The defenseman’s extension should be one of Utah’s top priorities.
Player Overview
Durzi was originally selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2018 NHL Draft, after being passed over in his initial draft year. However, his tenure with his hometown team was over before it could really begin, and only six months after being selected by the Maple Leafs, Durzi was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings, as part of a deal for Jake Muzzin.
After spending two years with the AHL’s Ontario Reign, followed by a hot start in the 2021-22 season, Durzi made the jump to the NHL early that year. He was thrust into a large role right from the get-go (averaging close to 20 minutes per game), and ended up posting strong numbers in his rookie season, with 27 points in 64 games.
Despite the limited sample size of NHL action, the strong year earned Durzi a two-year contract extension, carrying a $1.7 million cap hit. Then in the 2022-23 season, Durzi’s production took another jump, registering nine goals and 38 points across 72 games.
However, the defenseman ended up being a victim of the Kings’ right-side depth, which also included Drew Doughty, Matt Roy (and at the time, Sean Walker), along with two top prospects in Jordan Spence and Brandt Clarke. As a result, Durzi was dealt to the Arizona Coyotes in the summer of 2023, for a second-round pick.
In his first year with the Coyotes, Durzi immediately established himself as the top offensive force on the team’s blue line. He managed nine goals and 41 points in 76 games, and saw his ice time jump by three minutes per game. Nearing 23 minutes a night, Durzi averaged roughly two minutes per game more than any other player on the team.
With Durzi, you never have to question his offensive talent. He’s an excellent playmaker, finding lanes to hit teammates with great passes in the offensive zone to set up scoring chances with top-notch vision. Durzi is also able to transport the puck well, with great speed, along with very good control when carrying it past opponents. His shot can also do damage, with a good release from the point and the ability to open a shooting lane with quick movements at the blue line to throw off opposing forwards.
At the same time, Durzi can be a defensive liability. He can be prone to turnovers with dangerous or careless passes, he’s not strong enough to take opponents off pucks consistently, and doesn’t necessarily have the tenacity in battles to make up for it. The key is about using him in a way where he’s able to get to work offensively, but knowing he’s going to be prone to some mistakes.
Still, Durzi faced the second-highest quality of competition of any defender on the Coyotes this season, according to Dobber Hockey. His underlying numbers also look promising, holding the highest corsi for percentage of any player on the team who suited up for at least 40 games, at 52.2 percent, which was quite a bit higher than the team’s overall mark of just 49 percent.
Turning just 26 years old in October, Durzi has the ability to be a high-end offensive defenseman for the foreseeable future. With Utah’s first season on the horizon, Durzi could be one of the bright spots.
What We Know
- Durzi is arbitration-eligible.
- There has been little reported about what to expect from Durzi’s upcoming extension.
Comparables
Below, we take a look at what Durzi’s deal could look like at different lengths. For more information on the stats/tables used below, visit the About the Site page.
With Durzi turning 26 years old in October, comparables were generally kept to defensemen who were between 25 and 27 years old by Dec. 31 of the first year of their contract.
8 YEARS
With seven or eight-year contracts for defensemen around defensemen around 25-27 years old, we typically only see them for legitimate top-pairing defenders, with higher production than Durzi, more ice time, and probably most importantly, more career experience.
While it’s not impossible, a seven or eight-year contract for Durzi is extremely unlikely. Still, here are the comparables for eight-year deals below.
