Arizona Coyotes sign Nick Schmaltz to seven-year extension

The Arizona Coyotes have announced they’ve given pending restricted free agent center Nick Schmaltz a seven-year extension reportedly worth $40.95 million.

Back in November, the Arizona Coyotes traded Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini to the Chicago Blackhawks for center Nick Schmaltz. Strome’s success has been the primary narrative of the trade, but Schmaltz was doing well before getting injured. Early on Saturday, the Coyotes announced they’ve given him an extension.

Though the team did not confirm the details of the extension, according to Craig Morgan of The Athletic, the deal is for seven years and is worth $40.95 million. If this is true, Schmaltz’s cap hit, or average annual value, will be $5.85 million.

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Before getting injured, he had 14 points in 17 games with the Coyotes. Split between Chicago and Arizona, Schmaltz put up a total of 25 points (seven goals and 18 assists) in 40 games. During his career, he has 34 goals and 105 points in 179 games.

Schmaltz’s best season came in 2017-18 when he put up 21 goals and 31 assists for 52 points in 78 games. He was drafted by the Blackhawks in the first round (20th overall pick) of the 2014 NHL Draft.

How This Affects The Coyotes

This is a very nice deal for the Coyotes. It gives them a bit of stability down the center, as now Arizona has their top three centers (Derek Stepan, Christian Dvorak, and Schmaltz) locked up, each of them for at least the next two seasons.

With this signing, the Coyotes have 17 players under contract for next season. They can now turn their attention to either re-signing Richard Panik or finding his replacement. Additionally, the Coyotes need to make decisions on restricted free agents Nick Cousins, Lawson Crouse, and Josh Archibald.

Before factoring in the rise of the salary cap ceiling, they have $10.965 million of cap space. Expect this number to go up to somewhere around $14.965 million, as the salary cap is expected to rise to around $83 million.

This is admittedly a risky decision for the Coyotes because they haven’t seen much from Schmaltz. They’re doing this based on a 17 game sample size with the team. That said, Schmaltz’s history suggests he’s a productive center who should be a lock to put up about 40 points a season. He has had trouble staying healthy, though.

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Currently, the Coyotes are nearly in the postseason. They still might make it, though their loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Friday certainly put a damper on their postseason hopes.

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