Kempe Contract Watch Thread

hokiecat said:
Yep. Holland is going to drag his feet and even 10M will be a dream price.
This reminds me of WR salaries in the NFL starting a few years ago. Get it done early because prices are only going up.
Click to expand...

I fear the general consensus could end up "if only Rob didn't decide to give up" before this season ends.
 
AngelEyes said:
Kempe will demand -- and get -- $14M x 8.

And McDavid is going to get upwards of $25M per.
Click to expand...
No way. Drei makes 14. Kempe is no Drei. And McD will take way less. $25 isn't even allowed, that's way more than 20% of the cap. He could get $20, but hell take less so they can compete.
 
I think a lot of NHL team owner's hearts just sank in their chests when they read that announcement this morning. Just looking at the 2026 free agent list and boy is it going to be an interesting summer coming up!
 
hokiecat said:
Yep. Holland is going to drag his feet and even 10M will be a dream price.
This reminds me of WR salaries in the NFL starting a few years ago. Get it done early because prices are only going up.
Click to expand...
This is why I was hoping they would go a full 8 years for Byfield. Yes there was risk but if they could’ve convinced him to do an 8 x 8 with the rising cap on the horizon it wouldn’t set the roster up in excellent condition in the long term.
 
hokiecat said:
Luke Hughes just got paid. Meanwhile old man Holland is negotiating like its 2022. I guess if he's not extending Nurse then he's a tough negotiator.
Click to expand...
$9M a season for a guy that has played one full season and missed 11 games last season. While not exactly comparable due to position, Kempe's value is much higher, and his ask should be going up every time one of these contracts gets announced. This may not end well if Holland and the Kings decide to play hardball with Juice. Gavrikov deal with the Rangers is an absolute steal now.
 
LAKingSteve said:
$9M a season for a guy that has played one full season and missed 11 games last season. While not exactly comparable due to position, Kempe's value is much higher, and his ask should be going up every time one of these contracts gets announced. This may not end well if Holland and the Kings decide to play hardball with Juice. Gavrikov deal with the Rangers is an absolute steal now.
Click to expand...
Luke has played two full seasons = 93 points over 155 games. This contract locks his up for what projects to be most of his prime growth years. It's actually a very good contract for the Devils and I'm sure having a star brother on the team, and another star brother the Devils hope to add to their team, helps raise the contract price a bit as well.

Kempe is very different situation as he is in his prime right now, and anything long term ventures into the down slope of his career. Today he is worth likely around a $11m AAV on a short-term/mid-term contract, or $10m AAV on a 5+ year contract. Either way the Kings just need to pay the man and lock it up even if it requires moderately overpaying to do so.

I agree with you that the waiting game is not beneficial to the Organization.

Statue4Deano said:
This is why I was hoping they would go a full 8 years for Byfield. Yes there was risk but if they could’ve convinced him to do an 8 x 8 with the rising cap on the horizon it wouldn’t set the roster up in excellent condition in the long term.
Click to expand...
100% - the Kings short-sighted approach will likely burn them on this one. If you have a young cornerstone, it's wise to lock them up long-term when the opportunity becomes available.
 
DryKing said:
Luke has played two full seasons = 93 points over 155 games. This contract locks his up for what projects to be most of his prime growth years. It's actually a very good contract for the Devils and I'm sure having a star brother on the team, and another star brother the Devils hope to add to their team, helps raise the contract price a bit as well.

Kempe is very different situation as he is in his prime right now, and anything long term ventures into the down slope of his career. Today he is worth likely around a $11m AAV on a short-term/mid-term contract, or $10m AAV on a 5+ year contract. Either way the Kings just need to pay the man and lock it up even if it requires moderately overpaying to do so.

I agree with you that the waiting game is not beneficial to the Organization.


100% - the Kings short-sighted approach will likely burn them on this one. If you have a young cornerstone, it's wise to lock them up long-term when the opportunity becomes available.
Click to expand...

Kempe waiting game = stupid. I think that is fairly close to a consensus.

For Byfield, I loved the deal at the time. We got a decent number of years, locking him up until 2029. That was the era of when they Kings were broke so doing an 8x8 (or whatever) would end up severely capping out the roster and ruining the depth. Also, Byfield was potentially on a growth trajectory but really hadn't shown indications that we was a 1C. Even as late as last fall, there was a significant portion who thought he projected as more of a 2C. It was only when he got paired up with Fiala (and Laf) that Byfield's full potential started to be unlocked. In hindsight, I wish we did 8 years but I can't blame Blake for staking out a middle ground. Instead we are going to get 4 more (hopefully) bargain years and then will have to pay up.

TBH, I kind of disagree with the lock up the young cornerstone approach. Is Dylan Cozens worth 7.1M? Not unless he lives up to his full potential. The free agency system lets the GMs take advantage of the system and extend guys for cheap on bridge contracts until they fully develop and are worth a huge contract. But so many GMs rush out to extend their young guys on an 8x8 hoping that they develop commensurate with their draft position. I still don't understand why MN gave all the money to Brock Faber. Side note: And then they signed the Marco Rossi deal this summer which was brilliant. 3 years, 15 million and he's still a RFA at the end of it. If he plays like a true top 6 forward then they'll have to pay up in 3 summers. If he stagnates, then they didn't overpay for term.
 
hokiecat said:
Kempe waiting game = stupid. I think that is fairly close to a consensus.

