Palat signs a 3 year deal for 10 million

[jammer2]

  This seems like a fair contract for both sides. It starts out at 2.8 mill and escalates from there. From a Flyers perspective, this is good news, cause if Palat is starting out at 2.8 mill, there is no way B.Schenn's agent can ask for the same number. This contract could assure that Schenn makes closer to 2 mill a year rather than 3. At this point, the market should dictate Brayden receives in and around the 2.2 to 2.4 mill mark. If he gets more than 2.5, he has a great agent.

 

 Getting back to Palat, what a great find this kid was. 23 goals and 59 pts is a pretty decent introduction to the league. Considering his linemates are literally guaranteed to be excellent, the sky is the limit for this guy. 35 goals is a real number he could be shooting for. A 7th round pick in 2011, are you friggin kidding me. Hats off to the Bolts scouts. That is an AWESOME pluck in the last round of the draft!!

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Thanks for posting this @jammer2 , was going to get around to it, but every time it seemed I was going to settle in and type a great big post about this, some little snooker here at home required mommy for something   .

 

Anyways, here are some links for those that absolutely MUST have them.....hehe.

From NHL.com:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=722122

 

And from hockeydb, here are Palat's career numbers thus far:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=122662

 

VERY fair deal, and team friendly too, for Palat.

Pretty much in line with what Tyler Johnson got as both had similarly outstanding years in the 2013-14 campaign.

 

Granted, I still think Johnson has the higher upside and a guy like Palat may not be as consistent on offense as Tyler may be, but still, there is no question he earned what the Lightning gave him, and at only 23, still has plenty of room to improve on what he has shown thus far.

Palat plays a bit more of a physical type game than Johnson does (despite his size) and can be found often going into the tough areas of the ice to get his points. That can be a bit worrisome as I have seen opposing defenses put some  hellacious hits on Palat when he does.

 

Still though, the guy has lots of heart, obviously scoring talent, and I am very happy the Bolts realized this and kept him on board.

 

The Lightning right now are doing as I expected so far:  That is, taking care of their own RFA's before the July UFA/FA period.

I am thinking guys like Andrej Sustr and Alex Killorn would be next on the list that the Bolts need to see about getting contracts to.

 

Back to Palat though, looking at his numbers since his Quebec Junior days, it seems he has a so-so year, followed up by a very good year in each of the three leagues he has played in thus far.... 2 seasons each in the QMJHL, AHL, and now the NHL...granted, these are all in small sample sizes, but still, seems he trends upwards so that is a good sign.

 

The real test will be coming over the life of his new contract, however, as he will be expected to STAY in the upper echelon.

 

And yes, jammer, not bad at all for a guy selected in the 7th round.......more teams wish they could be so lucky to get a guy like him that late, eh? 

 

Very happy about this re-sign, and looking forward to see what else the Bolts do in the coming off season.....and where Jonathan Drouin fits in the big club picture as well.

Edited June 10, 2014 by TropicalFruitGirl26

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Thought I would add this link for Palat's career stats.

I always thought hockeydb.com was good for career player stats (the one I posted above), but this one from Elite Prospects is more complete.

 

It takes into account leagues outside of North America where Palat played, in this case, the Czech Republic's under-20, under-18, and even under-17 leagues..wow.

 

Anyways, here it is:

 

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=18097

 

Seems although he was selected in the 7th round, scoring is nothing new for him.

He may still never be able to match a guy like Stamkos or Tyler Johnson long term, but seems this guy has the potential to be a very solid two way player in the NHL....not a bad thing at all.