Will the real “Wild Bill” please stand up? Because YOU sir, just earned yourself a one-year, $5.25 million dollar contract. That’s right, Golden Knights fans. William Karlsson is coming back to Vegas for this upcoming season after avoiding his arbitration hearing and coming to terms this past Saturday afternoon.
Karlsson boasted career highs in virtually every category possible in his first year with Vegas. Putting up 43 goals, including the ‘Goal of the Year’ in the NHL, Karlsson was rewarded for his outstanding play by the team. He also put up the team’s only two hat tricks of the season, one against the Maple Leafs on New Year’s Eve and the other against the Calgary Flames, a natural hat trick.
“William had a great year for us and we are excited to now have him under contract for next season,” coming from Golden Knights General Manager George McPhee.
This is great news for fans of Karlsson entering his final year of his contract. Not only does this one-year deal reward Karlsson for his stellar work last season, it gives him the opportunity to show he’s not just one a one-hit wonder. This also gives Vegas an opportunity to not give Wild Bill a huge contract it could possibly regret, considering he does not have a history of putting up the numbers he did last season.
Before his career season, Wild Bill’s career high in goals? Nine. His career high in assists? 25. So the million dollar question is: Will Karlsson maintain the pace he started last season? It’s certainly possible. His shooting percentage was at 23.4 percent, which is insanely good. Basically, one out of every four times he shot the puck last season, it went hit back of the net.
Vegas’s top line is now set for the future, and at a cheap price compared to other team’s top lines that are productive. The L.A. Kings top line costs a collective $20.6 million, Anaheim’s top line costs $20.67 million, the Washington Capitals top line costs $22.4 million, and Vegas’s top line costs $15.25 million. Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers is set to make $12.5 million by himself.
I see you working, George McPhee.
For those who are somewhat confused about how this arbitration process works, let’s keep it simple. Wild Bill’s arbitration hearing was yesterday, so each side wanted to come to an agreement before the actual hearing took place, which is what happened. The team then gets to decide if they want to do a one-year deal, or two-year deal. If they chose a two-year deal, it would have made Wild Bill an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.
This one-year deal allows Vegas to keep him as a RFA (Restricted Free Agent), which means after Jan. 1, 2019, they could begin working out a long-term extension. Basically, this whole process is going to occur again a year later, unless they work out a contract extension mid-season.
There is now only one player left on the Golden Knights as a restricted free agent, and that is Shea Theodore. They do not have to do anything this season, because Theodore does not have arbitration rights. But that is a whole other circus act we will talk about for another day.
Will Wild Bill keep up that shooting percentage? Who knows. But most importantly, this is a good sign for things to come that they were able to come to a new deal. If team’s really like their players, they don’t want till the last month of their deal to try and get something done (I’m looking at you New York Islanders/Jonathan Tavares).
So where does Vegas go from here? If Wild Bill has another great season, then I have no doubt he will get a long-term, $8 million-plus contract. If he doesn’t do well, he will probably still get another contract offer, but maybe more in the 2-4 year range, and in the $4-5 million range. Let’s hope that more goals like this are in the future for Wild Bill, and honestly who cannot watch this goal on repeat? Wow.
