When Nazem Kadri signed a 7-year contract worth $7,000,000 per season, it marked the culmination of Kadri's hard work. A career spent on team friendly deals had finally resulted in Kadri receiving his much deserved big payday. But what this contract also did was reset the market for another big name upcoming free agent.
That free agent is current Vancouver Canuck, JT Miller. Rumours have swirled since the season had ended that Miller, who will turn 30 next season, was in search of a similar deal to the one signed by Johnny Gaudreau. Gaudreau signed a 7-year deal with a cap hit of $9,500,000 per season with the Columbus Blue Jackets when free agency opened.
The major difference between Gaudreau and Miller is that Gaudreau has had multiple 80+ point seasons. While Miller only has last season where he notched 99 points. When teams look at Miller, who will turn 31 during the first year that his new deal kicks in, is viewed as closer to Nazem Kadri than to Gaudreau. Miller is seen as a good player, who produced at a solid rate, but whose most productive season was an outlier not the norm.
Luckily for Miller, he has one more season under contract to prove that this year wasn't an anomaly. Otherwise the difference between $9,500,000 per season and $7,000,000 is a total of $17,500,000 over 7-years.
