Signed Dekeyser signed. 2 yrs $2.187 million AAV

[Jesusberg 1,256]

Tatar should sign a "bridge" deal, just like most younger players. I can't stand when I see a guy come off of his ELC and get a 6 million dollar contract (not saying Tatar is getting this, or has asked for it) for one season of strong play. The rare occasion, it's deserved and the deal works out. I think there's a lot of risk, as it just sets a bad precedent, and players expect the money without really proving they're worth the contract.

Edited July 24, 2014 by Jesusberg

[kipwinger 8,754]

Tatar should sign a "bridge" deal, just like most younger players. I can't stand when I see a guy come off of his ELC and get a 6 million dollar contract (not saying Tatar is getting this, or has asked for it) for one season of strong play. The rare occasion, it's deserved and the deal works out. I think there's a lot of risk, as it just sets a bad precedent, and players expect the money without really proving they're worth the contract.

Who's suggesting he get a 6 million dollar deal?

[Jesusberg 1,256]

Who's suggesting he get a 6 million dollar deal?

I edited it right before you replied. I had Edmonton in mind when I threw out the 6 million dollar figure.

[evilzyme 769]

Tatar should sign a "bridge" deal, just like most younger players. I can't stand when I see a guy come off of his ELC and get a 6 million dollar contract (not saying Tatar is getting this, or has asked for it) for one season of strong play. The rare occasion, it's deserved and the deal works out. I think there's a lot of risk, as it just sets a bad precedent, and players expect the money without really proving they're worth the contract.

I believe that's exactly why he's takening the 2-3 year contract over the 5. Prove yourself during the 2-3, hit your prime and cash in the big contract.

[joesuffP 1,746]

I have to think holland offered Tatar the same contract as Nyquist. Tatar May think he deserves a bit more having shown he can score in a full NHL season. Or maybe he thinks he should be getting a lot more like consistent 20 goal scorers in the NHL

[WingsallTheway 383]

Personally, Im not sure why,

but I think Tatar will make slightly more than Nyquist. Although Holland could use Nyquists' contract as a bargaining chip, next year is going to be a steal for Gus' caphit.

I see Holland thinking tatar is worth 1M, when realistically i think 2M is fair. Where Tatar will think hes worth 3M, and they will likely meet somewhere around 2.

With Holland's past history of retaining RFA's at awesome contracts, I could also see tatar making 900K for the next 2 seasons.

So basically, I guess i have no idea what's going to happen lol. I wouldn't be surprised by anything

Edited July 24, 2014 by WingsallTheway

[Rivalred 630]

Laden incentive contract of he puts up good numbers....

[DickieDunn 2,571]

Laden incentive contract of he puts up good numbers....

Incentives are only entry level and one year veteran deals.

[anthonyn66 89]

He needs a bridge contract plain and simple, one good year does not get you a long term contract

Jeff Finger, Ville Leino say hi

PS: Johansen should learn from Subban, sign a bridge deal and after a couple years grab a much bigger deal

[Z Winged Dangler 2,082]

Tatar had a good rookie year. But he's still unproven so I'm not sure why people think he should get his payday now. He'll get a prove it contract and that's what's best for both sides.

As far as people comparing Tats and Pavs rookie years, it honestly means nothing. Peter Mueller had a comparable rookie year to Anze Kopitar, who both had had better years than Patrice Bergeron, and they all had worse years than Dany Heatley. Now two of them are scrubs and 2 are elite forwards. I'm glad Tatar had a good rookie year, now he has to prove he can continue to do that and improve.

Filppula got a 5 year 15 million prove it contract. I would like to see Tatar and DeKeyser each get 2 years at 2 mil per year and then take it from there.

[AtlantaHotWings 1,124]

Ya, there is no way you can compare a rookie to a 12 year vet. Who would do that? Especially the best two way forward in the NHL...C'mon!

