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Abby Signs 7-year, 29.75 mil Extension

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Ehh 7 years, not a fan of that.

Guys like Abby are perfect shorter term deals imo. Once grit/tough guys lose their speed and youth it's a hit or miss with them.


Not sure why Holland is into locking up players without a guaranteed sustainable upside. Thought he'd learn his lesson with Ericsson, Weiss deals.

Edited by kickazz

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Ehh 7 years, not a fan of that.

Guys like Abby are perfect shorter term deals imo. Once grit/tough guys lose their speed and youth it's a hit or miss with them.

Not sure why Holland is into locking up players without a guaranteed sustainable upside.

Can you name any players under the age of 25 with guaranteed sustainable upside?

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The only way I like this deal is if it's 4.25M max. Still 7 years is just way too long especially when he's not taking a discount to stay in Detroit. Abby's got a hell of an agent. With teams so pressed against the cap I don't think any team would give him 5M plus 7 years. This feels like Ericsson's deal. Thanks for getting getting paid peanuts for so long here's an extra couple million a year

I would rather see 5M+ for 3 years

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Abby is under 25?

No player over 25 has guaranteed sustainable upside. And I would argue only a handful do who are under 25. My point is you're asking for something that doesn't exist. Locking up Abby is a smart move. Expecting people to take a discount to play in Detroit is absurd.

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The only way I like this deal is if it's 4.25M max. Still 7 years is just way too long especially when he's not taking a discount to stay in Detroit. Abby's got a hell of an agent. With teams so pressed against the cap I don't think any team would give him 5M plus 7 years. This feels like Ericsson's deal. Thanks for getting getting paid peanuts for so long here's an extra couple million a year

The salary around 4 mill or a bit higher is not too bad, the term length worries me for a player like him. At age 34/35 what can we really get out of him? Imagine if there's a no trade clause (knowing Holland there probably will be). It's not like Abby can rely on his playmaking skills or goalscoring skills when he's older and slower like some of our other long term contract guys are.

Yeah I agree, Abby's agent is probably pretty dam good.

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No player over 25 has guaranteed sustainable upside. And I would argue only a handful do who are under 25. My point is you're asking for something that doesn't exist. Locking up Abby is a smart move. Expecting people to take a discount to play in Detroit is absurd.

Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Toews, Kane, Stamkos, Ovie, Crosby, Tavares, Getzlav, Hossa, Bergeron, Kopitar and the list continues.

Those are elite players that are guaranteed to be elite or at the very least well above average even with health issues. An injured Datsyuk for instance is still the best player on ice, any hockey analyst/scout can predict that. Those are guys you lock up long term without any questions asked.

Locking up Abby who is turning 29 soon , until he's age 36 is risky.

Abby is not going to get any better. 40ish points is his ceiling. He does a lot of good things that go unnoticed but he's not suddenly going to emerge as a Backes. Hopefully his body stays together and he can be a good veteran for this team. We're banking on it

Basically my point. We're banking on it. I'd love to see him play out his contract and contribute his grinding and piano moving. But it could be a hit or miss for these types of players as they age. They don't have much else to fall back on if they lose that element of their game.

4 year contract was what I was looking forward to (basically till he's 33 and exits his prime). By then you would reasses his ability to contribute and re-sign if needed.

If it ends up being 7 years then oh well. We hope for the best and hope it works in our favor.

Edited by kickazz

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Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Toews, Kane, Stamkos, Ovie, Crosby, Tavares, Getzlav, Hossa, Bergeron, Kopitar and the list continues.

Those are elite players that are guaranteed to be elite or at the very least well above average even with health issues. An injured Datsyuk for instance is still the best player on ice, any hockey analyst/scout can predict that. Those are guys you lock up long term without any questions asked.

Locking up Abby who is turning 29 soon , until he's age 36 is risky.

Basically my point. We're banking on it. I'd love to see him play out his contract and contribute his grinding and piano moving. But it could be a hit or miss for these types of players as they age. They don't have much else to fall back on if they lose that element of their game.

That's great, and by all means you're right to say lock up all our stars. But in the meantime, you need about 20 other people who can play, too. Abby is a great player and will be a valuable veteran presence once he slows down a bit. Even if it's $4.5M for 7 years, I'd take it. We would lose more than that - either in money or prospects - trying to pry a player of similar talent from another team in three years.

Edited by Aethernum

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That's great, and by all means lock up all our stars. But in the meantime, you need about 20 other people who can play, too. Abby is a great player and will be a valuable veteran presence. Even if it's $4.5M for 7 years, I'll take it. We would lose more than that trying to pry a player of similar talent from another team in three years.

Yeah, but I'm referring to grinders/powerforwards, of which you don't need more than 3 or 4 on a team. Besides we don't need to pry if we can groom within with younger guys coming through the system. It's harder to find elite players, who are a rarity (hence why you lock them up) than it is to find average to above average players who can grind.

Edited by kickazz

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Abdelkader has had one season of scoring, while playing with future hall of famers, of top 6 scoring. Holland is going to give him 7 years of 4+ million? This just proves the terrible complacency Holland and this organization has found itself in. This makes the team less able to make moves for the elite defender they terribly need, and with Howard and Franzen still on the books for the foreseeable future free agents won't be coming here.

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Yikes! 7 years is brutal. I can see a 4 year deal at that price but 7 years those last 3 years are going to kick us in the ass. One 40 point season doesn't equate to a deal like this especially for somebody who played with one of Pavel and Zetterberg for most of the season and only put up 44 points. He's a career 3rd/4th line grinder who's going to cash in on one lucky season. Don't get me wrong I like Abby but this deal will look ugly after the first couple of seasons. As soon as Dats and Z retire and Abby isn't playing top line with them he'll be back to his mid 20 point self he's been for the majority of his career.

