Eric Gelinas: What Should His New Contract Be Worth?
By Phil DeHaven
Having already covered what I feel Adam Larsson should receive as a restricted free agent, it’s time to look at Eric Gelinas. The New Jersey Devils have four restricted free agents to sign as they’ve already re-signed backup goalie Keith Kinkaid. Eric Gelinas enters restricted free agency this off-season after playing in his 2nd season with the Devils. In his two seasons he played 121 games scoring 13 goals and adding 35 assists with a -5 +/- rating. He is loved by fans for his booming shot and offensive ability, but he is yet to be an everyday defenseman.
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With the team in desperate need of improving their scoring, Eric Gelinas’ name has been mentioned as
. While I don’t believe GM Ray Shero will trade him due to his offensive abilities, I do think he needs to step his game up. Eric Gelinas is young at age 24 and does need time to grow, but his second season as a Devil showed some signs of growing pains. For instance, in Gelinas’ first season he had only 22 PIM in 60 GP. This season he nearly doubled that with 42 PIM in 61 GP. The lack of offensive skill could’ve been a cause of this increase, but part of that blame also falls on Gelinas.
Eric Gelinas saw his numbers drop from his first season in every category except games played and even strength goals. He was even made a healthy scratch this season by Lou Lamoriello because he felt he wasn’t reliable enough defensively. I think that move by Lamoriello was more of a wake-up call to him because the Devils have a lot of young talent at defense. The main plot behind that move is that no-one’s spot on the Devils defense is permanent if you don’t bring it every night. Towards the end of the season I believe Eric Gelinas got the message and started playing the way the coached wanted.
A 2nd-round pick by New Jersey in 2009, Eric Gelinas is coming off a one-year deal worth $900k. You may remember last off-season that Eric Gelinas almost missed part of training camp due to a contract dispute. Former GM Lou Lamoriello called his bluff and Gelinas signed just prior to camp. With a recent history of contract disputes, will Eric Gelinas be tough to re-sign again this off-season? His agent Gilles Luipen was the one who advised Gelinas to sit out training camp last season and could stir up trouble again.
Luipen said last off-season that players with similar stats to Gelinas’ first season were making around $1.5-$2 mil a year. With his decline in production this season, it appears Lamoriello was right to not give in to their demands. Now it appears that GM Ray Shero will have the bargaining power over Gelinas and his agent this off-season. I could see the contract negotiations going a few ways. First, Shero could try to lock-up Eric Gelinas cheap at around $1.5 mil a season for 2-3 years which would be very good on the Devils side. Or he could give Gelinas a one-year prove it deal for around $1.2 million and try to motivate Gelinas for next season.
Ultimately I believe Eric Gelinas is a defenseman who just needs more time to mature and develop. He can be a great piece of the Devils blue-line going forward if he commits to it. If I were GM Ray Shero I’d try to lock Gelinas up on a two-year deal worth $1.35 million a year with some performance bonuses. It’s not too far-fetched to believe Gelinas could consistently reach 35-40 points in the future. He had 37 points in his first season with Albany, so the Devils are hoping he can bring that to New Jersey soon.