| Player | Age | First Year of Contract | Signing Year P/82 | Career P/82 | TOI Season | Career TOI | Contract | On $87.7M Cap Hit |
| Sean Durzi | 26 | 2024 | 44 76GP | 41 212GP | 22:43 | 20:47 | ||
| *Charlie McAvoy | 25 | 2022 | 48 51GP | 43 235GP | 24:00 | 22:51 | $9.50M 8 years | $10.10M 8 years |
| *Darnell Nurse | 27 | 2022 | 53 56GP | 32 406GP | 25:38 | 22:18 | $9.25M 8 years | $9.83M 8 years |
| Victor Hedman | 27 | 2017 | 49 23GP | 40 470GP | 23:04 | 22:11 | $7.88M 8 years | $9.21M 8 years |
| **Noah Hanifin | 27 | 2024 | 47 77GP | 34 675GP | 23:37 | 20:29 | $7.35M 8 years | $7.35M 8 years |
| *Cam Fowler | 27 | 2018 | 40 80GP | 36 494GP | 24:51 | 22:48 | $6.50M 8 years | $7.17M 8 years |
| *Josh Morrissey | 25 | 2020 | 43 59GP | 28 233GP | 22:24 | 20:36 | $6.25M 8 years | $6.73M 8 years |
| Adam Pelech | 27 | 2021 | 21 56GP | 20 303GP | 21:03 | 19:16 | $5.75M 8 years | $6.19M 8 years |
| *Erik Cernak | 26 | 2022 | 19 55GP | 21 226GP | 19:09 | 19:15 | $5.20M 8 years | $5.46M 8 years |
**Deal signed mid-season – Points/82 pace prior to signing are used for signing year stats
Of the eight-year deals, Any of McAvoy, Nurse and Hedman had much better numbers than Durzi. That said, there are some comps for him closer to the bottom of the table. Durzi had better production than Pelech and Cernak: and even though Cernak was a Stanley Cup Champion, and Pelech was coming off being a key fixture in deep playoff runs all other signs point to a higher cap hit for Durzi.
The three best comps are Hanifin, Fowler and Morrissey, in a range of $6.75M to $7.35M projections. While Durzi actually matches up against Hanifin quite well statistically, Hanifin had more than three times the number of career games played. Still, Hanifin’s $7.35 million cap hit likely came in that low in large part due to the lack of state tax, so Durzi may not be drastically far off that number. Fowler also had more career experience, and much more usage, but Durzi did edge him out in production.
With Morrissey though, you see almost a direct comparable. The signing year production, time on ice, and career games played are incredibly similar. Durzi did have the better career production, which could point to a slightly higher cap hit on any eight-year deal, but given we know he’d be below the Hanifin and Fowler adjusted cap hits, we could project a cap hit right in the middle, at $7 million.
Again, this is not to say that Utah will, or should offer that kind of a deal. A maximum-term deal remains extremely unlikely: but if an eight-year deal was on the table, that’s the likely cost.
7 YEARS
With seven-year deals, there are fewer realistic comparables.
| Player | Age | First Year of Contract | Signing Year P/82 | Career P/82 | Signing Year TOI | Career TOI | Contract | On $87.7M Cap Hit |
| Sean Durzi | 26 | 2024 | 44 76GP | 41 212GP | 22:43 | 20:47 | ||
| Jacob Trouba | 25 | 2019 | 50 82GP | 36 408GP | 22:53 | 22:53 | $8.00M 7 years | $8.61M 7 years |
| **Nick Leddy | 24 | 2015 | 33 62GP | 30 320GP | 20:11 | 18:34 | $5.50M 7 years | $6.76M 7 years |
| Nikita Zaitsev | 26 | 2017 | 36 82GP | 36 82GP | 22:01 | 22:01 | $4.50M 7 years | $5.26M 7 years |
Obviously, Durzi’s signing year production and career ice time was much lower than Trouba’s but he also had almost half the career experience. So he’s likely quite a ways off Trouba’s $8.6M adjusted cap hit. At the same time, he’d be due for much more than Nikita Zaitsev’s $5.25M adjusted cap hit, based on both stats comparisons and games played.
I’ve tried to keep most comps to between 25 and 27 years old, but one that actually works a little better for Durzi is Nick Leddy. While Leddy had more career experience, Durzi had much better production, as well as more usage, which could put him higher than Leddy’s $6.76M adjusted cap hit.
Once we get to seven or eight-year deals, chances are that in Durzi’s case, the cap hit isn’t going to change much. There’s an inherent risk in going that long on a primarily offensive defenseman, so especially based on the Leddy comparison, Durzi would likely end up around that $7 million mark on a seven-year deal as well.
