Quote:
Originally Posted by The Cobra
But I don't believe Stephan is that good. A first line centre getting 50-55 points with lots of PP time is a recipe for losing, much like Stajan was for Calgary when he was a first line centre.
That production does not equate to winning anything other than being a marginal playoff team.
At a $6.5M cap hit for 5 more years, I don't call that a valuable package.
And I think that is where we'll have to agree to disagree.
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It's Stepan BTW, not Stephan.
If you think Stepan = Stajan I'm not sure what else to say. Pretty clear he's better than Stajan has ever been. And the Rangers with him have experienced a lot more success with him playing a major role than the Flames did with Stajan playing a major role.
ARI may never be a cap team so Stepan being overpaid by a 1-1.5 million doesn't really hurt them as much as it would other teams.
They don't need Stepan to be a #1 centre for that entire contract, he isn't really a true #1 centre. Their #1 centre is likely to be one of Dvorak or Dylan Strome within 2 years. And those kids will likely be modestly paid for a good chunk of Stepan's contract thus making his salary not a huge issue. Stepan is a nice compliment to the high skill of their young centres Dvorak, Strome and Keller.
Stepan makes sense for ARI, helps shelter those kids early in their career, be a role model, provide leadership. ARI can afford to have him overpaid.
Am I not making some sense here?
