Drastically different paths is an understatement at this point. Doughty is well on his way to a hall of fame career while Myers is stuck in neutral.
While look over the Subban contract, I got into looking at other big name defenseman and their contracts. I came across this article from 2011 comparing Myers to Doughty and found it entertaining. Definitely shows what a drastically different path these two defenseman taken from that point up until now to this in there careers.
From http://www.diebytheblade.com/2011/10...res-look-smart
"Los Angeles Kings just signed an 8 year, $56 million contract with their highly touted defensive player Drew Doughty. The contract negotiations were contentious at best between the two teams which lasted until the last few days before the team was supposed to leave for Europe to start the season. Doughty now becomes the fourth highest paid defenseman in the league and the highest paid Kings player, $200,000 more than Anze Kopitar.
Drew Doughty started his career in the NHL when he was 19 and has played three seasons in the NHL with the Kings. His new contract will take him to the age of 29 when he should cash in on his final major contract of his career. He is the Kings number one defenseman and the team's blueline is basically built around Doughty. For Myers, the Sabres have added a couple new pieces so that Myers doesn't have to carry the Sabres blue line on his own.
How exactly does Doughty's contract signing make a team across the country look smart though? That is because they have a player with pretty much the same pedigree that is signed for $1.5 million cheaper with a contract that expires at exactly the same time, in 2019, with Tyler Myers. If you don't believe me, here is the comparison of the two players stats:
Player G/G A/G P/G Career +/-
Doughty .14 .39 .53 16
Myers .13 .40 .52 13
Using the per game stats allows us to compare the two players on an even level even though Doughty has played one more season than Myers. Both players are comparatively the same type of player and are going to be dominant defensemen during their respective careers. Myers leads in the number of league honors as he has a Calder Trophy for being the league's best rookie and both players are going to be under consideration for the Norris trophy for the life of their contracts.
The Sabres have been portrayed this season as a team that is throwing money around like a drunken sailor. Even though that may be the case with some of the riskier contracts in Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino, the Sabres appear to have hit a home run with the Tyler Myers contract extension."
Main Squad: H2H Multicat Points
10 Team 16 Keepers
G:3 A:2 +/-:1 PPP:0.5 PIM:0.25 Shot:0.2 Hit:0.2 Block:0.2
W:3 SV:0.2 GA:-1 SO:3
3C 3LW 3RW 5D 2G 5 BENCH 2IR
C: Crosby, Malkin, Giroux, Getzlaf, Barkov
LW: Ovechkin, Benn, Landeskog, E. Kane
RW: Kessel, Perry, Hudler, Atkinson
D: Letang, Carlson, Yandle, Rielly, Leddy
G: Schneider, Rask, Anderson
Prospects (5)
Vasilevski Burakovsky Bjorkstrand Dvorak Chychrun
Drastically different paths is an understatement at this point. Doughty is well on his way to a hall of fame career while Myers is stuck in neutral.
Better players around Myers make him a better player. Doughty makes the players around him better. Myers isn't THAT guy, if ya dig.
@SmittysRant
Myers signs a long contract and now he has an ugly cap hit for what he brings. All of this "If only, coulda, I would have, if he had only known etc" stuff is so silly in my books when it comes to these contracts in the past. If GMs had perfect knowledge then we'd have nothing to discuss here I suppose!
Realistically Buffalo and anyone who had the kid in fantasy hockey thought they had just landed the next big (lol) thing in Tyler Myers. Hindsight is 20/20, but it's deals like this that force young players to take those bridge deals. Myers is a perfect example of why not to pay a guy based on one awesome year.
Best part of his contract was that 10M signing bonus.
This is exactly why I don't want the Oilers to sign Schultz tio a big 5 year deal. However, this same argument could have been said right before NOT signing Subban to a real long deal and giving him that bridge deal as well, and now people, who currently live in the Habs' future, think they are so smart by saying 'Boy they are dumb for not signing a long contract!' There are good/bad examples on both the bridge and the long contract side, and I don't think I've really been convinced yet that one way is better or worse except in hindsight, but what good is that?
The olympics was the eye opener for me. Doughty is one of the best in the game right now! He does it all
16 Team H2H League (Keep 6)
3C - 3LW - 3RW - 6D - 2G
2013 1st place, 2014 1st place, 2015 1st place
G, A, +/-, PIM, SOG, HIT, BLK GS, W, GAA, SV%, SO
C= Stall, Marchessault, Hayes, Suzuki
LW= Svechnikov, Goodrow, DeBrusk,
RW= P.Kane, Kucherov, Fiala, Johnson
D= Rielly, Borowieki, Fowler, Hagg, Murphy
G= Demko, Samsonov, Jarry, Allen, Shesterkin, Talbot
twitter: @hugotwigg
Hard to believe it was in the middle of his second NHL season. Incredible.
Main Squad: H2H Multicat Points
10 Team 16 Keepers
G:3 A:2 +/-:1 PPP:0.5 PIM:0.25 Shot:0.2 Hit:0.2 Block:0.2
W:3 SV:0.2 GA:-1 SO:3
3C 3LW 3RW 5D 2G 5 BENCH 2IR
C: Crosby, Malkin, Giroux, Getzlaf, Barkov
LW: Ovechkin, Benn, Landeskog, E. Kane
RW: Kessel, Perry, Hudler, Atkinson
D: Letang, Carlson, Yandle, Rielly, Leddy
G: Schneider, Rask, Anderson
Prospects (5)
Vasilevski Burakovsky Bjorkstrand Dvorak Chychrun
It seems almost necessary to aim for bridge deals now though. We see guys like Duchene, Varlamov and Subban who will kill it, but guys like Del Zotto and Kulikov who don't do much with it (but Kuli STILL got a raise). Then theres guys like Craig Smith and Frolik and Brodie and Ennis to name a few that just keep chugging along as planned.
Kid's got ice in his veins no doubt. Big time player and definitely one of the best in the league. Crazy though, despite the Olympics and Stanley Cups he still doesn't get all the recognition he deserves IMO. Don't know if it's because his scoring is down from when he was younger or the defensive system or the west coast, but he deserves a Norris sooner than later.