Okay, Greening is not going to come back this year. He scored 15 goals playing on the first line with Alfie and Spezza a couple of years ago. There's no come back. C'mon.
Michalek: I've got no beef with what he brings. I agree with having the devil you know. But I know i'm going to hear a bunch of poopoo about being a "budget team" in 2014-15 and 2015-16 and I'm going to have an aneuryism (sp?) due to the Michalek and Greening deals!
Btw, how do I change my name back to "Negativity Jones" on the new site. Cause I'm feelin' negative!
Having said that....I carefully clean all of my Sens jerseys during the summer with a feather duster, and then put them back in their garment bags and check twitter and google nightly for Sens news, and wear my Sens wrist watch once a week, and fantasize about different line combos....
I guess that's why fan comes from the word fanatic! I'll be down in this bloody basemeny with a jersey on 70 games again next freakin' season...
I guess it's a matter of "Sens, I can't quit you."
-- Edited by Pesky Jones on Sunday 3rd of August 2014 12:20:21 AM
Great post AO -- I agree, 9MM's contract could well be an enticement, or at least an indicator, to other players that the Sens want to keep talent long term.
About Hoffman: he didn't score a lot in his games with the big team last season, but he played a lot of 4th line minutes in those games so he wasn't put in a position where he would be getting good opportunities to score. If he's given a steady opportunity to score (ie/ scoring line not 'energy' or shutdown roles), I think he'll succeed. I don't think he'll score 30 in his first NHL season unless he's paired with Turris and MacArthur or Ryan though, but I don't think Chiasson/Stone/9MM will either. ;)
As Pan said we're at the floor so it doesn't really matter what he makes. His contract is comparable (both amounts and term) to guys like Stafford, Bickell, D. Jones, J.Jokinen. That's pretty much the going rate for a late 20s/early 30s 2nd/3rd line winger. The team needs to keep some veterans around and not go with an all kids lineup (e.g. Edmonton).
He's one of our better 2nd pairing PK players, and a goal scorer rather than a play maker. Not to mention he actually started to look like he was putting his injuries behind him at the end of last season. He's not holding anyone back this upcoming season. Hoffman is on a one year deal, so I don't think the brass is sold on him yet. Puempel needs another year in the AHL, then it's him versus Hoffman next season. Prince is probably on the 1st call up list and will be in the mix next season as well.
Signing Michalek also shows to MacArthur, Ryan, Methot and other UFAs that this team is not in full rebuild mode and helps in getting them re-signed/signed.
Greening slumped hard like most of the team last season. He'll likely rebound (more than likely and push for 30 points). Both his and Michalek contracts are movable and will be more palatable to other clubs next season if they need to make a move.
Only IF:
- Hoffman actually plays well, consistently for 82 games, and shows that he can succeed in the NHL (improvement on the 6 points in 25 games last season = 20 pts / 82 games). He's a point producer, if he can't do that then he is gone. Michalek and Greening have skills on the defensive end that merit keeping them around over him.
- Puempel or Prince destroy the AHL next year and Hoffman is to be retained. Then one of Michalek or Greening can be moved.
Lazar is projected to be a RW so him making the team impacts Stone, Condra, and Neil rather than Michalek and Greening. I'd rather see him in Junior this season and a full AHL season before he jumps into the NHL.
How does $4mil per year for Michalek make sense??? Hemsky is gone. I'd rather we over paid him. Setting that aside, how is it possible that $4mil/yr for Michalek is the going rate for his services?
I figured he was worth $4mil for one year or perhaps $3mil/yr for two. I don't believe anyone would have paid him what Hemsky agreed to.
I am fine with signing the guy to a 1 or 2 year deal. We need people who can actually play and he can. Not like we're swimming in bona fide NHLers... However this $12mil for 3 yrs deal is Greeningesque, ie., absurd. Embrassing deal. Like having Michalek in the mix but a dumb deal...
