oh god
why tie yourself to Justin Abdelkader for such a ridiculous length of time?
and I still don't get why now instead of later in the season or the offseason for less money after he puts up like a 10 goal season
The only thing that could be worse for the team is if we learned Larkin got hit by a train and died
I legitimately LOL'ed at this.
What I don't understand is why the **** this deal needed to be done now. Abdelkader has returned to the mean for the past month. Why the hell wouldn't you wait a few more months and see if Abdelkader isn't sitting there with 12 points in 30 games or something? Does Holland really think Abdelkader is all of a sudden going to bust open and look poised for a 50 point season? What the hell was the rush?
Nothing about Abdelkader's play really indicates that he has regressed from last season. He looks exactly the same. He may not score 23 goals this year but he'll 99% be at 15+. If he plays the top line with Z and Dats his production may shoot up even more. There's little reason to think this year will lower his value.What I don't understand is why the **** this deal needed to be done now. Abdelkader has returned to the mean for the past month. Why the hell wouldn't you wait a few more months and see if Abdelkader isn't sitting there with 12 points in 30 games or something? Does Holland really think Abdelkader is all of a sudden going to bust open and look poised for a 50 point season? What the hell was the rush?
Gross. Not sure why he got more then Beleskey got this summer as a FA.
Nothing about Abdelkader's play really indicates that he has regressed from last season. He looks exactly the same. He may not score 23 goals this year but he'll 99% be at 15+. If he plays the top line with Z and Dats his production may shoot up even more. There's little reason to think this year will lower his value.
A 50 point season would mean this is a steal. People have ridiculous expectations of what you get for 4 million in this league today.
7 years is the only downside to this deal. But keep in mind that 7 years is a long time, a lot can happen, not only to Abdelkader's play but to the league. Expansion, increase salary cap, lockouts etc. And with the contract we have coming off the books in that timeframe I see very little risk that a 4.25m cap hit becomes some huge anchor. Even the Weiss deal wasn't all that problematic to get rid of.
David Clarkson 2.0, I mean just awful in every way , to much money and way to much term for a third liner.
I just feel that Dekeyser can be paid for mostly by the money currently tied up in Quincey/Kindl. Tatar, Larkin and Mrazek should all be reasonably cost-controlled in the near-term. Howard could be traded if we can't afford to re-sign Mrazek without it. Datsyuk likely isn't around for long, that's a big chunk of money that we will not invest in a 1:1 replacement, it will be distributed around the lineup. Zetterberg is probably gone by the time Larkin is ready to make big money.And then you want to talk about the contracts coming off the books? Well how about raises for Dekeyser, Tatar, Larkin, Mrazek, and anyone else who decides to elevate their game?
Nothing about Abdelkader's play really indicates that he has regressed from last season. He looks exactly the same. He may not score 23 goals this year but he'll 99% be at 15+. If he plays the top line with Z and Dats his production may shoot up even more. There's little reason to think this year will lower his value.
A 50 point season would mean this is a steal. People have ridiculous expectations of what you get for 4 million in this league today.
7 years is the only downside to this deal. But keep in mind that 7 years is a long time, a lot can happen, not only to Abdelkader's play but to the league. Expansion, increase salary cap, lockouts etc. And with the contract we have coming off the books in that timeframe I see very little risk that a 4.25m cap hit becomes some huge anchor. Even the Weiss deal wasn't all that problematic to get rid of.