Why Timo Meier’s extension with the Sharks is an absolute steal

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One of many Sharks’ most urgent bits of enterprise was re-signing breakout scorer Timo Meier, and San Jose took care of that Monday by inking the restricted free agent to a four-year, $24-million deal that has a inventive twist.Timo Meier|Brandon Magnus/NHLI through Getty ImagesOne purpose why the San Jose Sharks couldn’t overextend to maintain captain Joe Pavelski: they wanted to focus their consideration on re-signing their most necessary younger front-line ahead. Timo Meier has arrived to signify the subsequent era of Sharks stardom. On Monday, he formally inked a four-year contract as an RFA at $24 million with a $6-million cap hit. As identified by CapFriendly, the ultimate yr of the deal spikes to $10 million, that means the Sharks can qualify him at $10 million in his closing season as an RFA, basically turning the contract right into a five-year, $34-million deal however coming in it a enormously lowered cap hit.
It’s been a gentle development towards upper-echelon manufacturing for Meier, whom the Sharks selected ninth general within the 2015 draft. He broke out for 21 targets in his sophomore season of 2017-18 and actually took a step ahead this previous season with 30 targets and 66 factors, together with 250 photographs. The nearer you squint at Meier, the extra spectacular he seems to be. Amongst 365 forwards who performed 500 or extra minutes at 5-on-5 this previous season, he ranked 15th in Corsi For per 60 minutes and general Corsi. He was 11th in crew scoring probabilities per 60 and 10th in crew high-danger probabilities for per 60. He was fifth within the NHL in particular person photographs per 60 minutes and second in particular person scoring probabilities for per 60 minutes. He’s nonetheless simply 22, and he’s blossoming into one of many league’s greatest younger energy forwards.
Primarily based on his manufacturing, a long-term deal at an AAV nearer to $eight million would’ve been justified, so he’s an absolute steal for the Sharks. From Meier’s perspective, he has an opportunity to publish the very best numbers of his profession in the course of the subsequent 4 to 5 prime seasons, then money in with an enormous payday at 26 or 27 years outdated at peak worth. There are clear advantages for each side.
Meier and Erik Karlsson now eat $17.5 million of San Jose’s cap area, leaving $7.88 million, which ought to be sufficient to re-sign RFA Kevin Labanc and UFA Joe Thornton, assuming the plan is certainly to convey again ‘Jumbo.’ The Sharks are a weaker crew on paper in the intervening time with Pavelski gone, however additional development from Meier appears possible and may offset that departure.
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Tags: free company, san jose sharksConnect: In regards to the AuthorMatt LarkinMatt Larkin is a senior author at The Hockey Information and has been a part of the crew since 2011. He is your one-stop store for deep-dive participant interviews, predictions, statistics, fantasy participant rankings, participant security and hair suggestions. Catch him weekly as host of The Hockey Information Reside and The Hockey Information Podcast.