Perhaps the biggest decision for the Ottawa Senators this year is whether to re-sign or trade J-G Pageau. As rumors about Pageau’s status continue to swirl, the Boston Bruins may have just provided some clarity with respect to the cost to re-sign a player like him in today’s NHL:
#NHLBruins sign Charlie Coyle and Chris Wagner to multi-year contract extensions.
— Dan Roche (@RochieWBZ) November 27, 2019
Coyle signs 6-year contract extension thru 2025-26 season w/annual NHL cap hit of $5.25 million.
Wagner signs 3-year extension thru 2022-23 season with annual cap hit of $1.35 million #wbz
Coyle’s new deal likely provides Pageau with a decent comparable for negotiation purposes. Both are viewed as fitting in that “3C… role, both are local favorites, and both hit the market at the same time.
More significant than those soft factors, though, is a comparison of their recent and respective individual performance. Consider the following five-on-five data, which includes all action from 2017-18 onward:
Using data from @NatStatTrick's "Compare" tool, we can look at Charlie Coyle's recent performance compared to Pageau's. Here's a summary of the individual 5v5 performance: pic.twitter.com/7kdj7te18W
— Michael Stuart (@hockeybuzzstu) November 30, 2019
It’s obvious that Pageau is at least in Coyle’s neighborhood. The on-ice, relative impact at five-on-five comparison tells a further story:
Here's a summary of their respective 5v5 on-ice, relative performance: pic.twitter.com/eZcTpk4jYP
— Michael Stuart (@hockeybuzzstu) November 30, 2019
Whether Pageau re-signs with the Senators or is traded as part of the rebuild, it’s obvious that Coyle’s new deal has set a sort of benchmark for his negotiation. If that’s the price, and term, required to keep him in Ottawa, the Senators would almost certainly be better off exploring the trade market.
As always, thanks for reading.