Matthew Schaefer’s next contract already sounds like a number that turns heads.
According to Stefan Rosner on The Sheet with Jeff Marek, the expectation is that Schaefer’s next deal could climb past the $20 million mark. Rosner said Schaefer “truly loves being here,” while noting that the player’s agent still has a job to do. Even so, the idea on the table is a deal in the range of five years and $21 million to $22 million.
“Yeah, I think Schaefer truly loves being here. I know his agent has a job to do.
But yeah, I think they’re gonna hope for if they could get seven, obviously. But if it’s like a five-year deal, $21, $22 million… I mean he deserves it.
You’re not paying for the now… I mean you are paying for the now, but it’s also the length of that deal. In four years, how good is this kid gonna be? I think if you’re the Islanders, it’s not a blank check but it’s pretty close.”
The other big storyline on The Sheet centered on New Jersey Devils GM Sunny Mehta and the Quinn Hughes speculation. Jeff Marek pressed Mehta on the constant chatter around Hughes and the possibility of him playing with his brothers in New Jersey, but Mehta said the noise doesn’t get under his skin.
Marek: “I know you can’t, you can’t talk about other players, obviously. How many times do you have to close your computer when a certain topic rolls around involving a defenseman on another team whose brother may or may, brothers may or may not play on your squad?
Like, is it like, I’m curious, like, is it just is it annoying? I’m curious from your point of view, like, is it annoying?
Like, how do you feel?”
Mehta: “It’s not annoying. It’s not annoying at all.
No, it’s, listen, at the end of the day, this is an entertainment industry. We’re only, none of us have jobs if it weren’t for fans, and fans like what they like.
They’re, they’re here to be entertained. I try to always keep that in mind.
So it doesn’t, it doesn’t bother me at all. Especially because it’s something that it’s very easy for me to, you know, honestly say that I can’t, like, I can’t comment on it.
I can’t talk about it. So I’ll let, I’ll let other people do all that talking.
But I, no, it doesn’t bother me at all.”
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For New Jersey, the issue is bigger than one viral moment or one awkward question. Hughes is central to the teams ceiling, and the way his health is viewed will continue to shape both the Devils outlook and the broader conversation around his career. As long as he keeps being asked to answer for his body, the same uncomfortable thread will hang over everything else he does. [Read more 🡒]