Cory Schneider and the Canucks Have "Agreed in Principle" on a New Contract
Cam Charron
June 28 2012 08:24PM
To open the Canucks 2012 Summer Summit, Mike Gillis fielded a couple of awkward questions from host John Shorthouse. The first was about Justin Schultz - and he declined to comment on how the pitch meeting went. The second concerned the team's enviable depth in goal - some might even call it a log-jam - and any potential moves that might be on the horizon. While Mike Gillis declined to elaborate at length on any Luongo news - he told fans in attendance - and those watching over the canucks.nhl.com livestream, that the team had "agreed in principle" on a new deal with Canucks goaltender and pending restricted free-agent Cory Schneider.
A fan later asked about the term and while Gillis declined to comment on the specifics of the deal until it was in fact "signed and executed" he assured the fan that "you'll be happy." Gillis' comments were prophetic, and when the terms of the deal were reported by Nick Kypreos ($12M over three seasons), Canucks Nation was indeed happy:
#NHL signing. Canucks agree on new 3 year deal worth 12M with G Cory Schneider. 4M is his new cap hit.
— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) June 29, 2012
This is a pretty reasonable deal, pegged somewhere between a bargain Tuukka Rask and an outrageous Jonathan Quick. Three seasons is a good term length for goaltending. Goaltending, particularly good goaltending, is volatile, but Cory Schneider has some fine numbers in his young NHL career.
For sure, if Cory is the starter from here on out, his save percentage (career .928) will certainly regress thanks to the general wear and tear of starters work, and his PK SV % has been pretty high—it was .960 this season—which doesn't tend to last year-to-year. That said, this is a very good bet, considering the term length, it doesn't handicap the team down the road.
Remember, we're heading into year three of the Roberto Luongo deal. If he were on a three year contract, well, this summer wouldn't be so hectic.
We have agreed in principle to a deal with Cory Schneider. More news in the next few days.
— Mike Gillis (@GMMikeGillis) June 29, 2012
Could he mean a forthcoming Luu deal?
3 years, 12 million. 4 million cap hit.
Nice that they get 2 UFA years, and these next 2/3 years will show what Lack is capable of. Would love to see the Nucks get a veteran backup for 1 year before seeing Lack backup Schinds.
$12M over three seasons.
Good stuff, telling timing.
Slightly higher cap hit than I'd thought, but good term. Gives him time to establish himself as starter, then get seriously paid ($5M+) if he's earned it. If not, bring in Lack attack.
But I'm also looking at the timing of this announcement as Lu's deal is pretty much done. Florida for Huberdeau........ anyone?
It could be that there's going to be a Luongo trade or it could mean that since he's no longer under pressure to sign Schneider before teams can court him, he's going to use the new leverage to extend the Luongo trade negotiations. He is a patient man.
@Blaine
"He" being Gillis.
I'm somehow thinking that it's more and more likely that no Luongo trade will be made this summer with the Cap going up to $70.2m, especially if Gillis cannot get a good return. Having two really good goaltenders for $9.33m whom you can compete with in the play-offs is better than having Schneider (not proven as a starter) and some new veteran back-up who is not necessarily trusted by AV...
Everything about Lu to the Panthers screams "illogical"
Florida does need to add salary to reach the cap floor, however, what most people are overlooking is - Florida is a cap floor team!
Lu's cap hit may be 5.3 million, but he is paid (I think) 6.7 million.
Just doesn't make sense for a team in this financial situation to take on this contract.
Maybe Schneiders camp knows there is a deal in place for Luongo that's hinging on something like Schultz signing (if he signs, they add Tanev to a package for a player like Gardiner or Gudbranson) or maybe Raymond is part of the deal and they're waiting until after the cut-down arbitration to get him at a lesser price.
I've heard a few people say they would have liked a longer term. I, for one, am in love with it. It takes Schneider to a year past the Sedins' contract, so if he deserves a payday after two years, Gillis can extend that deal when the Sedins become UFAs and likely won't be making as much as they are now (if anyone takes a quasi-hometown discount it's going to be the twins).