Klefbom Contract is Bad News for Ducks Organization + Gibson Extended
File this one under the heading “Holy Crap.… The Oilers gave young defenseman Oscar Klefbom an unexpectedly large contract over the weekend. Edmonton signed Klefbom to a seven year, $29M contract. That breaks down to an average annual value of $4.167M. When news of this deal broke, I could see three members of the Ducks smiling and one very concerned General Manager.
If Klefbom is worth over $4M per year, what are Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen and Simon Despres worth? If all things were equal, I wouldn't consider dealing either Lindholm or Vatanen for Klefbom. Further, if Despres is the guy we saw in last season's playoffs, I'd keep him as well. I'm not knocking Klefbom, I think he's a good young prospect. A seven year deal for a 22 year old player with a grand total of 77 games of NHL experience is nuts.
GM Bob Murray needs to rethink his salary dynamic if Klefbom is the new benchmark deal. He was probably thinking he could resign pending restricted free agents Lindholm and Vatanen for somewhere in the neighborhood of $6 - $6.5M combined. Now that figure could head north of $10M. It probably also guarantees that Despres may be priced out of a job in Anaheim.
I want to throw one more thought out there. Cam Fowler's deal pays him $4M per season for the next three years. If Lindholm and Vatanen get deals above Klefbom, Fowler probably won't be a happy camper. If Murray wants to keep him as well, the negotiations will start after the 2016-17 season. That one will be interesting.
Gibson Gets a New Contract
Today the Ducks announced the have signed goalie John Gibson to a three year contract extension. His deal has an AAV of $2.3M and avoids him becoming a restricted free agent after the season. The new contract kicks in next year with a salary of $1.5M. That is almost double what incumbent Frederik Anderson makes right now. Anderson's current contract also expires at the end of the season. You can safely bet that he will get much more that a guy who isn't expected to make the main roster this year.
RIP Todd Ewen
Former Duck enforcer Todd Ewen committed suicide Saturday. Ewen is still sixth on the Ducks all-time penalty minutes list. In only 153 games, He amassed 650 minutes in the box. If you get a chance, check out some of the tributes for Ewen on twitter. A fan and locker room favorite, he will be missed.
Interesting
Like all of the other teams in the league, the Ducks will have to adjust to the new 3-on-3 overtime. The Ducks practiced with a unit of Corey Perry, Lindholm and Vatanen.