Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Justin Schultz has turned down his qualifying offer and will become a restricted free agent on July 1st.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have made it clear that Schultz is their main priority right now. After offering a qualifying offer of $1.4 million which was soon turned down, negotiations have been underway, the NHL reported.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Schultz played spectacular this season. With the absence of number one defenceman Kris Letang, Schultz stepped up and filled his shoes by putting up 51 points on the season. His performance has surely earned him a huge payday and he is ready to cash in.
We know he wants a long-term contract with the team, but exactly how much should the Penguins be looking to sign him for?
Money Talks
Schultz took a discounted deal for one year last year at $1.4 million. He wanted to build on what the Penguins accomplished. Well now that he’s done that, he’s going to want to get paid much more.
Over the course of his career, he has had short term contracts worth around $3 million. Now that he is a capable first pairing defenceman, I’d predict that the Penguins should offer him a contract at around 5-5.5 million per year for 5 years.
At 26 years of age, this would take him right until he is about 31 years old. We would lock him up right now in his best years, and it’s not too long that he can fail on us and eat up cap space.
Although I’m not completely sure what he will be asking for, a defenceman of his calibre can earn that much. He’s not a number one defenceman, but he surely can play number one minutes. A good comparable can be Toronto’s Morgan Rielly, who plays number one minutes and earns $5 million a year for 6 years. Rielly is younger though after all.
This is the kind of contract I can see Justin Schultz getting and deserving. I also think this is the best move for Pittsburgh in terms of cap space. It’ll be hard, but let’s hope we get him for a steal.