Last week, the Anaheim Ducks signed winger Sonny Milano to a two-year extension, worth $1.7 million per year.
I meant to do an article looking at the contract a few days ago, but I’ve been preoccupied trying to cover Carolina and New York’s respective playoff games. However, in this post, I’ll be looking at the contract and giving some thoughts on it.
The Ducks acquired Milano in a deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets at the trade deadline. He scored five points in nine games with the Ducks and a total of seven goals and 23 points in 55 games this year, a pace of 10 goals and 34 points per 82 games.
I really like this contract for the Ducks. Between Milano and Troy Terry, the team locked up two capable top-nine wingers on multi-year deals for a combined value of just over $3 million per season.
Here's how Milano's points per 82 in his contract year and points per 82 over his career before signing compare with other players who got a similar AAV on a two-year deal ahead of their season played at 24 years old:
Milano ($1.7M): 34 P/82 (contract year), 31 P/82 (career)
Based on the four comparable players, Milano’s $1.7M makes sense. It probably should’ve came in lower than what Andrighetto and Hinostroza got, but at the same time, it should’ve been higher than what Blais and Caggiula got. So generally, $1.7M per year is a pretty fair price.
We can expect him to play in the middle-six next season and I think it’s a safe bet that we’ll see him around at least 30-35 points next season– it’s a matter of whether or not he’s able to produce at a better rate than that. He’ll get the opportunity with the Ducks, he just has to take advantage of it.
Considering Milano is just 24 years old and has played only 125 games across five seasons, we don’t know how high he can play in the lineup on a consistent basis. This contract gives Milano a chance to prove that he can be a capable member of the top-nine and comes without much of a risk for the Ducks. This is another win for Anaheim in terms of signing their pending restricted free agents.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
Do you think the Ducks got Sonny Milano at a good price?
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