KRSMITH17, if you take Tatar and Datsyuk and put them as rookies together, they are VERY comparable. When Pav started, he was FAR from the player he is today, he was a 3rd line center playing with Hull and Boyd. He actually had a stigma about him that he couldn't score in the playoffs (he had 15 points in 4 years.) It wasn't until 5 years into his career that he shook that off his back (16 points in 18 games.) And it wasn't until that same year that he got his first votes as a Selke candidate, finishing 20th in voting. No one is saying he is as good as Datsyuk today, what they are saying is Datsyuk started out similarly and it is not out of the realm of possibility to foreshadow Tatar maybe taking same path to greatness. No one knew in 2002 that Pavel would be the player he is today. They knew he had potential and showed some flash of something special, but to become a near Hart trophy winner, nobody could see that. Tatar could very well be as good as, or even better than Pavel after he is in the league 12 years from now. Nobody knows...but it isn't way off base to compare both of them as rookies. That would be like comparing Pavel in 2002 with Fedorov in 2002.

One thing to bring up in this discussion was that Dats was the 3rd line center on an absolutely stacked team in 02. Tats was relied upon a bit more to even make the playoffs. Not saying Tats will be the god like creature Dats is but lets all pray for it.

OMG you switch one letter at the front and they are interchangeable!!

2 Mil 3 yr prove it deal with some bumps for performance.

[toby91_ca 620]

Let's not compare Tatar's situation with the 3 guys in Edmonton who signed for $6M.

[Dabura 12,232]

Good read.

[Jesusberg 1,256]

Let's not compare Tatar's situation with the 3 guys in Edmonton who signed for $6M.

Ok... then Henrique with the Devils? Not sure which comparison would be more to your liking, but my point remains that players shouldn't be offered anything more than a bridge deal coming off their ELC contracts. RNH (who I was thinking of) is an extreme example of the situation. I'm not comparing Tatar to either one of those guys, not directly. - I'm discussing players coming off their ELC's being given deals that haven't worked out to date.

[toby91_ca 620]

My point is that you can't really apply that logic to everyone (i.e. giving a bridge deal to everyone coming of ELC). Take Crosby as another extreme case. You wouldn't sign him to a 2 year prove it deal after his first 3 years. To me, bridge deals are more of a risk management concept. Sometimes, a player would prefer 2 years at $3M per rather than 6 years at $4M per...it really depends.

Take Subban for example. Montreal went with a bridge deal for him and are going to get burned now. Not sure if he pushed for the bridge deal or not, but they would have been better off signing him long-term a couple years ago, now they will end up paying much more.

I understand your point of view though....you haven't put in enough time to demonstrate consistency, therefore don't deserve a long-term lucrative contract....however, teams often give players contracts they don't currently deserve to avoid having to pay them even more in the future.

[number9 3,297]

The most comparable production I can see of a player who just signed is Mcginn who I believe just signed a 2 year 3 mill deal. Mcginn is older (not sure if he was RFA). I can see Tats asking for something comparable to that.

[Jesusberg 1,256]

My point is that you can't really apply that logic to everyone (i.e. giving a bridge deal to everyone coming of ELC). Take Crosby as another extreme case. You wouldn't sign him to a 2 year prove it deal after his first 3 years. To me, bridge deals are more of a risk management concept. Sometimes, a player would prefer 2 years at $3M per rather than 6 years at $4M per...it really depends.

Take Subban for example. Montreal went with a bridge deal for him and are going to get burned now. Not sure if he pushed for the bridge deal or not, but they would have been better off signing him long-term a couple years ago, now they will end up paying much more.

I understand your point of view though....you haven't put in enough time to demonstrate consistency, therefore don't deserve a long-term lucrative contract....however, teams often give players contracts they don't currently deserve to avoid having to pay them even more in the future.

For the record, I'm not against skipping bridge deals when the situation calls for it. (I know my 3rd post in this topic seems to contradict that, because I said "players"). My original point was this:

Tatar should sign a "bridge" deal, just like most younger players. I can't stand when I see a guy come off of his ELC and get a 6 million dollar contract (not saying Tatar is getting this, or has asked for it) for one season of strong play. The rare occasion, it's deserved and the deal works out.

