Grade Marc Bergevin's first year

[Commandant]

I enjoyed the article as well.

This one isn't one of mine though... just so you know.

Good article. I'm sure he'll be sitting right around the 7 mill mark.

[hab29RETIRED]

I think you are missing a few important factors about comparables.

First, Ottawa got Karlsson at $6.5m because they didn't try and sign him to a bridge deal. If they didn't give him the money, they risked an offer sheet - which is where we got lucky. The avs ended up paying a lot more for o'reilly then they wanted. Why Philly didn't threw stupid money at PK is beyond me, since he would have addressed their most pressing need. Hologram has rocks for brains, which was evidenced by his signing Lecavalier to the contract he did.

Second, using comparables of contracts signed in the past is useless. Every year the cost of signing a guy WILL go up. Next year, when his new deal kicks in, will Letang really be the third best dman in the league?? Should bogosian really be making as much money as he will with his new deal, if you consider comparables??? Should chara be were he is at on the list??? Also using Suter and weber as comparables doesn't work. Their cap hits are what they are because they were signed for long term, front loaded deals that can no longer be done. Had we done that, we got have signed Subban for a 12 year $5m deal.

Lastly, guys like chara signed cap friendly deals AFTER the team already gave them big money. The bruins didn't low ball him when they signed him as a UFA.

Subban was clearly our best player even before he won the Norris. Better then Price, Markov and maxpac

I said before the lockout we should have signed him for 12 years while we still can. After the lockout, I said we should have signed him for 8 years at $5.5 to $6m. Yes the cap was going down this year. So what. It was more important to lockup up Subban long rerm before the season then give deshsrnais, Bouillon deals during the year. With a declining cap, should we be locking up an over the hill dman who Therrian overused and NO ONE else WANTED, or should an undersized centre been a priority??? Had we locked up subban long term, he MAY have done a home town discount deal like chara did on his SECOND deal with Boston. Why would Subban sign for less now?

Final point. As CC said, someone WILL give Subban the money - probably between $7.5 to $8.5m REGARDLESS whether he finishes in top 3 or 5 for Norris voting if we don't, Philly was willing to give up the draft picks for weber, someone will be willing to do the same for Subban.

The Subban contract is precisely why I woudn't give MB an A grade. I really don't get the praise for how he handled the Subban contract. He clearly fxcked up.

If Subban was white he would have got his money. The arguement that he is chirpy, slew foots, hits to injure somehow means we had to be careful in locking him up is BS. Do you people not remember what Chelios was like???? Hell Chara tried to DECAPITATE a guy and he is still respected and thought of as a friendly gentle giant and a gentleman.

Well... maybe. I think compensation for anything between $6.7M and $8.4M is two first round picks, a second and a third. And if he's asking for more than that, a team would have to cough up four first round draft picks. How many teams would be willing to give two first rounders up after seeing Toronto do that for Kessel and missing out on a second overall forward and a ninth overall?

Top five most expensive blueliners by cap hit:

1. Shea Weber ($7.8M per season)

2. Ryan Suter ($7.5M per season)

3. Brian Campbell ($7.1M per season)

4. Drew Doughty ($7M per season)

5. Zdeno Chara ($6.9M per season)

Campbell and Suter were free agency signings so their price is based on free market. Weber signed $300K more than what he got in arbitration but it was also an offer sheet from the Flyers he signed. Doughty is actually comparable in age to Subban while Chara is a veteran who signed a cap friendly deal for the team he plays captain for. If we're lucky we can convince Subban to sign something similar to what Karlsson signed in Ottawa with a $6.5M cap hit. The year after this season Letang would slide into number three making $7.25M per season.

I guess I can see three different scenarios:

1. Subban shows his loyalty by signing between $6.5M and $7M similar to Karlsson's contract.

2. Subban's agent and Bergevin come to a compromise and have Subban paid $7.6M to show he's the second highest paid defenceman in the league.

3. Subban forces Bergevin's hand due to the bridge and makes him the highest paid defenceman in the league at a $8M cap hit.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

Nobody is giving four first round picks for Subban, which is what they'd have to do if he's asking $8.5M. If Subban signed for $8.5M I'd let him walk.

[Commandant]

Letang's deal kicks in the same time as Subban's will. After the 2013-14 season is over.

A big difference though... Letang would have been UFA.... Subban RFA

[Toronthab]

Even if PK's play slips next season, it won't make the slightest lick of difference to his next contract. He will be paid like a Norris-winning superstar no matter what, because if we don't make with the $8 mil, some other team will. That is 100% guaranteed.

Therefore, show your good faith and open early negotiations, make him the cornerstone for the next decade, he's happy and committed, we're happy and basking in the best player we've developed since God knows when.

Amen