Great signing by the Sens. It will be a bargain for 6 of those 8 years.

Anyone think Toronto didn't overpay Marner now? I love Marner but I'd take Chabot over him any day. And we are paying 3 million more a year? I don't get it.
- marty555

yikes...

If over a 9 year period Chabot nets 60% of his negotiated salary and wisely invests the bulk of the income he would easily have a secure net worth of $50m by age 32. Most important it is a guaranteed income plan.

Most young players don't get it. Watching the Chabot press conference it appears that his agents have done a very good job in schooling him on the benefits of a long term gain.

He is the future captain of the Sens.

it's not really a lot now.....55pt dmen (who are healthy, gardiner has tons of question marks about his health) are getting around that much.

it's a fair deal now, and a (frank)ing steal moving forward (assuming he continues to trend up)
- sensarmy_11

More important than the money is that he was prepared to commit long term.

That needed to happen. Someone significant had to commit first.

Nice signing for Ottawa. The kid is good now and will be a future Norris candidate soon

That’s a nice deal. Thought it would have been slightly higher. As long as he doesn’t go all Ekblad-y, Sens made a nice move

Pleasantly surprised to see this deal. Didn’t see a long-term thing happening based on the past couple of years. Nice to have actual good news to talk about.

Not sure he will be Norris quality like Karlsson was but he should be a decent puck moving d-man for a long time.

Reminds me of the Karlsson deal way back (7years @ 6.5per). Turned out to be a steal for a two-time Norris winner.

More important than the money is that he was prepared to commit long term.

That needed to happen. Someone significant had to commit first.
- Aetherial

agreed 100%, that is hugely key

and they managed to get a lockout protected deal without all the SB money.

his salary when the CBA expires is only 4 mil.....actually a pretty smart way to do it. full credit to dorion on this one

The key is don't be a Vancouver, Islanders and overpay horribly for bottom 6 talent
- RogerRoeper

yeah the key is - pay 40mil for 4 players...

yeah the key is - pay 40mil for 4 players...
- Brooks_Light

both points are correct. imagine that!

More important than the money is that he was prepared to commit long term.

That needed to happen. Someone significant had to commit first.
- Aetherial

Dead on!!

The only concern I had with the Dorion/Chabot press conference was Dorion claiming that the Sens would be a good team and in the mix this year.

"This may be the best draft in 15 years" (Bob MacKenzie). This is not a time for the Sens to go all wobbly and over perform. Every one of the top 10 picks in this draft is likely to be a good to elite NHL player. Sens need play entertaining hockey...but let's be honest. We want a top 5 pick when everything has settled.

The only concern I had with the Dorion/Chabot press conference was Dorion claiming that the Sens would be a good team and in the mix this year.

"This may be the best draft in 15 years" (Bob MacKenzie). This is not a time for the Sens to go all wobbly and over perform. Every one of the top 10 picks in this draft is likely to be a good to elite NHL player. Sens need play entertaining hockey...but let's be honest. We want a top 5 pick when everything has settled.
- spatso

The only concern I had with the Dorion/Chabot press conference was Dorion claiming that the Sens would be a good team and in the mix this year.

"This may be the best draft in 15 years" (Bob MacKenzie). This is not a time for the Sens to go all wobbly and over perform. Every one of the top 10 picks in this draft is likely to be a good to elite NHL player. Sens need play entertaining hockey...but let's be honest. We want a top 5 pick when everything has settled.
- spatso

That’s probably just a little PR to get fans more excited about the season. Today is a good day for the franchise, so he is running with it.

This roster is laughable compare to 2/3 of the NHL. The remaining 1/3 are in around the same as the Sens, but when I look at other rosters, I really struggle to see Sens winning many games.

Getting an elite prospect would be huge for the team. While Chabot and Tkachuk are nice to start with, I don’t see them as superstars (Chabot could be if he continues the upward trend). Huge opportunity at this year’s draft if the season falls flat, which honestly, it should.

