Spencer Knight's New Deal Sets the Stage for Anthony Stolarz's Next Maple Leafs Contract
Photo credit: Hockey Patrol
The Chicago Blackhawks extended goaltender Spencer Knight on Saturday to a three-year deal, paving the way for what a potential Anthony Stolarz contract looks like.
News broke on Saturday afternoon courtesy of NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman that the Chicago Blackhawks were in talks with Spencer Knight about a contract extension, only to follow it up a short time later with the details.
This was later confirmed by the Blackhawks themselves who celebrated the extension on social media.
Knight came into his own since being traded to Chicago as part of the Seth Jones deal. He posted a 17-16-3 record with a 2.72 GAA and .901 SV% with both Florida and Chicago, and at only 24 he's set to breakout as the Blackhawks' goalie of the future.
What Spencer Knight's Deal Means for the Goalie Market
This deal is a potential steal on behalf of the Blackhawks as they were able to not only dump off Jones earlier, but bring in their future goalie and sign him to a fairly reasonable deal.
With the contract situation regarding goaltenders a bit blurry at times, some teams opt to load up with one premier goalie and rely on a cheaper backup, or some are lucky like the Maple Leafs who have two goaltenders with incredible value.
Future free agent goalies like Anthony Stolarz, Sergei Bobrovsky, Ivan Fedotov, and even potentially Stuart Skinner are all going to earn big raises simply based off Knight's extension and strong performances will only make that price jump.
How Much Anthony Stolarz Could Command in His Next Leafs Deal
Speaking of Stolarz, he recently mentioned that the only number he wants to get on his next deal is a fair one, and there's nothing to say that the Maple Leafs can't both give him financial security and keep themselves from overpaying.
Based off history, Stolarz has a lot more experience and is more proven than Knight, so it wouldn't be surprising to see him reach at least $6-million per year.
If Toronto were to go slightly above that and offer a four-year, $26-million contract that would give him an AAV of $6.5-million and keep him around during the team's best chance of winning.
It's by far the largest deal of his career and he's certainly earned that stability after being a back-up and bouncing around places for so long plus a rising cap and lack of pending free agents that really matter; they can afford it.
Stolarz was brilliant in his first season with the Maple Leafs, going 21-8-3 with a 2.14 GAA and .926 SV% along with four shutouts.
So while the two may be apart on coming to a conclusive deal, it would behoove the Leafs to play fair with their #1 starter but it's not like they can't afford to.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 13 | 899 ANSWERS Spencer Knight's New Deal Sets the Stage for Anthony Stolarz's Next Maple Leafs Contract Do you think Anthony Stolarz will make more than $6-million per season? | ||
| Yes | 348 | 38.7 % |
| No | 551 | 61.3 % |
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