WWYDW: You Decide the Ryan McLeod Contract
By baggedmilk
11 months agoWhile we wait for news on the Ryan McLeod contract as his Aug. 4th arbitration date draws nearer, I thought it was time to spin up a classic What Would You Do Wednesday to get everyone’s thoughts on where this thing needs to land for both the term and dollars.
I don’t think anyone reading this would ever suggest that Ryan McLeod isn’t part of the solution around these parts, but paying for players of his ilk can still get a little bit tricky. Put another way, we all want McLeod as part of the Edmonton Oilers, but there is absolutely a line on how much you can pay to keep him here. And when you factor in an arbitrator who could award him almost anything — I’m exaggerating here but you know what I’m saying — you have to wonder where the Oilers’ line is on what’s fair and what’s too much. What I’m after here today is what you think that number looks like.
On Monday, Jason Gregor broke down Philipp Kurashev’s arbitration case that just wrapped up and how that could affect the McLeod situation, and the news probably wasn’t great for the Oilers’ cap situation.
After seeing what Philipp Kurashev was awarded, I could see why McLeod’s camp would want to go through the arbitration process.Kurashev was awarded a two-year (Chicago had the option of a two- or one-year deal) contract with a $2.25m AAV. He produced 9-16-25 in 70 games last season. He skated 17:25/game with 14:32 at EV, 2:02 on the PP and 0:52 on the PK. He only had four PP assists in 141 minutes on the PP. He had 21 points at EV, with 19 coming at 5×5. Arbitration doesn’t go deep into analytics, but he was outscored 39-58 at 5×5. Granted the Blackhawks were terrible, and the only regular forward above 41GF%, was Max Domi at 50.58 (37-36).If you prorated Kurashev’s point-totals over 82 games, he would have produced 10-19-29.McLeod produced 11-12-23 in 57 games. He averaged 14:11/game with 11:38 at EV, 0:56 on the PP, and 1:38 on the PK. He had no points on the PP, three shorthanded, and 20 points EV, all of which came at 5×5. When on the ice 5×5, he outscored the opposition 27-26.McLeod’s pro-rated 82-game pace was 16-17-33.
I think it goes without saying that $2.25 million — the Kurashev money — would probably be higher than many of us would have hoped, but that’s not to say he doesn’t have a case for making that much cash given the contracts signed by his peers. That’s where you come in. For the purposes of this article, I want you to pretend that you’re in Ken Holland’s seat and tell me what is the maximum term and dollars you would be willing to pay Ryan McLeod at this stage of his career. Remember, you don’t have much cap space available to spend and you still have Evan Bouchard to re-sign as well, so making a deal happen with Clouder could be trickier than we initially expected. So what do you do?
QUESTION: You are moonlighting as Ken Holland and have to give Ryan McLeod an offer for a new contract. What does that look like for you?
In 57 games played in 2022-23, Ryan McLeod posted 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points to go along with a +4 rating, 18 PIMs, and a 53.9 CF% while averaging 14:11 in TOI. In the playoffs, McLeod added five assists in 12 games before the Oilers were eventually bounced in the second round.
RYAN McLEOD’S CAREER SO FAR
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PGP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 2019-20 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 56 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 22 | 0 | |||||
| 2020-21 | Zug EV | Swiss-A | 15 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2020-21 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 28 | 14 | 14 | 28 | 10 | 23 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2020-21 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021-22 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 71 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 12 | -2 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| 2021-22 | Bakersfield Condors | AHL | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | -2 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2022-23 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 57 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 18 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| NHL Totals | 138 | 20 | 25 | 45 | 30 | 32 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 10 |
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