Nick Schmaltz signed a seven-year, $40.95 million extension with the Arizona Coyotes on March 30th. Arizona keeps one of its core forwards in place. What does this all mean? What impact may it have down the road? Let’s take a look.
Nick Schmaltz contract explained
Again, thanks to CapFriendly, contracts are easier to dive into quickly. Schmaltz’s extension kicks in for the 2019-20 season. He was earning just $1,541,667 this season. Tom Kuebel from Arizona Sports makes sense of it here. John Chayka said the following on Schmaltz:
“Nick is a highly skilled, creative, young center with extremely high upside,” Coyotes GM John Chayka said in a statement about the 23-year-old Schmaltz. “Getting Nick signed to a long-term extension is another positive step towards building a sustainable contender here in the Valley.”
The salary cap hit comes in at $5.85 million AAV for the extension. However, the salary is just a bit different. Schmaltz earns $3 million in the first two seasons, then it jumps up. Salary break down:
- 19-20: $2,500,000 — includes $500,000 signing bonus
- 20-21: $3,000,000 — no signing bonus
- 21-22: $6,000,000 — includes $1,000,000 signing bonus
- 22-23: $4,500,000 — no signing bonus
- 23-24: $7,500,000 — no signing bonus
- 24-25: $8,450,000 — includes $1,500,000 signing bonus
- 25-26: $8,500,000 — no signing bonus
Now, there are some wrinkles with this deal. The extension features a modified no-trade clause for the last three years of the deal. Schmaltz submits a list of ten teams that he will not want to be traded to. Simply, this deal steps upward due to the younger age of Schmaltz.
The extension and down that long and winding road
Schmaltz is currently 23-years old. When the extension kicks in, he will still be 23. Every player does not age the same, but the forward will be 30 when his extension ends. The question becomes what happens to Arizona during this new deal.
John Chayka feels like Arizona is a team truly on the rise. Despite Schmaltz’s knee injury on December 30th, Arizona has few concerns with the recovery.
No one quite knows when a decline will occur. The prime is over the next several seasons. After that, it will be a question of can Nick Schmaltz find a way to evolve his game further. Who will Schmaltz be surrounded with is a good question as well?
Chayka risked a good bit by trading Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini to the Chicago Blackhawks. The general manager believes he has the best forward in the deal.
Some numbers and notes
Among other things, we can use Frozen Tools from Dobberhockey to help. Schmaltz’s best line combination was with Alex Galchenyuk and Clayton Keller. Unfortunately, that was only seen for a brief amount of time. Schmaltz racked up five goals and nine assists in 17 games before succumbing to that aforementioned injury.
Schmaltz is a player growing into a top-six role. Fortunately, Schmaltz shows the ability to handle the center and power play position. Expect him to play 18 minutes + ATOI. With more chances, that should increase point potential for next year and beyond. Expect Schmaltz to improve on his point rate of 0.63 points per game. Another good thing is Schmaltz plays over three minutes a night on the man advantage.
However, there are concerns. Schmaltz is not a true, conventional center. He does not win faceoffs often (37.6% on 1354 faceoffs). Also, his skating speed is average at best. Finally, Schmaltz has an above-average shot but does not utilize it enough. His average of 1.4 shots per contest does not inspire much hope that Schmaltz can be a 25-30 goal scorer for Arizona like some believe. Schmaltz’s career high is 21 goals.
Schmaltz’s ability to make quicker decisions and fast release need to be more of an asset. Finally, a decline late in the deal is possible as many believe the center could peak early. There exists questions on if Schmaltz can become the top-line forward in Arizona to replace Derek Stepan. Also, how long will the forward keep developing? It is how the forward answers those questions that will make or break this extension.
Arizona made a calculated risk that John Chayka hopes pans out.