For Byfield, I loved the deal at the time. We got a decent number of years, locking him up until 2029. That was the era of when they Kings were broke so doing an 8x8 (or whatever) would end up severely capping out the roster and ruining the depth. Also, Byfield was potentially on a growth trajectory but really hadn't shown indications that we was a 1C. Even as late as last fall, there was a significant portion who thought he projected as more of a 2C. It was only when he got paired up with Fiala (and Laf) that Byfield's full potential started to be unlocked. In hindsight, I wish we did 8 years but I can't blame Blake for staking out a middle ground. Instead we are going to get 4 more (hopefully) bargain years and then will have to pay up.

TBH, I kind of disagree with the lock up the young cornerstone approach. Is Dylan Cozens worth 7.1M? Not unless he lives up to his full potential. The free agency system lets the GMs take advantage of the system and extend guys for cheap on bridge contracts until they fully develop and are worth a huge contract. But so many GMs rush out to extend their young guys on an 8x8 hoping that they develop commensurate with their draft position. I still don't understand why MN gave all the money to Brock Faber. Side note: And then they signed the Marco Rossi deal this summer which was brilliant. 3 years, 15 million and he's still a RFA at the end of it. If he plays like a true top 6 forward then they'll have to pay up in 3 summers. If he stagnates, then they didn't overpay for term.
Click to expand...
There are podcasters like the SDP boys calling the Dustin Wolf contract “great.” I’d say paying any goalie 7.5M for 7 years is risky, let alone for a guy coming off his rookie season. He does look legit but I’d hesitate on calling it anything else but that. Faber is an apt example. His sophomore season wasn’t on par with his rookie season.

That said, I still won’t stop being salty about Blake’s fumble on Wolf (Lee getting waived is another reminder) until one of George or Slukynsky has proven to be a top-end goalie at the NHL level for the Kings.

Good take on Byfield, btw.
 
Clif said:
There are podcasters like the SDP boys calling the Dustin Wolf contract “great.” I’d say paying any goalie 7.5M for 7 years is risky, let alone for a guy coming off his rookie season. He does look legit but I’d hesitate on calling it anything else but that. Faber is an apt example. His sophomore season wasn’t on par with his rookie season.

That said, I still won’t stop being salty about Blake’s fumble on Wolf (Lee getting waived is another reminder) until one of George or Slukynsky has proven to be a top-end goalie at the NHL level for the Kings.

Good take on Byfield, btw.
Click to expand...

The Wolf deal is insane. He had a great rookie campaign, but goaltending is the most volatile position in terms of season to season performance outside the elite top 2 or 3 goaltenders.

It's also the easiest position to fill in FA or via trade. It's also a position that is dependent on team performance and system.

I like Wolf and hope he does well but that kind of deal after a very good rookie campaign is crazy.
 
Pickle_Pucks said:
The Wolf deal is insane. He had a great rookie campaign, but goaltending is the most volatile position in terms of season to season performance outside the elite top 2 or 3 goaltenders.

It's also the easiest position to fill in FA or via trade. It's also a position that is dependent on team performance and system.

I like Wolf and hope he does well but that kind of deal after a very good rookie campaign is crazy.
Click to expand...
Completely crazy. I'm still salty about the Kings missing out on him too. But there is a reason or two that he ended up drafted in the 7th round. Mainly his size. But also Everett is a bit of a goalie factory (Carter Hart was there before Wolf) so people might think it is the system vs the player. Or the system protects the 6' guy into having elevated stats. But the Kings really should have taken the flier on him.

Goalie contracts are pretty nuts. I'd have issues paying anyone besides Vassy or Helly > $7.5 million. What the Rangers paid Igor was ludicrous. Goalie is a very important position. But as the STL GM said, it is also the position with the smallest delta between the floor and ceiling. I'd definitely be looking to pay a McDavid or Drai or MacKinnon the extra millions rather than a goalie. For as highly regarded as Bob is now, there was a point where his $10M contract was thought to be terrible and he was going to lose his job to Spencer Knight. Goalies save Vassy and Helly can be way up and down season to season.

Circling back to Clif's comments, Carter George looked very very good in Ontario and in the preseason. I hope he has a monster season. But he might need to get traded. He's splitting the net with that 6'8" kid the Devils drafted.
 
Pickle_Pucks said:
The Wolf deal is insane. He had a great rookie campaign, but goaltending is the most volatile position in terms of season to season performance outside the elite top 2 or 3 goaltenders.

It's also the easiest position to fill in FA or via trade. It's also a position that is dependent on team performance and system.

I like Wolf and hope he does well but that kind of deal after a very good rookie campaign is crazy.
Click to expand...

Yeah, history has shown that the goalie position is not one where you want to be aggressive with contracts to younger (unproven) players.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Now Chirping

Share this page

Back
Top