The Marc Methot Conundrum For The Ottawa Senators
Marc Methot and the Ottawa Senators aren’t all that far apart in numbers when discussing a contract extension, according to Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun.
However, with the Senators roster such as it is, and the limited funds available going forward, that chasm might be just a little wider than the dollars and cents involved.
The Senators are a budget team, and as such need to have their ducks in a row when it comes to dishing out long term deals, and the $5M barrier is one that they probably don’t want to cross for a player like Methot, hence the $4.75M average. I’m not sure they want to budge on that too far, and while the Methot camp seems willing to go as low as $5M over 5 or 6 years, they might have to come down a little more to get a deal done.
You can thank free agency for this, and contracts to the likes of Jay McKee, who got the ball rolling on overpayments for this type of defensemen, Anton Volchenkov, Andrew MacDonald, Mark Fayne and most importantly Brooks Orpik for the conundrum facing the Senators.
Methot knows what he will be able to get in the open market next July, and it is more than the Senators are (and should be) willing to pay. With the Salary Cap set to go up by as much as $5 or $6M, there will be even more money available and Methot could start the bidding at $5.5M per year over 5 or 6 years.
The Senators, if they can get a return to form from Jared Cowen and Patrick Wiercioch and the continued improvement of Cody Ceci, can probably get along without Methot if need be.
Here is how the Senators depth chart looks today:
Erik Karlsson – Marc Methot
Jared Cowen – Cody Ceci
Chris Phillips – Patrick Wiercioch
All of them are signed for the next two seasons at least, with Karlsson, Borowiecki and Cowen longer than that. There is a log-jam of defensemen, and IF Methot was unable to come to an agreement and get traded before the season starts, this is what the blue line might look like:
Karlsson – Cowen
Ceci – Wiercioch
Gryba – Phillips
Borowiecki
If an 8th defenseman was needed, Frederik Claesson is ready to get a chance to fill in at least, if not for a full-time role.
Methot is an important part of the team as it exists today, but he is by no means expendable. The Senators would probably like to get it done at a reasonable contract, but Methot is going to have to take less than market value at the moment. The Senators can’t overpay and also need to keep their salary structure in line and $5M is a big threshold to cross for their internal well being.
However, if Cowen and Wiercioch don’t show a marked improvement from their performance of last season and Methot comes out of the gate doing what he does best, his bargaining power might become stronger. Or, the young duo rebounds and the Senators show that they can get along without Methot and his high price tag and they can replace him with younger, less expensive talent like Gryba and Borowiecki at the lower end of the depth chart.
Methot has reason to be concerned, but the ball is in his court to show he wants to be here by giving a hometown discount if he wants to be here that badly.
It is a deep staring contest the two sides are in, and Methot might have to blink first.