The only x factor of having a good season are the goalies. If they play above and beyond we could see a 10-19 pick. I have no idea who the players are in the draft except the projected#1. But by all accounts it is a deep 1 . Sure #1 would be ideal and not a guarantee even if they lose 82 games this year. And i am not convinced losing is good for any progress.They will end up with some great draft picks regardless. I think 3 1st rounders? Its looking good however the season unfolds. Perhaps Dorion can work some magic with all his picks to get at #1..longshot but who knows.

The only concern I had with the Dorion/Chabot press conference was Dorion claiming that the Sens would be a good team and in the mix this year.

"This may be the best draft in 15 years" (Bob MacKenzie). This is not a time for the Sens to go all wobbly and over perform. Every one of the top 10 picks in this draft is likely to be a good to elite NHL player. Sens need play entertaining hockey...but let's be honest. We want a top 5 pick when everything has settled.
- spatso

They still gotta sell tickets and I’m sure they’ll have good runs (seeing as every spot is available and everyone is trying to prove they could stay with the club)

Dorion has to do everything he can to get as close to Lafreniere as possible this season. Byfield or Raymond would be nice..but we need to be horrible.

agreed 100%, that is hugely key

and they managed to get a lockout protected deal without all the SB money.

his salary when the CBA expires is only 4 mil.....actually a pretty smart way to do it. full credit to dorion on this one
- sensarmy_11

Yeah he gets full marks for this deal

All non-Sens fans: I guarantee Chabot will not be a Sen next year. Melnyk will never pony up what he's worth.

One week later...

All non-Sens fans: Chabot isn't worth 8x8.

If over a 9 year period Chabot nets 60% of his negotiated salary and wisely invests the bulk of the income he would easily have a secure net worth of $50m by age 32. Most important it is a guaranteed income plan.

Most young players don't get it. Watching the Chabot press conference it appears that his agents have done a very good job in schooling him on the benefits of a long term gain.

He is the future captain of the Sens.
- spatso

And if he saves ALL of his money and lives in Marc Methot's parent's basement, he'll be worth over $80M! What's your point?

And if he saves ALL of his money and lives in Marc Methot's parent's basement, he'll be worth over $80M! What's your point?
- PavohnDatsvares

Sorry I thought it was obvious. The point is that it is guaranteed money and results in a net worth of $50m. The counter point that others are making is that he could do shorter deals and hope he makes a lot more money down the road. But careers can turn down easily for multiple reasons. A Bryan Berard never got the huge pay day.

Chabot is a class act. He knew it was a rebuild and wasn't greedy - when he easily could've been.

Chabot turns 23 in Jan. He will be signed until he is 31.5 years old. It's really good for the Sens

Player salaries have inflated faster than the salary cap has.... teams like Toronto, San Jose, Pitts, Washington will soon be in a real crunch.

Imagine if Crosby signed a shorder deal that ended 3-4 years ago... he would be making much more than $8.7 Million. He is infinitely better than Marner.

Cap friendly? Crosby is a STEAL for the next 5 years, who will then be signing a contract relative to his declining age/numbers.
- BALUCHA

Crosby could have asked for (and gotten) $10M+. He took the $8.787M because he wanted to help the team win. I don't see how/why that would change.

Now, I may not be an expert at the rules around contracts and such, but I got one question. Why not make Chabots contract heavier in the front while they have literally nobody to pay, and then lighter on the back end when White, Brown, Tkachuk, etc. need to be paid? Plus lets say Chabot goes and chokes and suddenly becomes bad, at least the high years on his contract would be gone and it would be lower to trade him in the end...

All non-Sens fans: I guarantee Chabot will not be a Sen next year. Melnyk will never pony up what he's worth.

One week later...

All non-Sens fans: Chabot isn't worth 8x8.
- PavohnDatsvares

He isn't, but that's what it took to keep him. Very good young player, but not at $8M for 8 years.

Edit: He COULD be...just not atm.