That is something people need to consider with these U26 contracts.

The fan sentiment towards Sanderson has been negative ever since he was drafted because people online who aren't in the scouting community have a bias against risers. He had an extremely strong draft year and would have been taken by multiple teams in the top 5 ahead of Drysdale. Yet, because people get attached to names that hyped up for years ahead of the draft, he was a controversial pick at 5 - and because the Senators aren't a popular team right now, not a lot of people watched him as a rookie.

This is a no-brainer contract.

I remember getting called crazy for thinking the Stutzle deal was a slam dunk. I have a similar feeling about this deal. Love the gamble for the Sens

Does this contract not make you at least ask the question?

Dahlin's deal was basically a UFA deal. It only has 1 RFA year in it. For Dahlin, the comparison's would be Karlsson, Dougthy Pietrangelo, etc.

It's likely the opposite, that Dahlin signing for 10.5 put into perspective that 8M for an 8 year deal with 6 RFA years is market value for Sanderson. If you combined both of Dahlin's two contracts and just take the 8 years after his ELC, his AAV would have been about 8.8M. Given that Dahlin is better than Sanderson, that makes sense.

-Chychrun only signed for 6 years.
-He had added incentive to secure the bag due to facing injuries in his first two seasons that he played before signing.
-Chychrun did not have rookie or sophomore years anywhere near as strong as Sanderson's rookie year. He wasn't a top pairing defenseman.
-Chychrun's resume prior to entering the NHL also was nowhere near as strong as Sanderson's.

They are apples to oranges. Chychrun was a bottom pairing D as a rookie, and a mid-pairing D as a sophomore, He didn't break out as a top pairing defenseman until after signing the contract. Sanderson was the Senators #1 defenseman by the end of the season and overall had the toughest deployment all season.

Ottawa needed another top 4 defenseman. Chychrun had term on a great contract, and had local ties. He can play both sides so handedness is less relevant. None of the three have strong trade protection, so it isn't as though they couldn't make a change if they felt they needed to move someone out. Chychrun is also a local boy, who seems to be excited to play for Ottawa. Similar to how Debrincat signed a soft contract to go to Detroit, Ottawa might be able to convince Chychrun to take a little bit less because he wants to be in Ottawa.

The cap is also projected to go up by a large amount. Capfriendly has it set at 92 million for the year a Chychrun extension would kick in. Chabot and Sanderson at 8M under a 92M cap would be like having them at 7.25M under the current 83.5M cap. If they can convince Chychrun to take a hometown discount and come in at somewhere around 8 million, that's doable.

I could also see them possibly trading Chabot at one point before the rest of the league realize he is shell-shocked from being made to play 30 minutes a game on a budget Ottawa Senators team for many years. The thing is, they really don't have any good prospects on defense, so I can't seem them doing that unless there is a deal to bring in another top 4 defenseman from somewhere else. Unless someone breaks out unexpectedly, they don't have anybody in the system who could fill a top 4 spot internally.

Valid but Karlsson, Doughty Pietro were signed a long time ago.

Deals for Makar and Fox would have lowered the Dahlin deal. Now this one comes along and regard of UFA/RFA status LHD in the NHL can expect to get paid more than they would have yesterday.

Too much money for too long for such a short resume.

Makar signed coming right off his ELC. He has 4 RFA years in the deal, Dahlin only has 1. Had Makar signed a bridge like Dahlin, and played out his remaining RFA years, he also would be in the 10-12 million range.

Fox also didn't bridge. His deal has 4 RFA years in it.

That is why they aren't entirely comparable. Dahlin's contract was basically a UFA contract since it only had 1 (arb) RFA year in it.

Werenski, Jones, McAvoy, Nurse, etc - those players are all north of 9M and at a similar age bracket to Dahlin. They all signed for north of 9 on contracts that either entirely or almost entirely buy up UFA years. The Dahlin deal makes sense in the context of those deals.

