Brooks Laich Signs With Washington

Brooks Laich

In a surprising turn of events, Brooks Laich declared his commitment to Washington and was not considering testing the free agent market.  In return for his loyalty, Washington rewarded Brooks with a 27 million contract over 6 years (4.5 million avg salary).  It was obvious the demand for his services would be high on July 1st, and with a 4.5 millions salary you could say Washington did not get a home town discount to retain his services.  It appears the cost of second and third line players have reached a new ceiling.  What would Clarke McArthur be awarded in arbitration?  Would Leaf fans be surprised if Burke gave a similar deal to Brooks?  What price tage would Parise, Richards, and Stamkos be labelled as?

What is a player worth?  If you consider the maximum NHL roster size is 23 and the salary cap is $64 million, on average each player would be worth $2.78 mil.  If you consider the minimum NHL roster size of 20 and cap, then on average each player would be worth $3.2 mil.  The average of both figures is $2.99 mil per roster player.  Many would consider Laich an above player for his team since he is a well rounded depth hockey player with offensive upside.