blinkman360
Loyal Players Only
He wasn’t signed under this speedier, more open offensive era. He was signed just before it and the realization that this is the game now, ie last season. The bubble and shortened season were still indicative of the ‘older’ ‘new’ NHL that he was better suited for and should still produce at at 15/35/40 clip. Now, the stakes are higher and he’s not gonna be able to do it.
The cap squeezed out a lot of dead weight, placed an emphasis on cheaper, youth, and long term deals earlier in time, which tilted things towards speed, but also more mistakes, which results in more scoring.
I think the things we’ll have going for us in any Pulock deal are the fact that the rest of the league knows how good he is, and they know he has a monster shot. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a few teams that think they can maximize his offense in a way we haven’t.
Even if they think he is what he is offensively, I doubt it will scare many teams off. At the end of the day he’s still arguably a #2, RHD which is always in demand, locked in at just over $6M for a long time and he’s only what? 27? If the rumors are true and the cap starts to rise again, that’s really nothing for a top pairing D. Even if a team wants him to anchor their 2nd as a high end #3, IMO you can still live with him making that money.
Think of how many guys on 3rd lines are making $5M+.