In this edition of the hotstove, we share our thoughts on Nick Schmaltz' seven-year, $5.85 million (per) contract extension with the Arizona Coyotes.
Todd Cordell
The dollars might be a tad high but I don't think this contract is nearly as bad as many are making it out to be. Schmaltz is a really useful player.
Since the beginning of 2017-18, Schmaltz has recorded 77 points in 118 games. That's .66 per, which is the same total as Jason Zucker, William Nylander, Brendan Gallagher, and Nico Hischier. It's also more than notables like Max Pacioretty, Gustav Nyquist, Tyler Johnson, and Jordan Eberle. He's productive.
Schmaltz is also extremely effective at transporting the puck up ice and helping his teams set up shop in the offensive zone. In 64 tracked games dating back to last season, Schmaltz is at or near the top of the league in exiting the defensive zone and entering the offensive zone with possession.
Even if Schmaltz has finished developing and runs in place for the duration of the contract, I still think it's fairly reasonable deal.
Pete Tessier Low or high this contract for Schmaltz is a curious one. Look at the way it's structured the money that really matters is in the back end- so hard for it to be traded later. Then look at the conditions- the modified NTC comes in in the last 3 years.
So two things come to mind. It will help the Coyotes (if they keep him that long) to maintain the club cap hit to the cap floor but by spending real dollars. That's very un-Coyote. The other thing that comes to mind is he could be set free to Seattle in the expansion draft so that they can get a young player with some upside who will help them meet the cap floor too.
If this deal is looked as a strictly sign and keep deal then I ask this one question- who is betting Schmaltz is a 7-8 million dollar player in 5 years? That's a pretty big gamble for a guy who hit 21 goals last season and on pace for 14 had he played as many games as last year.
There's an age here but it's not about getting value for Schmaltz.
James Tanner As I wrote in my blog this morning, this is a great deal for the Coyotes because there is almost no risk and the potential for a very high reward. You get a player for his entire prime, at a number that's decent today and has two ways to improve 1) Schmaltz improves and it's a bargain and 2) the cap goes up and players much worse are signing $6 million deals in three years.
Can't go wrong here.
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