I, too, would love it if he signed an identical contract to Jones. The reason that the Toews/Kane and Werenski/Jones examples aren't really comparable is because Toews and Kane signed those identical contracts on the same day. With the inflated salary cap, new salaries are higher. But your point is well taken and obviously that would be best-case scenario. 

Such a good point, I wish I would have included it in the piece! A $2M pay bump is almost negligible given that the salary cap is going up 5-7M, to say nothing about Jack coming off the books. 

Again, you're not wrong. But Nashville and Tampa have proven that the "best player available and figure it out later" strategy works. The Predators didn't need Seth Jones, but who could pass that up? And they got a top line center for it.

It's a really good point. If Merkley is available, I think they'll have a hard time passing on him. But you're spot on, there are many "safer" picks. Really depends on what their board looks like and who may have fall. I'd take him at 18 if it were me, but...

I think apples and oranges between Vanek and Cole, but you're spot on. Jenner and Wennberg were both passengers before Vanek's arrival, and Vanek has somehow married an unlikely couple on a solid second line.

As for Cole, I think it's more likely than not that he'll be resigned. So much can change between now and July, but if you're asking now, I'd bet on it. 

I know it's not a perfect comparison, but he has a lot of similarities to Alec Martinez. Two cups, complimentary defensemen, similar age, similar points,, from Michigan, etc. He signed a 6-year, $24M deal with LA back in in 2014. If I had to guess, I bet it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 years, $16M. We'll have more coverage on this when the season ends. Thanks for reading!

Haha. I'm familiar with the reference, but the 1980 Browns are a team from 40 years ago that didn't win a Super Bowl. I think it's safe to say that the chapter can be closed on them, and that more than one team in the history of pro sports can be remembered for having a similar affinity for close games. 

The 2003 Carolina Panthers were given a similar nickname (I was alive for that one ;) I actually thought that was the original reference). A quick search showed that other teams, like the Northwestern Wildcats and Cincinnati Bengals have had nicknames like "Cardiac Cats". All this is to say that it's not that original, and our game story was called Comeback Kids, so we went with something a bit different.