I don't think your agreement with punkrOx makes much sense if you agree with Hoppe.
punkrOx is arguing that the Leino we saw last season is who he is. That he dropped back to his NHL "norm" last season. Hoppe isn't saying that all. He's saying Leino isn't a #1 center. But that even though Leino is already a proven playoff performer he is still "green" as an NHLer and thats hard to remember because of his age and playoff success. In Hoppe's mind Leino is a 18g 45pts complimentary piece. None of that is arguing that Leino of last year is who he is. Nevermind the fact that its awfully tough to argue a NHL "norm" for Leino yet. Not enough data.
He ends by saying Leino needs to improve or he may get bought out. Well I think everyone, including Leino, would agree that he needs to improve.
What I'm curious to see is if Regier's reputation for not acknowledging mistakes of judgement cancels out the new CBA amnesty provision to buy Leino - or others - out. Pegula gushed over Leino when the signing happened so he too may not be willing to pull the plug on the experiment this summer, even if Leino has another poor campaign.
I'm curious what constitutes enough production from Leino for folks to not want to buy him out. Because many posters that rip him seem to think he has a ridiculously high cap hit. Its certainly overpayment for what he's done so far but its only 104th in the NHL. Tied with 20 other players for this season and obviously will go down as more players signe for next season. He also has his salary drop to 4mil or less for the next 4 season which is below his cap hit.
I certainly expect more from him but I fail to see the urgency many have with buying him out. We're not talking about a ridiculous contract like Gomez' or Redden's. Leino has the ability to play near the value of his deal unlike the other two, particularly if we make the playoffs and he plays well.