The Utah Mammoth pulled off a shocker in terms of the latest contract extension, re-signing young star Logan Cooley to a massive new deal. While he is one of their core pieces and has incredible talent, did the Mammoth jump the gun and sign him for too much too early?
Cooley deserves every penny
Cooley agreed to an eight-year, $80 million extension that starts next season. This is an excellent contract given his age, production, and how much faith they have in the young star to take them far into the postseason. Cooley, drafted third overall by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2022 NHL Draft, has lived up to the hype and is now putting this team on his back.
This season Cooley has eight goals and four assists for 12 points in 11 games with a +5 rating. He leads the team in goals and is also tied for the team lead in power play goals (3). Through 168 career NHL games, he has 53 goals and 68 assists for 112 points.
He has come a long way in a short amount of time, but is he worth the price of admission? The short answer is a resounding yes. He plays well in all three zones, is offensively creative, leads by example, and is a future captain because of his leadership qualities. By far one of the best young stars in the game.
Is the contract too big for Cooley?
Cooley is a tremendous talent that deserves every penny he gets. He is an explosive player that gets teammates involved and is the future of the Mammoth franchise. he is an elite player with tons of skill and has tremendous energy. However, is this contract too soon for a player who is only in his third season? He has not won any major awards, has not led the team to any Stanley Cups, and has yet to crack 100 points. Yet, his contract average annual value (AAV) is tied for 22nd in the league and is among some of the leagues best.
I get why they wanted to lock him up because they view him as a valuable piece as the team marches toward a Stanley Cup. He deserves a big contract based on his production so far. However, why lock him up three seasons into his career? Does he deserve to be paid among the leagues best? Also, eight years is a bit shocking too. We all know big contracts like this usually falter half way through and the organization is questioned about making the deal in the first place.
The Mammoth and Cooley could prove us wrong. This $10 million per season could be a steal when the team gets more money due to the rise in the salary cap over the next few seasons and they do make a run at a Stanley Cup. Personally, I have never seen a deal like this to a young player work out but he may be a rare case where this deal is a steal in the near future.