Abby has to have the best agent in the league to get a 7 year deal at 4M+.

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Abdelkader has had one season of scoring, while playing with future hall of famers, of top 6 scoring. Holland is going to give him 7 years of 4+ million? This just proves the terrible complacency Holland and this organization has found itself in. This makes the team less able to make moves for the elite defender they terribly need, and with Howard and Franzen still on the books for the foreseeable future free agents won't be coming here.

If Franzen never plays again which I'm guessing is the case, his salary is off the books. If Howard keeps playing like a top tier goalie, I dont think they will have a problem moving him at all.

Agreed though that 7 years is a long time, unless he takes a lower salary per year.

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Well he's definitely worth 4 million. He would get that anywhere and we want to keep him.

The relevant comparison for this was Belesky. They had a similar production in past years. Belesky had a break season with Perry+Getzlaf with 32 points and got 3.8 for 5 years. Abdelkader had 1 more goal and 11 more assists than him. So he'd get more.

Side Note: Ducks let Belesky go - now they suck. Was he more important to that team and their 1st line than people thought? (disclaimer: i haven't watch them so I don't really know what's going on with them) How big a hole would it be without Abby?

7 years is a little scary and I would have preferred 5. I'll wait to see the actual caphit to decide how much I dislike that. He has been pretty durable throughout his career. Also, I think if this were family feud and LGWers were asked to guess who would be lifelong Wings (excluding the generation of Z, Dats, Kron) Abdelkader would probably be the first answer. (maybe Larkin and DK as next favourites) So I don't trading him is something that would really happen.

Edited by PavelValerievichDatsyuk

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I feel the same way as most people here. Somewhere around $4-4.25M is fair value for Abdelkader, but I would prefer shorter term than 7 years, somewhere around 4-5 would do, even if it raises his AAV another half million or so... Abdelkader is a huge part of this team, and it would only take a week long injury for people to realize this. Lucky for us, he has been fairly durable over his career so far, and we haven't been without him for to many long stretches. He brings an abrasive element that is lacking in almost every other player on this team. I would think that Abby wants to stay in Detroit. I can't imagine him bolting to a new team over a half million or so. I'm not saying Holland should play hardball, but he should have a little leverage there. Pay him fairly, but no need to overpay on salary or term. Get er done Kenny!

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Wow, seven years? That's a long contract..

But I have thought of Abby as a future assistant captain. And I think his game will steadily improve over the next few years.

I figure Kenny either had to give him an expensive short term contract, or a lot of term. 4.25 will seem like nothing by the time he's nearing the end of that deal. Can't blame the guy for wanting a long term deal.. here's to hoping he keeps honing his game.

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Everything under 5 is fine with me the guy has improved tremendously, is one of the way too few physical players on this team who also isn't shy of dropping the mits.

In terms of Danny D I think he will look for a Pietrangelo (obviously less aav) type of deal. Maybe something like ~ 6.5 x 7

I would go for max years-8 and try to keep the cap hit at 6 mill or less. DD's agent will of course have a say in this.......

$20 says he won't make anything more than 4.75 mill max.

Don't you think DeKeyser and Mrazek both will get short bridge deals? I mean, Howard did before landing his big number deal and even a guy as valuable as Subban got a bridge deal. I don't think we have to worry about those two guys getting BIG MONEY for at least two more years.

Helm is expendable. We have fast young guys coming up who can actually score without needing the help of Datsyuk.

So what's your opinion? Expendable? Or keep?

We have to say goodbye to some guys possibly within the next year..

Let him "get going" and then trade him. Athanasiou and Larkin have speed and hands.

As far as Abby goes, he's the keeper. The guy's a workhorse. He's up on that top line where NOBODY, I mean NOBODY ever thought he could be and he's kept himself there ...but if his production falls off or you need to change things around, you can slot him in just about ANYWHERE in the lineup.

The dollars and cents guy that I am:

I say you lock this guy up for seven years now at 4.25 instead of the going rate of 5.25+ a couple years from now.

(or if you're Toronto, two years ago... see David Clarkson.)

At least this way we don't have to agonize every off-season as to how much he's going to overpay for Abby or if that contract is going to be just one or two more years of agony. (See Sammy, Clears, Maltby, Draper, etc.)

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I like the contract. Takes his through his prime years, but not by much. And you get to renegotiate with him when he's 35 and on the down swing of his career. I don't love 7 year contracts for non-stars, but at least you're signing this one while he's still in his 20's. Good deal.

Edited by kipwinger

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I think the aav around 4 mil a year sounds about right but 7 years is insane. He's 28, already at the end of his prime. Forwards decline after 30, and while he has been a solid player last year's scoring is the outlier, not his current production.

4 years should be what the organization commits to. It's time to be smart instead of trying to be loyal and handing out contracts that hamstring flexibility

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I'm strangely ok with this. Typically, I'll look for any reason to s*** on Ken Holland, any reason at all, doesn't even have to be a good reason. But I seem to be in the minority on this one in thinking this really isn't all that bad (assuming the cap continues to rise and we shed some big contracts over the next few years).

This summer alone we can free up roughly $10M in cap space by simply not re-upping Richards, Quincey, Helm, and Miller. Richards and Quincey alone would give us $7.25M to work with. Datsyuk won't be around much longer. Green's under contract for only three seasons. Kindl will be gone soon enough. Smith probably doesn't have a long-term future in Detroit. Howard may be moved at some point in the next two years.

Is it wrong to give Abby seven years? Yes. Absolutely. Is it a terrible, roster-busting committment? Probably not. The team will be getting younger, lots of first and second contracts, lots of cost control. Abby gets to stick around and be one of the veteran leaders. I can live with that. *shrug*

Edited by Dabura

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