When I saw the news yesterday that Jordin Tootoo had signed a two year contract extension with the Nashville Predators at a cap hit of $1.25 million per season, I shook my head a little bit. This season, Tootoo has two goals. Last season, he had four.
Tootoo’s a physical player, but he stands 5’9” tall. He doesn’t play power play minutes. He doesn’t contribute on the penalty kill. At even-strength, he plays fourth line minutes. He misses a lot of time with injuries. It’s hard to see why any team, let alone an always money-conscious Predators franchise, would be willing to fork over good money for a guy who looks like a pretty typical fourth line plugger.
The first item in Tootoo’s favour is that he isn’t a typical fourth liner. He has been sent out for a lot of own zone minutes, and despite that the Predators actually have a very good outshooting percentage with him on the ice. He can be relied upon in his own end, and that’s generally an undervalued talent.
Tootoo’s other talent is that he draws penalties with the style he plays. Over the last three seasons, Tootoo has drawn 59 penalties at 5-on-5 (courtesy behindthenet.ca) and taken 41. That’s a pretty good ratio, although not incredible for a forward, and assuming a 16% PP success rate and an 84.0% PK success rate, that works out to roughly one extra goal for the Predators each season. Tootoo also fights; over the last three seasons he has 20 fights, and according to the voters at hockeyfights.com he has a record of 11 wins, five losses and four draws, which is pretty good – especially since Tootoo generally gives up a few inches. Lastly, he’s also an incredibly popular player with fans in Nashville.
I’m not sure that combination of skills is enough to make Tootoo worth the money. From a marketing perspective he might be, but from the hockey operations side of the ledger I don’t think his contribution to winning games is enough to justify that kind of money.
I honestly think Tootoo is worth the money the most classic example of who to compare him to is Tie Domi, although I think Tootoo if he where to be healthier could actually have more of an offensive upside (and Tie Domi was pretty good at it too), I was actually hoping the leafs could have gotten Tootoo instead of a Orr or Rosehill although I like Rosehill’s play better then Orr’s (note to Rosehill JUST STOP TAKING DUMB PENALTIES). At the end of the day if the fans love the guy and he is a good defensivly as you say then 1.25 isnt a bad price to pay think of the jersey sales and extra tickets sold and all of that stuff and he becomes a good buy.
Agreed completely that he’s not worth it from a strictly hockey ops standpoint. That said, the marketing angle you touched on is probably a good enough reason to make sure you keep the guy if you’re Nashville. They aren’t likely to get anywhere near the cap anyway, and keeping a fan favourite and some team continuity can only help strengthen a fanbase that doesn’t really have deep ties to the sport yet.
Besides, after reading Mirtle’s series on Nashville as a market, as well as seeing what Poile has been able to do there with not much budget, I’m willing to believe Nashville’s management knows what they’re doing.
I think Tootoo is overpaid, but it’s not hard to figure out the comparables you would point to if you were his agent to arrive at a $1.25 million figure. If Aaron Voros gets $1 million and Brashear gets $1.4 and Colton Orr gets $1 million and Mike Grier gets $1.2 and Chad Larose gets $1.7 and Darcy Tucker gets $2.2 and Steve Ott gets $1.4 and Matt Bradley gets $1 million and Todd Fedoruk gets a bit over a million and Ethan Moreau gets $2 million…then I can see the math where Tootoo gets $1.25.
But I wouldn’t sign him for that much. Not when you could get a young guy like Ryan Stone who’s been in the minors his whole career to do basically the same thing for $600,000.
Has a following in Nashville, helps keep some fans. Totally worth it? No, but not worth shipping him out for a random player.
Jordin Tootoo is a marketing win and, thus, they wanted to keep him. I think it’s fair to say that he’s better than most minor league replacements. Those two factors combined meant that they wanted to keep him. Once that decision had been made, they’ve already decided to pay him a minimum of 1.07M (his qualifying offer) and a 15% bump on that surely can’t be too unexpected. It’s probably a slight overpay, but nothing to get worked up about. The guy must also have a terrible shot. Over the last two seasons his shooting percentage is 3.1% and 5.4% in his career. Just awful. I could see the Preds thinking that’s bound to improve at least marginally over the next couple of seasons.
1.25 mil is pretty cheap for a guy who will block a shot with his face and fight anyone (and most often,lose). You could waste 1.25 mil fairly easily in the NHL but I don’t think Tootoo is an example of that.
He’s fast and an intense forechecker, he plays with desire every shift. That’s why he’s in the league,I don’t think the marketing angle brings in much $ for the Preds. Stats can tell you a lot about a player but there aren’t a stats that measure heart.
I don’t think you see the forest too often JW,you are hung up on counting the trees.
Since Martin Gelinas came into the organization as a player in the 2007-8 season, he’s helped mentor Tootoo to stop the senseless penalties and focus more on straightforward, north-south hockey.
You can certainly argue that the contract is a slight overpay, but if he can stay healthy (and that’s the big “if” in my mind), I think it’s OK based on the progress he’s making.
noskillgill: Now many players in the AHL would be willing to do that for league minimum? 20? 50?
I like Tootoo. I just think he’s paid a little too much for the skillset that he brings.
I don’t have a problem with the contract, though; he’s a fan favourite and as Dirk says, the mental side of his game is improving. I just think those factors and a slight loyalty bump are what got him a few extra dollars.
It ain’t my money, doesn’t bother me.
Jordin was doing great until he injured his foot and was out for about a month. He’s a real attraction to games for all First Nations and Inuit when he comes to Canada. Jordin deserves it for what he has contributed to Nashville. I think they’re investing in Jordin for that reason before some other teams in Canada will up the ante to get him. GO JORDIN!
JW-I won’t claim to understand the thought process behind the contract but Mark Bell( who is out of the league) made 2 mil per season and Tootoo dummied him. How many 5’7 NHLers do you know that will dance with a guy who is 6’5?
An NHL GM can find worse ways to waste money and, if the difference between keeping a known quantity vs rolling the dice on an unknown is maybe 500k then; the smart GM sticks with the guy who he knows will show up to work every night.
noskillgill: The comfort factor’s definitely important.
Well, honestly i don’t think Tootoo is overpaid. What he does out there on the ice takes a lot of courage and heart. Tootoo was brought in basically to do what he’s doing right now for the Preds, but i don’t understand. Why don’t the Preds give Tootoo a chance to play a different role than what he’s used to. When he played in junior for The Wheat Kings, he actually scored a lot of goals. He was more of a all round player instead of a 1 role player. Just sayin’ !!!!
jordin tootoo actully got 16 goals in the last 2 seasons so ur wrong!!! oh yeah tootoos a beast
jordin tootoo actully got 16 goals in the last 2 seasons so ur wrong!!! oh yeah tootoos a beast tootoos a major beastly player worth 3 mili a year and leads a team
i think JW is overpaid.