Why are you trading Sparks and Leivo for a 5th

When was the last time a young elite offensive player signed a 2 year deal?

I'll save you the research it was 4 years ago and it was Kucherov. Will it happen again? Nope!

Now that guys like Draisaitl, Elhers, Pastrnak, McDavid, Eichel etc have all gone for at least 6 years, Nylander is following suit and getting 7 million a year for 8 years.

Why are you giving Johnsson 2.1 mill a year? Leafs don't need a contract like that. He deserves maybe half of that at best.

I kinda agree with the two year contract. My thought Is that Nylander might be going the Trouba route and wants to be a UFA as soon as possible. We'll see. But you are correct, most players take the long term security if offered.

It's the same contract as Brown. He might deserve more if he's playing on the 3rd line with Kadri and Kapanen.

How are the Oilers doing with those long term deals for Draisaitl and McDavid?

I hope the bridge deal happens for the big 3.

I'll leave this question out there for the universe....do you think Pastrnak is happy he signed for 6 years at $6.66? Maybe he's fine with it knowing his team is a cup contender...but I'm sure there's a part of him that knows he could asked for $8m right now.

If negotiations on a long term deal are too far apart, both team and player might be better off agreeing on a shorter deal....especially when there's untapped potential that both team and agent are trying to place a value on

McDavid and Draisaitl aren't the problem in Edmonton, its the complete lack of serviceable NHL players outside of their big 2 players that is their problem. They are up against the cap as well. Mainly cause they hand out stupid contracts to depth players. They have 4-6 bad contracts on that team. That is why edmonton sucks. McDavid can't be on the ice the whole game.

Its smart for the player but dumb for the team. That will only lead to higher contracts for players. Getting the term is better for the team, mainly cause it uses up prime years (20's) and likely results in smaller cap hits as well. For the player, they get long term stability.