6 YEARS
A six-year deal is probably the longest contract we’d see for Durzi, though even that seems unlikely.
| Player | Age | First Year of Contract | Signing Year P/82 | Career P/82 | Signing Year TOI | Career TOI | Contract | On $87.7M Cap Hit |
| Sean Durzi | 26 | 2024 | 44 76GP | 41 212GP | 22:43 | 20:47 | ||
| *Zach Werenski | 25 | 2022 | 47 35GP | 46 335GP | 24:22 | 22:43 | $9.58M 6 years | $10.18M 6 years |
| Esa Lindell | 25 | 2019 | 32 82GP | 26 239GP | 24:20 | 22:39 | $5.80M 6 years | $6.24M 6 years |
| Danny DeKeyser | 26 | 2016 | 21 78GP | 26 234GP | 21:48 | 21:17 | $5.00M 6 years | $6.01M 6 years |
| Dmitry Orlov | 26 | 2017 | 33 82GP | 27 283GP | 19:32 | 17:53 | $5.10M 6 years | $5.96M 6 years |
Obviously, Durzi’s numbers all come in lower than Werenski and there’s no chance of him getting close to Werenski’s cap hit on a possible six-year deal. But it does go to show that rarely, a high-end defender around Durzi’s age can end up taking a six-year contract.
We do have a group of comps all right around the $6M to $6.25M mark, in Esa Lindell, Danny DeKeyser and Dmitry Orlov. However, Durzi had better numbers and more usage than both DeKeyser and Orlov, along with relatively similar career experience, which puts him safely above a projected $6M cap hit.
With Lindell though, while Durzi had the higher production, Lindell had the higher usage. It points to the fact that on a six-year term, we likely see the cap hit drop below the $7M projection from a seven/eight-year deal.
With a lack of solid comparables though, it’s hard to say how much higher, if at all, Durzi would be than Lindell’s $6.24M adjusted cap hit, but it still establishes a likely range.
5 YEARS
There aren’t a ton of great comparables for five-year deals either, given they’re not overly common.
| Player | Age | First Year of Contract | Signing Year P/82 | Career P/82 | Signing Year TOI | Career TOI | Contract | On $87.7M Cap Hit |
| Sean Durzi | 26 | 2024 | 44 76GP | 41 212GP | 22:43 | 20:47 | ||
| **T.J. Brodie | 25 | 2015 | 35 88GP | 28 192GP | 24:09 | 20:54 | $4.65M 5 years | $5.72M 5 years |
| *Chris Tanev | 26 | 2015 | 22 61GP | 16 217GP | 21:01 | 18:49 | $4.55M 4 years | $5.47M 4 years |
| *David Savard | 26 | 2016 | 32 82GP | 27 187GP | 22:57 | 19:46 | $4.25M 5 years | $5.11M 5 years |
| *Rasmus Sandin | 24 | 2024 | 32 52GP | 32 211GP | 21:19 | 18:23 | $4.60M 5 years | $4.60M 5 years |
**Deal signed early into season – Points/82 pace prior to signing are used for signing year stats from that year before signing, as well as previous year are combined for Signing Year stats.
In terms of the comps, Durzi pretty clearly comes in above all of Sandin, Savard and Tanev in pretty much all categories, putting him above the $5.5M mark on a five-year deal.
However, T.J. Brodie acts as a better comparison. While Durzi has the production, Brodie did have the higher ice time in his season prior to signing. With similar career ice time, Durzi likely still comes in a little above Brodie’s adjusted cap hit as a result once you factor in production, but it at least serves as a bit of a baseline in regards to his value.
4 YEARS
A four-year deal may be the most likely contract for Durzi.
| Player | Age | First Year of Contract | Signing Year P/82 | Career P/82 | Signing Year TOI | Career TOI | Contract | On $87.7M Cap Hit |
| Sean Durzi | 26 | 2024 | 44 76GP | 41 212GP | 22:43 | 20:47 | ||
| Vince Dunn | 27 | 2023 | 65 81GP | 39 421GP | 23:40 | 19:10 | $7.35M 4 years | $7.72M 4 years |
| Tyson Barrie | 25 | 2016 | 52 78GP | 48 264GP | 23:12 | 21:06 | $5.50M 4 years | $6.61M 4 years |
| Neal Pionk | 26 | 2021 | 49 54GP | 42 226GP | 21:58 | 22:12 | $5.88M 4 years | $6.33M 4 years |
| Torey Krug | 25 | 2016 | 45 81GP | 43 241GP | 21:37 | 19:33 | $5.25M 4 years | $6.31M 4 years |
| *Jared Spugeon | 27 | 2016 | 44 32GP | 30 327GP | 22:17 | 21:01 | $5.19M 4 years | $6.24M 4 years |
| Sami Vatanen | 25 | 2016 | 44 71GP | 41 198GP | 21:19 | 20:11 | $4.88M 4 years | $5.86M 4 years |
| Kevin Shattenkirk | 24 | 2013 | 39 48GP | 44 201GP | 21:18 | 20:54 | $4.25M 4 years | $5.80M 4 years |
| Calvin De Haan | 27 | 2018 | 30 33GP | 22 304GP | 18:45 | 19:55 | $4.55M 4 years | $5.02M 4 years |
| Devon Toews | 26 | 2020 | 34 68GP | 33 116GP | 20:31 | 19:26 | $4.10M 4 years | $4.41M 4 years |
| Colin Miller | 26 | 2018 | 41 82GP | 31 185GP | 19:21 | 17:22 | $3.88M 4 years | $4.28M 4 years |
With the comparables for four-year deals, we’re able to establish a pretty clear range of what Durzi could make.
