Artyom Zub signs Two-Year Extension
In an unexpected bit of news, Senators defenceman Artyom Zub has signed a two-year extension with the Senators worth an average annual value (AAV) of $2.5 million.
It’s a tidy piece of business to lock Zub to an inexpensive deal given the strength of his season. The defenceman finished the 2020-21 campaign with three goals and 14 points in 47 games.
I am currently working on an end of the year piece, but within it, I wrote this of Zub’s season:
Signing Artyom Zub as an undrafted free agent out of the KHL is one of the greatest moves Dorion has made since inheriting the general manager’s title in 2016. It did not take long for Zub to prove that he was the best defensive defenceman on the Senators. According to Evolving-Hockey.com’s ‘Total Defence’ metric (DEF) that uses an aggregate of ‘Even-Strength Defense Goals Above Average/Replacement’ and ‘Shorthanded Defense Goals Above Average/Replacement’, Artyom Zub has the league’s 10th-highest rate (5.4). Zub’s emergence as an impactful and highly competent defender has been one of the Senators’ most unanticipated stories this season.
His defensive underlying numbers were fantastic, but his isolated defensive impact per HockeyViz.com was pretty damn impressive.
With this kind of performance, I am slightly disappointed that Zub did not sign a longer deal. Any challenge in the Zub negotiations could have stemmed from the fact that he does not have a long NHL track record. With just one season under his belt, his relative NHL inexperience may have impacted the organization’s willingness to negotiate and agree to a longer-term. Like the Colin White contract extension, sometimes it is better to bridge a player than commit significant dollars and term to someone who’s just a decent depth player. I certainly would not describe Zub as a depth player, but maybe there was a hesitancy to commit long-term knowing that the organization will eventually have to award significant contracts to many of its young players coming off entry-level deals. If the Senators cannot spend to the salary cap ceiling, it is going to put a ton of pressure on management not to throw money around like they are chips at the casino.
Conversely, with the NHL’s flat cap situation and the lack of fans in attendance, it would not really be a surprise to see the player’s representative, Dan Milstein, push for this short-term deal knowing that revenues will improve.
Zub’s two-year deal will bring him to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2023 when he will be 27 years old. Provided he can continue to demonstrate his defensive prowess, Zub should have an excellent opportunity to cash in on the open market. As the Senators continue to grow and improve, Zub’s role as key defender should theoretically make him that much more valuable to the organization. When the time comes to negotiate his next contract, Zub should have a ton of leverage on his side.
It is one hell of a spot to be in.