Article: Matt Boldy's Contract Only Gets Better From Here

[Tony Abbott]

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[FredJohnson]

HOLDOUT!!!!!!!!!

[SkolWild73]

I remember when Boldy got this contract, there were many that thought it was too much.  It was a gamble that looks like it will pay off huge dividends.  I know I might be in the minority here, but that is why I feel locking up Rossi on a long-term deal is worth the risk.  If they were able to get Rossi on at 7 years and $6.5M AAV, this could be a bargain contract also in a year or two.  I also do not feel it would be an untradable contract if we did decide to move on from Rossi in a couple of years if we need the money for Yurov, Ohgren, Buium and Wallstedt, unless he completely regresses.  We have the space for this year and next at that term.  I think it is worth the gamble.  If we sign a bridge deal of 2-3 years and he keeps improving his game, then we will be stuck paying a lot more.

[Sam]

So basically when Kirill gets his new mega million dollar deal he should take Boldy out for a filet mignon?

[1Brotherbill]

Does anyone think Kirill is working a deal for only three years?  So, 3 by 15, then go into free agency to get the next big contract, like 20 million.  If Boldy plays to his potential of a 50 50 guy that would be a solid 10 million plus when his contract is up.  Rossi will just be entering his free agency period after probably being qualified the next three years, look at a 10 plus contract as well.  Ohgren, Yurov, Wallstedt, Gustavson, Buium,  random player from Iowa that managed to escape.  The salary cap for the Wild will never be easy.  

[Imyourhuckleberry]

6 hours ago, SkolWild73 said:

If they were able to get Rossi on at 7 years and $6.5M AAV, this could be a bargain contract also in a year or two.  I also do not feel it would be an untradable contract if we did decide to move on from Rossi in a couple of years if we need the money for Yurov, Ohgren, Buium and Wallstedt, unless he completely regresses.  We have the space for this year and next at that term.  I think it is worth the gamble.  If we sign a bridge deal of 2-3 years and he keeps improving his game, then we will be stuck paying a lot more.

I don't think his agent will recommend he signs any 7-year deal for under $7M.

That's why I suspect Rossi will sign a 4 or 5 year deal more in the range of $5.25M to $6.4M per season. That would get him to unrestricted free agency while under 30 years of age. He'd have a lot of money in the bank with the security of a medium length deal, and the freedom to choose his future path.

Rossi would be heading to unrestricted free agency around the same age that Kaprizov is now, which seems like a lucrative situation.

[fikifuka]

I can provide some actual quotes (July 30th) from Marco Rossis tv-interview with Austrian TV ORF. Not really a burner but ...: "No contract yet, true, but thats the NHL business. MIN has the rights on me. You have to be patient. I leave it to my agent (Ian Pulver) and let him do his work. I hope the two can find a solution before the camp starts in September. ...Yes, I was very disappointed what happened in the PO. It was not ok what happened. I dont want to go into the details too much. But I know that I performed good, even after beeing dropped to 4th line, provided 2 goals, 1 assist. But this is stuff from months ago. I'm fully focused on the here and now and the future."

Rossi trains with his personal fitness coach in his home area in Vorarlberg (western part of Austria) since middle of June and conducts an on-ice training camp for kids too. He'll be present at a second kid-camp in Graz/Austria next week.

[SkolWild73]

5 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

I don't think his agent will recommend he signs any 7-year deal for under $7M.

That's why I suspect Rossi will sign a 4 or 5 year deal more in the range of $5.25M to $6.4M per season. That would get him to unrestricted free agency while under 30 years of age. He'd have a lot of money in the bank with the security of a medium length deal, and the freedom to choose his future path.

Rossi would be heading to unrestricted free agency around the same age that Kaprizov is now, which seems like a lucrative situation.

Probably not, but one can hope.  

[mnfaninnc]

15 hours ago, SkolWild73 said:

I remember when Boldy got this contract, there were many that thought it was too much.  It was a gamble that looks like it will pay off huge dividends.

