A Winning Habit
Fansided

Clayton Keller’s new contract will definitely impact the Montreal Canadiens

By Omar L

GLENDALE, AZ - OCTOBER 19: Clayton Keller #9 of the Arizona Coyotes smiles as he skates past teammate Max Domi #16 after scoring a goal against the Dallas Stars during the third period at Gila River Arena on October 19, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/NHLI via Getty Images)
GLENDALE, AZ - OCTOBER 19: Clayton Keller #9 of the Arizona Coyotes smiles as he skates past teammate Max Domi #16 after scoring a goal against the Dallas Stars during the third period at Gila River Arena on October 19, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next
Montreal Canadiens
GLENDALE, AZ – DECEMBER 20: Clayton Keller Montreal Canadiens Max Domi (Photo by Norm Hall/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The Arizona Coyotoes got ahead of the Clayton Keller negotiations which Max Domi could use when he and the Montreal Canadiens start their own negotiations.

The summer of 2019 in the NHL will go down as the summer of restricted free agents. The number of RFAs is literally enough to create an NHL roster, and the crazy thing is that the majority of them still do not have a contract. The Montreal Canadiens helped Sebastian Aho get his deal while Timo Meir and Kevin Labanc negotiated quickly with the San Jose Sharks. However, it’s less than two weeks before training camp, and these players are without deals.

Is the same thing expected to happen next summer? Will there be a summer of RFAs 2.0?

What made this offseason so critical was not only the number of RFAs but the quality of them. Brayden Point, Patrik Laine, Mitch Marner, and Mikko Rantanen, to name a few are all top players in the league.

Next year have some names as well; however, the number of elite talent isn’t nearly as much. Andrei Vasilevskiy has already been taken care of signing an eight-year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Besides that, players such as Matt Murray, Sam Reinhart, and 30-goal scorer Andreas Athanasiou will need new deals.

Again, not the same pedigree as the players the league is paying attention to now. But what this offseason has shown some general managers is that pushing it to the deadline may not be the best idea.

The Arizona Coyotoes had that mindset as they announced the signing of 2016 first-round pick Clayton Keller to an eight-year contract worth $7.15 million a year. The Coyotes could’ve waited, but chose to get it done now.

The organization will be happy, as will its fans. Another party who will be happy is Max Domi, who is also going to be an RFA next summer.

Home/Editorials