Sept. 15\u00a0is normally a quiet day on the NHL calendar. Players are\u00a0usually\u00a0just starting to reconvene for training\u00a0camps\u00a0and everyone is trying to enjoy the last bit of summer. But this\u00a0year\u00a0it was all business.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
A handful of massive long-term deals were handed\u00a0out, as organizations\u00a0tried to take advantage of the final day that eight-year\u00a0pacts\u00a0were\u00a0permitted. It was also the last chance for teams to build contracts under the current structure\u00a0before signing bonuses are capped. That led teams to make\u00a0a number of\u00a0bets\u00a0on some\u00a0relatively inexperienced\u00a0players, with the hopes that overpaying a little today might end up\u00a0in\u00a0a great value\u00a0deal further down the line.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m\u00a0not referring to players like Cale Makar and Drake Batherson, who both signed eight-year deals recently.\u00a0Those guys have a proven\u00a0pedigree\u00a0and their contracts\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0about gambling on future value as much as the Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators respectively wanted to secure\u00a0key members of their core for the long haul.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m\u00a0talking about\u00a0someone like\u00a0Ville Koivunen of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who inked an eight-year, $32-million\u00a0contract back in August.\u00a0Koivunen\u00a0has played in just 47 career\u00a0games\u00a0and boasts only two goals.\u00a0Pens general manager Kyle Dubas\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0paying Koivunen for what\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0proven, but instead\u00a0hoping he turns into a 15-20-goal\u00a0scorer\u00a0and the deal looks like a shrewd move sooner rather than later.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s\u00a0break down a few other long-term deals of a similar strategy\u00a0and look at\u00a0the chances of them aging well or poorly.<\/p>\n
Minten was the\u00a0centrepiece of the Brandon Carlo deal and quickly proved his value in his first full season with the Bruins\u00a0after being\u00a0acquired\u00a0from the Toronto Maple\u00a0Leafs.\u00a0The 22-year-old tallied 17 goals and 35 points last season, while playing all 82 games for a Boston team that surprised many by qualifying for the playoffs.\u00a0He moved\u00a0up and down the lineup\u00a0and often played\u00a0down the middle in a middle-six role, acclimating himself well to the centre position as a youngster.<\/p>\n
Why the deal should age well\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even if Minten\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0become a force offensively,\u00a0there are\u00a0enough other elements to his game that should make him a serviceable player.\u00a0He started more than 46 per cent of his shifts in the defensive zone last season and finished as a plus-21, proving\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0more than capable\u00a0of handling some significant defensive responsibilities already.\u00a0Minten also improved his faceoff percentage\u00a0greatly\u00a0in\u00a0his first full year in the NHL, clicking at just under 50 per cent in 2025-26.\u00a0Keep in mind,\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0still only 22 with barely 100 games under his belt, so things like\u00a0being strong on the draw\u00a0and defensive acumen\u00a0should only improve as he gains more experience.<\/p>\n
Considering where the cap is going, even if Minten turns into a quality third-line\u00a0centre who is\u00a0responsible in his own end but is\u00a0limited offensively, that\u00a0AAV\u00a0should still be palatable for the Bruins.<\/p>\n
Minten\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0have to be a huge point producer to justify this deal, but if\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0going to play in the top\u00a0nine consistently,\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0going to\u00a0have to\u00a0score\u00a0more than\u00a035 points\u00a0annually.\u00a0As far as high second-round picks go, Minten\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0a major contributor offensively during his time in junior, tallying just 188 points in 187 games.\u00a0If\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0barely scoring a point per game in junior, that usually translates to a much lower output when a player reaches the National Hockey League.<\/p>\n
The 17 goals last season\u00a0were nice, but almost half of them came during a hot streak in January. After that, Minten scored just three\u00a0goals for the\u00a0remainder\u00a0of the season and\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0register a point during Boston\u2019s first-round exit\u00a0versus\u00a0the Buffalo Sabres. The cap is going up, but if\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0making more than $7 million,\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0still going to have to be more consistent offensively. Minten\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0have to be an 80-point player to justify this\u00a0deal,\u00a0but he should at least be close to a 50-point player, and the jury is still out on whether he can get there.<\/p>\n