Count me as one of the many. I would have bridged him. However, in exchange for the term, I think Boldy gave us a pretty good AAV discount. 

As it would have worked out, I thought a 2 year bridge would have been best, just like I do for Rossi. That means this offseason, we would be signing Boldy to his long term deal. What would it be? 

This inside information that Guerin did have was non public knowledge of where the salary cap was going. That is now public and he doesn't have the same stealth he had with Boldy for a Rossi negotiation. 

I still say that Rossi needs to prove more. Bridge him.

[mnfaninnc]

12 hours ago, 1Brotherbill said:

Does anyone think Kirill is working a deal for only three years?

I still think Kaprizov is thinking about his commitment term. 3 years sounds awful short, I was thinking 4, but that's offset by the peace of mind of 8. What would help things on his side is if the last 3 seasons of 8 he had little trade protection, just in case things go south on this team. He could then escape with an understanding from Guerin that he will be placed with a contender.

[SkolWild73]

6 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Count me as one of the many. I would have bridged him. However, in exchange for the term, I think Boldy gave us a pretty good AAV discount. 

As it would have worked out, I thought a 2 year bridge would have been best, just like I do for Rossi. That means this offseason, we would be signing Boldy to his long term deal. What would it be? 

This inside information that Guerin did have was non public knowledge of where the salary cap was going. That is now public and he doesn't have the same stealth he had with Boldy for a Rossi negotiation. 

I still say that Rossi needs to prove more. Bridge him.

I would guess Boldy would be getting a minimum of $9M

[mnfaninnc]

2 minutes ago, SkolWild73 said:

I would guess Boldy would be getting a minimum of $9M

Probably 8 x $9m

[Enforceror]

8 hours ago, fikifuka said:

Yes, I was very disappointed what happened in the PO. It was not ok what happened. I dont want to go into the details too much.

That's interesting. I honestly thought the "demotion" was being way overblown by the media but it seems it may not have been. It will be interesting to see what his playing time looks like to start the season (if he's still here). Especially now that we have Sturm and Yurov. 

By the way, I appreciate these updates since they dont generally pop up on my feed.

Edited July 31 by Enforceror

[MrCheatachu]

Quote

1. Connor McDavid/Leon Draisaitl, EDM: 3.05 (28.7%)
2. Nikita Kucherov/Brayden Point, TBL: 2.76 (19.9%)
3. Nathan MacKinnon/Martin Necas, COL: 2.47 (20.0%)
4. Artemiy Panarin/J.T. Miller, NYR: 2.41 (20.6%)
5. Mitch Marner/Jack Eichel, VGK: 2.41 (23.0%)
6. Auston Matthews/William Nylander, TOR: 2.36 (25.9%)
7. KIRILL KAPRIZOV/MATT BOLDY, MIN: 2.21 (16.8%)
8. Jack Hughes/Jesper Bratt, NJD: 2.21 (16.6%)
9. Mikko Rantanen/Jason Robertson, DAL: 2.17 (20.7%)
10. Sam Reinhart/Sasha Barkov, FLA: 2.16 (19.5%)

What's missing from this list is the combination of Kaprizov and MrCheatachu.  Last season Kaprizov/MrCheatachu combined for a rather impressive 1.37 points per game as a duo while only taking up 10% of the salary cap

slightly less impressive thatn the McDavid/MrCheatachu combination putting up 1.49 points per game while only taking up 14% of the salary cap.

I guess my point is that metric of points/game leaders of a duo and percentage of salary cap is kinda a wild metric to be evaluating a single players against.

You could consider the cost/point, but that data might also be misleading...

 

 

[1Brotherbill]

10 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

I still think Kaprizov is thinking about his commitment term. 3 years sounds awful short, I was thinking 4, but that's offset by the peace of mind of 8. What would help things on his side is if the last 3 seasons of 8 he had little trade protection, just in case things go south on this team. He could then escape with an understanding from Guerin that he will be placed with a contender.

