mil range.

i think you're either missing the point of this post or you dont understand contracts