Ex-Erie Otters break the bank in NHL free agency
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The highest-paid player in the National Hockey League is a former Erie Otter.
Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid and his $100 million, eight-year contract just got some company in the high-income bracket from other Otters alumni.
Who is the highest-paid NHL player? Connor McDavid, Artemi Panarin top list of highest earners
Four former Otters reached terms on multiyear contracts paying between $18 million and $50 million once the National Hockey League free-agency period opened Wednesday, and another on a one-year, $3.5 million deal. Others reached lower-value agreements on two-way contracts that could see them play in the American Hockey League at least some of the time.
NHL free agency winners, losers: Blue Jackets strike with top prize; Blackhawks' tank is on
Here are the Otters who have cashed in on sensational seasons in 2021-22.
Andre Burakovsky: Seattle Kraken
Terms: $27.5 million, five years
Why he got paid: The 6-foot 3-inch, 201-pound left winger scored 20 goals in 2019-20, 22 goals this past season and came up one short of 20 in 2020-21 while excelling on the power play. That's the kind of production a second-year expansion team needs. The Kraken also want the experience of his two Stanley Cup runs, one in 2018 with the Washington Capitals, who made him a first-round draft pick but traded him to Colorado in 2019. His three-year run with the Avalanche looked like this: 150 points in 189 regular-season games and 32 points in 37 playoff games including a title-series win over Tampa Bay in June.
Otters career: Born in Austria and raised in Sweden, Burakovsky was the Otters' first-round selection in the 2013 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft. In his only season with Erie he was stunningly good: 41 goals and 87 points in 57 games, plus 10 goals and 13 points in a playoff season that ended in the OHL Western Conference finals.
Erik Cernak: Tampa Bay Lightning
Terms: $41.6 million, eight years
Why he got paid: On a Tampa team that's been to three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals, and that won in 2019-20 and 2020-21, Cernak adds shot-blocking, an imposing 6-foot 3-inch, 230-pound frame, penalty killing and 19 minutes per game. The Los Angeles Kings' second-round draft pick in 2015 is a rock in a defense corps full of them, and now is locked in for the prime years of his career.
Otters career: Erie took Cernak in the first round of the 2015 CHL Import Draft, and the Slovakia native played 91 regular-season in an Otters sweater during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons and other 35 games in the playoffs including an OHL championship run in his final junior season.
Anthony Cirelli: Tampa Bay Lightning
Terms: $50 million, eight years
Why he got paid: Just 24, Cirelli already has won two Stanley Cup titles and reached a third Finals this past season. He's been outstanding as a versatile and responsible two-way forward and depth scorer since breaking into the NHL in the 2017-18 season. Teams around the league wish every third-round draft pick played at this level.
Otters career: Erie picked up Cirelli in a trade with Oshawa to bulk up for a 2016-17 championship run, and Cirelli was a perfect fit. He scored 30 points in 25 regular-season games, then added 31 points in 22 games including the championship-clinching goal as Erie won the OHL title.
Mason Marchment: Dallas Stars
Terms: $18 million, four years
Why he got paid: The 6-foot 4-inch, 209-pound left winger put up a career season with the Florida Panthers, scoring 18 goals and 47 points, most at even strength. It was only his third NHL season, but he wasn't out of place among the Panthers' many star players and at age 27 is in his prime.
Otters career: Erie signed Marchment as a free agent, and he scored eight goals and 26 points in 54 games and added an assist in 10 playoff appearances in the 2014-15 season. He was traded to Hamilton the next year, his overage season, for OHL priority selection picks.
Dylan Strome: Washington Capitals
Term: $3.5 million, one year
Why he got paid: Strome, the No. 3 overall selection in the 2015 draft behind McDavid and Jack Eichel, is a young center with scoring history and potential, and the Capitals need youth, scoring and a centerman. Strome was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Chicago Blackhawks, making him an unrestricted free agent at 25. The Capitals, in need of at least a short-term replacement for Nicklas Backstrom, got Strome on a short-term prove-it deal. If Strome can replicate or better the 48 points he scored in 69 games this past season, or the 51 points in 58 games in 2018-19 after being traded to Chicago by Arizona, he'll set himself up for another payday in 2023. In Chicago he starred when playing next to former Otters teammate Alex DeBrincat; in Washington, Strome will be a teammate to former Otters captain Connor Brown, acquired in a trade with Ottawa days ago.
Otters career: Strome led the Otters to the 2016-17 OHL championship, the second in team history, and won the 2015 OHL scoring title with 129 points, a single-season record. His 354 points in four seasons are the most in a career by an Otters player.
Former Erie Otters who signed two-way NHL deals
Goaltender Oscar Dansk, Calgary Flames, one year
Center Greg McKegg, Edmonton Oilers, two years
Defenseman Darren Raddysh, Tampa Bay Lightning, two years
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Former Erie Otters cash in during start of NHL free agency