He had much higher production and usage than all of De Haan, Toews and Miller, which puts him above the $5M mark.
At the same time, Dunn had much better numbers in his signing year, and Barrie also had better numbers in every single category. This leaves the best five comparables as: Shattenkirk, Vatanen, Spurgeon, Krug, and Pionk, with adjusted cap hits in the range of $5.80 million on the low end, to about $6.35 million on the high end.
Of the group, Durzi’s production was a near identical match to Vatanen, along with a very similar number of games played. The difference though was that Durzi’s higher usage could leave him slightly higher, likely breaking into the $6M range, closer to the other comps.
3 YEARS
A three-year deal verges into more of an unlikely range for Durzi, based on the lack of realistic comparables for this length of deal.
| Player | Age | First Year of Contract | Signing Year P/82 | Career P/82 | Signing Year TOI | Career TOI | Contract | On $87.7M Cap Hit |
| Sean Durzi | 26 | 2024 | 44 76GP | 41 212GP | 22:43 | 20:47 | ||
| Justin Schultz | 27 | 2017 | 54 78GP | 38 334GP | 20:27 | 21:21 | $5.50M 3 years | $6.43M 3 years |
| Dmitry Kulikov | 27 | 2017 | 9 47GP | 23 507GP | 21:54 | 20:47 | $4.33M 3 years | $5.06M 3 years |
| *Erik Gudbranson | 26 | 2018 | 10 37GP | 11 376GP | 17:42 | 17:58 | $4.00M 3 years | $4.41M 3 years |
| Brandon Montour | 27 | 2021 | 30 50GP | 31 293GP | 20:29 | 20:34 | $3.50M 3 years | $3.77M 3 years |
Then even in terms of finding a number for Durzi on a three-year deal, it’s not overly straightforward.
Due to the lack of comps, it’s tough to find a definitive range. Even factoring in career experience, Durzi clears stats from any of Kulikov, Gubranson and Montour at their time of signing.
With Justin Schultz, Durzi had lower signing year production and career ice time, but his career production was comparable and his signing year ice time was higher. Schultz had significantly more career experience, so we can expect Durzi comes in a little ways below his $6.4M adjusted cap hit, but it’s a matter of determining how much lower.
We know it would (likely) be a lower cap hit than for a four-year deal, where it’s a lot easier to establish a projected cap hit. In all likelihood, a three-year deal comes in somewhere midway in between the $5M mark and Schultz’s $6.4M cap hit.
2 YEARS
If Durzi doesn’t earn a long-term deal, a two-year extension is possible.
| Player | Age | First Year of Contract | Signing Year P/82 | Career P/82 | Signing Year TOI | Career TOI | Contract | On $87.7M Cap Hit |
| Sean Durzi | 26 | 2024 | 44 76GP | 41 212GP | 22:43 | 20:47 | ||
| *Darnell Nurse | 25 | 2020 | 36 55GP | 27 334GP | 22:46 | 21:35 | $5.60M 2 years | $6.03M 2 years |
| Ryan Pulock | 26 | 2020 | 42 68GP | 38 234GP | 22:24 | 20:43 | $5.00M 2 years | $5.38M 2 years |
| Tony DeAngelo | 25 | 2020 | 64 68GP | 43GP 200GP | 19:17 | 18:26 | $4.80M 2 years | $5.17M 2 years |
| Travis Sanheim | 25 | 2021 | 22 55GP | 27 255GP | 21:53 | 19:27 | $4.68M 2 years | $5.04M 2 years |
| Ryan Murray | 26 | 2019 | 42 56GP | 26 320GP | 21:26 | 20:23 | $4.60M 2 years | $4.95M 2 years |
| Michael Del Zotto | 25 | 2015 | 41 64GP | 34 381GP | 21:55 | 20:26 | $3.88M 2 years | $4.77M 2 years |
| Vince Dunn | 25 | 2021 | 38 43GP | 31 267GP | 19:15 | 17:23 | $4.00M 2 years | $4.30M 2 years |
The clearest comp by a mile is Ryan Pulock. The defenders shared near identical stats in every single category, which would project Durzi to come in a little under $5.4M on a two-year deal.
