The Edmonton Oilers have locked up another member of their young core long-term, signing Jordan Eberle to a 6-year deal worth $36 million.
The deal comes just eight days after the Oilers signed Taylor Hall for the same cap hit over seven years.
Jim Matheson reported on Wednesday that negotiations for Eberle's extension were coming along amicably, and now that we can see the terms, it's little wonder why they were so damn friendly. For all intents and purposes, this is an identical deal to Hall's, just a year shorter so the two contracts don't expire at the same time.
And so we ask ourselves: is Jordan Eberle worth the same as Taylor Hall?
Well, no.
But it's easy to see how Steve Tambellini put himself in a situation where he had to pay the kid like he was. After signing Hall for $6 million well before he needed to, and before signing Eberle, Tambellini made it extremely difficult to give Eberle a lesser figure. After all, Eberle, not Hall, has led the team in scoring both of the past two seasons.
Granted, Hall outscored him on a points per game basis in season 1 and is clearly the superior player when healthy, but if you're giving Hall a contract based on some measure of faith, you can't very well dismiss what Eberle's actually done, which is put up the best numbers.
They may not stay the best. If Hall can play a full year healthy, and if Eberle's likely regression occurs, these twin deals could look mighty silly in a year. Considering Eberle's shooting percentage appears to be unsustainable, it's entirely possible the Oilers could have signed him for less next year if they had been patient.
But patience was hardly on Tambellini's mind. It seems clear that he wanted to get these deals done before the CBA expired and the new one put the term limit at five years. That didn't give him much time to play hardball with Eberle at all. And so he just... didn't.
Follow Harrison Mooney on Twitter at @HarrisonMooney
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