So perhaps I wasn't specific enough, but I'm referring to the mid-range players, not superstar. I acknowledge that skipping bridge deals can be beneficial. At times, skipping those bridge deals turns out to be a fantastic situation for a team - i.e. John Tavares. I think most players considered to be superstars can "safely" skip those deals.

Montreal's screwed right now because of Subban's bridge deals, and that's where I think a team like Ottawa did the right thing (Karlsson @ 6.5 per).

However, in Tatar's particular case, I would feel much safer giving him a bridge deal to determine his long-term contract's value. As of right now, he's played predominantly on the 3rd line. The players mentioned above are studs, playing against the other team's top competition. Maybe it's my perception of Tatar's potential, but I don't see Detroit being burned by a bridge deal with him. I don't think it'll amount to a situation where Tatar is able to demand upwards of 7 million on his next deal.

I get the idea of risk management, and I wouldn't have been totally opposed to a 5 year, 3-3.5 million deal. It worked out well with Filppula. I just think that the 2-3 year deal, in Tatar's case, would be the best fit for now.

Edited July 25, 2014 by Jesusberg

[Euro_Twins 4,485]

Tatar is the one who wants a 2-3 year deal. Management is pushing for 5 years

[Jesusberg 1,256]

Tatar is the one who wants a 2-3 year deal. Management is pushing for 5 years

They're pushing for 5, or they gave Tatar the options of 2, 3 and 5 year deals?

I know he's on record saying he'd prefer the 2-3 year, but I haven't seen anything about what management is pushing for.

[kipwinger 8,754]

I'm going to laugh and laugh and laugh if Tatar signs a more "team friendly" deal than Dekeyser. Everybody is overly worried about Tatar, but the local guy isn't signed either. What if he's the one with the "ego problem" or whatever else is being suggested about Tatar? People act like Tatar is some kind of bad seed because he's trying to get the best deal he can. But clearly Dekeyser is doing the same thing and everyone is mum.

Truth is, neither are currently signed because their value is really hard to determine. They've both played better than your average rookie but don't have a track record. As such, it's hard for both management, and their agents, to figure out what their proper value is. So it takes time.

[Z Winged Dangler 2,082]

I'm going to laugh and laugh and laugh if Tatar signs a more "team friendly" deal than Dekeyser. Everybody is overly worried about Tatar, but the local guy isn't signed either. What if he's the one with the "ego problem" or whatever else is being suggested about Tatar? People act like Tatar is some kind of bad seed because he's trying to get the best deal he can. But clearly Dekeyser is doing the same thing and everyone is mum.

Truth is, neither are currently signed because their value is really hard to determine. They've both played better than your average rookie but don't have a track record. As such, it's hard for both management, and their agents, to figure out what their proper value is. So it takes time.

I'd love for both guys to be lifetime Wings, so I'd be perfectly fine if both got 5 year 15 million contracts to bridge them until they get 5-6 mil per on the next one. I just hope they sign soon so we can put this thread to bed.

[Jesusberg 1,256]

http://fox17online.com/2014/07/26/danny-dekeyser-discusses-contract-talk-with-red-wings-and-mike-babcock-with-fox-17/

Now he’s a restricted free agent and is simply waiting to sign a new deal with the Red Wings.

“There won’t be any problems,” said DeKeyser about the negotiations. “It’ll be done before camp. So, no one needs to worry about that.”

[TheXym 2,606]

I was about to post that link, found it on The Malik Report. Definitely a good sign, imho.

[kipwinger 8,754]

Sooo he said the exact same thing Tatar said a week ago?

Edited July 27, 2014 by kipwinger

[arag 308]

There is only one "sign" while they are RFAs. The good sign. They are trapped and will sign anyways. When they become UFAs things will change. However good attitude is always welcomed.