The Sanderson deal does nothing to push forward or change how young defensemen are dealt with. If a player is a top pairing defenseman on their ELC, and they sign 7-8 years, they get 10-11 percent of the cap. Sanderson is considered to be a blue chip defense prospect who was just the best defender on his team as a rookie, and played top pairing minutes with difficult assignments. The only thing that is peculiar about this contract is Sanderson getting it after 1 season instead of 2, but that is not enough to dictate that it has somehow reset or changed the market.

If Buffalo is negotiating with Owen Power, it's not like they were about to sign him for 7.5 x 8 and now they are going, WAIT A MINUTE SANDERSON GOT 8...and then someone butts in and goes "Excuse me sir, it was actually 8.05!" - They likely already know that Power is going to get anywhere from 8.2M-9.2M (on 7-8 years), because that is what all the historical comparisons would put him at, and Sanderson's contract did nothing to alter those comparisons. Power is seen as the better player, and was seen as the more coveted prospect, so he's already lined up to get more.

Love it! Sanderson is an absolute stud! Probably one of those contracts that looks high at the time of signing and in 2/3 years everyone will praise for locking him up! Great player and deal.

This is quite an overpayment, no?

It might be worth it in the future and I understand the pay off if it works, but he had a decent season as a top 4 defender, nothing indicates he will become an top pairing defender. I'd think he would get between 6-7 long term.

After 77 games played?
That contract is outrageous.

Take off the homer glasses before you judge this one.

That's right. After UND was out of it, he signed...didn't play at all, but his year went by for 2021/2022.

Thanks!

I guess Bedard gets $13.26M next week? cheers

Pierre might have taken this idea from one of you guys.

I'm a little confused.

Why didn't Dorion give Sanderson the Bouchard kind of contract (3.9Mx2), then give him the 8-8.5Mx8 after? Seems like an unnecessary contract to hand out after 77 games.

He is worth it.

So this is Ottawa's 1rst and last year to actually compete? Sweet

On a side note: how do these GMs pull out infinite money whenever they feel like it... They now have 13 mill in cap space without Pinto signed and an incomplete top 6... And don't tell me Pinto's number didn't raise after seeing this

All the people saying that this contract will look good in year 2-4 are so weird... Basically you are saying that they could have made basically an identical deal next year when Sanderson would have played 100+ games so there would be a bigger sample size... So less risk.

Lets say he would make 60p next season, he wont, but for arguments sake lets say that... Then he would cost max 8,5m per year for 8 years... Every other scenario he would get the same deal (or less) next year... Stupid to make this kind of a deal after 77 games played. He will propably not be a bust but there is a risk of it.

There is no major upside of making this deal

youre not

That's easy. The teams are in different situations. Edmonton is in win-now mode so they are willing to risk a higher cap hit on Bouchard's next contract to free up cap space now to add pieces to put them over the top. Ottawa is a younger team building for a longer term. They want to get their core locked up now to maximize their window of contention while those guys are in their prime. If Bouchard was on Ottawa and Sanderson was on Edmonton, probably Sanderson would get the bridge and Bouchard would get the long term.

Bro this guy doesn't even look all that great. 30 something points in 77 games is not worth $8M

I will defend Sanderson here a bit, he's only 21 and has a high ceiling, he just played his rookie season and had a good year, this contract has the chance to be amazing if Sanderson continues to grow into the top pair D he could become, however, I will give you that it's a bit early to give him this kind of money, a bridge then long term deal would've been my move

You voted no on the Miro deal? Miro Heiskanen? That deal was a bargain before the ink was even dry.

TBH, My move would have been to trade him...

Ottawa already has 2 good LHD defensemen (Chabot and Chychrun) and a bottom of the league right side... They also have no depth but had over 20 mill to work with next year... But, by resigning him to this deal, you are now raising Pinto's price and you are putting yourself in cap trouble bc of only having 13 mill in cap space with 3/9 of your top 9 left unsigned and a very limited prospect pool to fill the gaps...

And this is not including the goaltending issue that can easily arise if Korpisalo bombs like most of us think he will do