Looking at the other comps: Durzi is well above Dunn’s adjusted $4.3M cap hit, based on both higher production, and much higher usage. After that though, many of the comps between the $4.8M mark and Nurse’s $6M adjusted cap hit are a little more tricky to judge.
Michael Del Zotto was a very comparable defender, and even had much more career experience, which would put Durzi as low as $4.8M. At the same time, everything about the comparison with Travis Sanheim points to the fact that Durzi would be worth more than Sanheim’s $5M adjusted cap hit. With both Darnell Nurse and Ryan Murray, while both defenders have much more career experience, Durzi’s production and ice time are comparable, if not higher. Then while Tony DeAngelo had massive production in his signing year, his usage was significantly lower than Durzi.
So there’s probably an argument that Durzi could come in anywhere between this $4.8M and $6M range on a two-year deal. But both in terms of the Pulock comparison, the middle ground between this range, and the general projections for a Durzi contract at other lengths, somewhere right around Pulock’s $5.38M adjusted cap hit is realistic for a two-year deal.
1 YEAR
While a one-year deal is unlikely, if negotiations get difficult, the two sides could choose to kick the can down the road for one more season.
| Player | Age | First Year of Contract | Signing Year P/82 | Career P/82 | Signing Year TOI | Career TOI | Contract | On $87.7M Cap Hit |
| Sean Durzi | 26 | 2024 | 44 71GP | 41 212GP | 22:43 | 20:47 | ||
| Michael Stone | 26 | 2016 | 39 75GP | 26 279GP | 22:29 | 19:43 | $4.00M 1 year | $4.81M 1 year |
| Justin Schultz | 25 | 2015 | 31 81GP | 37 203GP | 22:37 | 22:36 | $3.90M 1 year | $4.79M 1 year |
| Cody Ceci | 25 | 2018 | 19 82GP | 21 366GP | 23:20 | 20:46 | $4.30M 1 year | $4.74M 1 year |
| Brandon Montour | 26 | 2020 | 27 54GP | 31 243GP | 19:30 | 20:35 | $3.85M 1 year | $4.14M 1 year |
| Nikita Zadorov | 26 | 2021 | 12 55GP | 17 411GP | 19:12 | 18:18 | $3.75M 1 year | $4.04M 1 year |
With the sample of one-year deals, we can say that Durzi pretty safely clears Montour and Zadorov as comparables, based on having higher numbers in every category other than career games played.
This puts him up with the Stone, Schultz and Ceci range, around the $4.75M mark, and Schultz may be the closest comp we’ll get. The career production, signing year TOI and career games played were all incredibly similar, Then while Durzi’s signing year points per 82 may be higher, Schultz’s career TOI cleared Durzi’s by nearly two minutes. Overall, it makes for a fairly strong argument that Durzi’s number one a one-year deal is likely a little north of $4.5 million.
Projection
The most likely term for Durzi’s contract would be four years, with a projection below.
| Term | Projected Cap hit | Maximum Cap Hit | Minimum Cap Hit |
| 4 Years | $6.13M | $6.35M | $5.75M |
On the shorter end of possible deals, the price tag likely drops a bit.
| Term | Projected Cap hit | Maximum Cap Hit | Minimum Cap Hit |
| 1 Year | $4.75M | $5.00M | $4.00M |
| 2 Years | $5.38M | $6.00M | $4.75M |
| 3 Years | $5.75M | $6.00M | $5.25M |
In terms of longer-term deals, while unlikely, projections are below.
| Term | Projected Cap hit | Maximum Cap Hit | Minimum Cap Hit |
| 5 Years | $6.20M | $6.50M | $5.75M |
| 6 Years | $6.25M | $6.75M | $6.00M |
| 7 Years | $7.00M | $7.50M | $6.50M |
| 8 Years | $7.00M | $7.50M | $6.50M |
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