Flowah
Registered User
- Nov 30, 2009
- 10,249
- 547
Nothing forced us to give term and price to non-factors like Abdelkader. That was poor asset management, plain and simple.Detroit's nearing the end of the contract clutter teams like Chicago and Pittsburgh are just entering, and teams like LA are getting firmly mired in.
I don't recall any team getting out from under it's stars before they ding them for 2+ overpaid/ineffective years at the end of their runs. Datsyuk, Z, Kronwall, those three guys have either missed badly or struggled to earn their contracts most of their last 2-3 years in Detroit. Franzen's concussion stuff was just a killer, contractually.
When the stars of those other clubs are winding down but still on big deals we'll see those franchises enter the same kind of malaise Detroit is in now, or Vancouver has been in for awhile, or that LA's entering.
It is one thing to sign stars to contracts that screw you at the tail end of their career. It is another thing to sign contracts to non-stars who are hamstringing you already just a couple of years into those same contracts. We did the latter.