ScaredStreit
Registered User
Not exactly fair. It's not too often a core player makes it to UFA to begin with. Zach Parise and Ryan Suter are two recent ones, under some unique circumstances, but most teams lock up core players and allow others to walk (or be traded, like Phil Kessel from BOS, for example).
Snow's done an amazing job of locking up certain players - like Bailey, Okposo, Grabner, Tavares, Hamonic, Fransie AND a really nice job on shorter term deals to guys like Strait, Hickey and Visnovsky and Nabby.
Walkers like Jason Blake, Ryan Smyth, PA Parenteau, Mark Streit, Brad Boyes - won't cry too much for these guys.
We'll see what becomes of Moulson and MacDonald. I'd like both signed but at a price. Imagine we kept Parenteau and Streit on 4 year deals and then have Strome, Nelson & Donovan (maybe Reinhart and Pulock!) coming off ELCs and no money to sign them? (budget/cap doesn't matter)
The Leafs bought out Grabovski and had just pennies left for Kadri and Franson, two key players, and an unmovable JM Liles in the AHL and still on the cap.
There's no point in having cap-space if it's never used.
Plus it sounds like you're all ready to pencil in Nelson, Strome and Donovan as successes. I'm not saying none of them will be-but if they all reach "potential"-we'll be lucky. Remember when everyone thought that Nilsson and Tambo were future 1st liners? Yeah me too.