Quote:
Originally Posted by Tinordi
Why do we care that three years from now it exists? We should be very clear that this team is taking at least a three year walk in the woods. Be under no illusions that by year four Stajan will still not be holding any players back. And even if he is, we trade him or waive him. There's really no downside to the extra year and some possible upside. That upside is that we get a dependable guy that can play tough minutes and shield developing players.
I think what many people are getting hung up on is that Stajan is somehow preventing some other player to come in and play better. But the reality is that it is extremely unlikely we could replace Stajan with a better UFA at this kind of contract, and not only that, that we could attract a single decent UFA center at all.
Hey come to Calgary, where the only team we're better than is the Oilers! If you think that attracting even UFAs like Boyd Gordon is a problem limited to Edmonton than I think these next 3 years is going to be a rude awakening.
So getting back to the point, here we have a bird in the hand. Sure he isn't great, I personally don't like him as a player at all, but he's definitely above replacement, playing a position we are terminally thin in, and he has hundreds of games of experience. That's something. That's someone you hold on to because it would actually be a stretch to think that we could sign a person that wouldn't be an even more ridiculous contract that would replace him even-steven on the ice.
|
First bold: because three years from now the Flames will still be operating an NHL team and trying to build the best team possible. Why would we
not care?
Second bold: I never said he was holding anyone back - that is not how it works in the NHL. If someone is better, they will replace him. That isn't the point at all.
The point is flexibility. Imagine a scenario whereby they want to trade him next year. Maybe they draft Reinhart, who goes gangbusters, and Knight settles nicely into a 3rd line role (or whatever).
Now, they want to move Stajan. But he has 4 years remaining on his contract.
That would make him difficult to move.
Term matters. You can't just not care about it, or pretend it doesn't matter. Well, you can, but it wouldn't make for a good argument.