Desert Panther
Resident Lurker
Steal of a deal for Big Nick. Love that we're now keeping/rewarding our talent and opening up room for later acquisitions as well down the line.
I hope Bjugstad's agent added one stipulation to this contract: Bjugstad has to play on the point for the PP.
But i thought everyone wanted to play for the leafs...
Hope Gudbranson uses this as fuel to get better. So far Bjugstad has been the best player of the 2010 Draft and Gudbranson needs to pick it up with his play and he needs to make a bigger impact.
gudbranson already looks very good this year. not offensively maybe, but his defense is a lot better and he's started to hit those highlight reel hits more. everyone got a good partner except gudbranson this year
Now let's compare our Nick to Columbus' Nick...
Same term. An extra 1.4 AAV and they get the guy named Foligno.
We win?
And your point is?
Hayes will not be as simple to sign as Bjugstad. If he stays on pace he will be in the 25G range. The options are to sign a two year bridge deal until he is UFA eligible July 1, 2017, or sign a long term deal like Nick.
Although he is not his brother Kevin who was looking for the best contract and a spot on an NHL club due to being a UFA, he still has that family DNA and will undoubtedly drive a hard bargain for Tallon to get him signed. There is not a lot of NHL history to look at other than what he will do this year and his 11G's from last year. Probably the closest analogy is 27 yr old Nick Foligno who just signed a 6 yr extension at $5.5 per. The guy had never scored over 20 goals in a season, but is on pace for 35 this year. Big guys who can score are a nice combination to have as they play that tough game and tend to not be injured as much. My guess is they should try and sign him for 6 yrs in the $4.5 to $5M area.
Huberdeau???? If this turtle gets over $2.5 for 2 years I will be shocked. Weak on the puck, slow, and little to no shot makes him expendable. He does not fit the team concept of more speed and just doesn't make up for this deficit in other areas. It seems like he is on the ice for 30 seconds and he's raising his stick that he wants off.
He was headed there, but they did sign a deal just before.Hayes went to arbitration for his current contract so he'll definitely be harder to sign
He was headed there, but they did sign a deal just before.
There are guys that play the game for the money only. They have no team loyalty and if they can squeeze an extra few bucks in a deal, they are gone. Nick has his priorities in order. He likes ownership and the direction the club is taking and he is willing to take less to be a part of that. I think he's probably a conservative spender and his philosophy is you can only spend so much in your lifetime and can't take it with you. Besides, if he continues on his present course, his next contract will be a monster. He's an exception to the rule and maybe it's something about MN water, as I can remember Kirby Puckett taking less to stay with the Twins.