I don't know.  I think the changing financials will cause him to want a shorter contract just to get a bigger contract latter.  As soon as he signs his contract McDavid will sign a contract being the highest paid player in the league.  So, Kirill won't be the highest paid player long.  Then you have to look into players like Bedard and Cellebrini and Fantilli.  Those three will break the bank and set the bar extremely high for top contracts. Bedard is probably going to be making 10 million with his new contract.  

[SkolWild73]

23 hours ago, 1Brotherbill said:

Does anyone think Kirill is working a deal for only three years?  So, 3 by 15, then go into free agency to get the next big contract, like 20 million.  If Boldy plays to his potential of a 50 50 guy that would be a solid 10 million plus when his contract is up.  Rossi will just be entering his free agency period after probably being qualified the next three years, look at a 10 plus contract as well.  Ohgren, Yurov, Wallstedt, Gustavson, Buium,  random player from Iowa that managed to escape.  The salary cap for the Wild will never be easy.  

I don’t think that he would because he would be 32 at the end of that contract.  If someone would give him 20M at that age, would it be for 5 years and pay him until he turns 37?  Maybe, but doesn’t seem likely, especially since players like Rantanen and Draisaitl will still be making 12 and 14M.  If he signs a 8x15M contract now he gets 120M guaranteed.  If he signs a 3 x 15M for 45m total, he would have to hope that next contract is for more than 75M total.  If he was two years younger I could see him doing it, but seems to be a lot to risk on a hope.  

[1Brotherbill]

On 7/31/2025 at 7:49 PM, SkolWild73 said:

I don’t think that he would because he would be 32 at the end of that contract.  If someone would give him 20M at that age, would it be for 5 years and pay him until he turns 37?  Maybe, but doesn’t seem likely, especially since players like Rantanen and Draisaitl will still be making 12 and 14M.  If he signs a 8x15M contract now he gets 120M guaranteed.  If he signs a 3 x 15M for 45m total, he would have to hope that next contract is for more than 75M total.  If he was two years younger I could see him doing it, but seems to be a lot to risk on a hope.  

Draisaitl signed an 8 year deal at 29.  With the young talented players getting paid in the next three years the contracts are going to be stupid high.  McDavid is probably going to be in the 16 to 17 million range if Kaprizov signs for 15.  Kirill performing at a 150 point level like he was at the beginning of last year and his dollar value would be in the 20 million range at 32 easily. 

[SkolWild73]

18 minutes ago, 1Brotherbill said:

Draisaitl signed an 8 year deal at 29.  With the young talented players getting paid in the next three years the contracts are going to be stupid high.  McDavid is probably going to be in the 16 to 17 million range if Kaprizov signs for 15.  Kirill performing at a 150 point level like he was at the beginning of last year and his dollar value would be in the 20 million range at 32 easily. 

Yes, he might, if he puts up 3 career years and stays healthy.  The question is, would someone pay him 20m for 5 years until he is 37.  It would be a huge gamble I wouldn’t take.  Maybe Kap wants to make the most money possible and gambles on himself.  I think if he would only sign for 3 years it wouldn’t be about how much more money he could make, it would be for a chance at a cup if things don’t work here.  
 

 

[mnfaninnc]

On 7/31/2025 at 8:42 PM, 1Brotherbill said:

I don't know.  I think the changing financials will cause him to want a shorter contract just to get a bigger contract latter.

8 year deals are going to be a thing of the past. If you can lock up at a high figure, it's the best thing for your family. Let's just say he chooses a 4 year $15m deal. That's $60M. At 32, do you think he'll get over another 4 year $60m deal? I don't, especially if there are injuries within the 1st 4 year deal. 

If I'm the player, banking the $120m would be in my best interest with an understanding from Guerin that he's got 5 years to be a contender or he'll need to trade him (if that's his concern). Guerin does not seem like a guy who takes losing lightly, to me, and I think every day after a loss is a hard day for the staff.