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Why the Penguins Should Take Notice of Jonas Brodin's New Contract

October 13, 2014, 11:28 AM ET [209 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Over the weekend you may have missed a contract signing that could have significance to the Penguins.

The Minnesota Wild re-signed young defenseman Jonas Brodin to a six year 25.0M contract, a nice raise over the 894k he is currently making, Why does this matter to the Penguins?

They also have a pretty good young defenseman making 894k. His name is Olli Maatta.

Jonas Brodin is playing big top four minutes alongside Ryan Suter. Olli Maatta will be playing big top four minutes alongside Kris Letang, Paul Martin, or Christian Ehrhoff.

The Wild decided they weren't going to screw around and play the low ball bridge contract game with a premium young asset like the Canadiens did with PK Subban. I would advise the Penguins to follow the Wild's approach. Give the player a little bit more than a classic bridge deal but gain more term.

Maatta isn't eligible to sign an extension until next season but the sooner it gets done the better.

A similar six year extension like Brodin's would keep Olli Maatta at around 4.16M until 2022. Depending on how Maatta does this season the Penguins might be looking at a contract that is closer to the 5.0M range. Time will tell. Anyways, with a six year extension he will be 28 years old and looking to cash in as a UFA.

Sid and Geno will be around 35 years old when that deal expires. It works out well for both team and player. The team gets a very good defenseman during Crosby/Malkin's last stretch of dominance and the player will make a boatload from the Penguins, or the open market. Think about how much more players will be getting 6 years from now due to HRR rising.

Just something to think about while we wait for the next Penguins game on Thursday.

Thanks for reading!

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