Short-term Contract
Unlike with the long term contracts, there is a lot of precedence for bottom-six players to be signed on a short-term basis. As such, we will look at four players who fit similar profiles to Engvall, to try to hammer out where he might sign. I’m going to go in ascending order, from the lowest to highest comparable contracts.
Josh Leivo:
Similarly to Engvall, Josh Leivo signed his one-year, $1.5 million deal in 2019-20 with the Vancouver Canucks at the age of 26. In 2019-20, $1.5 million was 1.84% of the salary cap ceiling. He also signed this after coming off a breakout offensive season that saw him put 24 points in 76 games. It should be mentioned that he scored 18 of those points in the 49 games after being traded to the Canucks. Overall, in 133 he scored 46 points (0.35 PPG) up to this point.
Zach Aston-Reese:
Last off-season, Aston-Reese signed a one-year, $1.725 million deal (2.12% caphit percentage) with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Once again, he was the same age as Engvall when he signed this. An interesting point too, is that this deal came after Aston-Reese filed for salary arbitration.
It wasn’t ruled by an arbitrator but it likely explains the AAV being where it is, even with his relatively low production. When Aston-Reese signed this deal, he had identical numbers to Engvall. In 161 games he produced 51 points (0.32 PPG), where as Engvall has 62 points in 168 games (0.37 PPG). Another similarity is that Aston-Reese is known for being a strong defensive winger, just like Engvall.
Trevor Moore:
Moore, like Aston-Reese signed his deal last off-season at 26. However, he signed for two years at $1.825 million per season (2.30% caphit percentage) with the Los Angeles Kings. He didn’t play as many games at that point as Engvall did however, playing 123 and producing 41 points (0.33 PPG). When averaged out to points per game, it’s a little lower than Engvall’s. Again, Moore fits the bill as a comparable player being a bottom-six contributor who plays the PK.
Zach Sanford:
Finally, Sanford is the last and highest AAV player on this list. Last year, he signed a one year, $2 million deal with the St. Louis Blues. This put him at 2.45% of the NHL’s salary cap. Up to this point, Sanford had played 209 NHL games, reaching 74 points (0.35 PPG). He fits the archetype as another bottom-six penalty killer but he is a little different than the others on the list, as he’s more of a grinder type player. His contract also has the highest AAV on this list and his production was more inline with Engvall’s 0.37 PPG.