Quote:
Originally Posted by the_only_turek_fan
Matt Stajan @ 3.125M >>>> Dubinsky @ 5.85M.
This makes the Stajan contract look really good.
This deal is almost Bobby Holik bad.
|
Brandon Dubisnky is a much better hockey player than Matt Stajan. Plays hard minutes, plays all roles, and does them successfully.
Sure, Stajan gets hard match-ups, but he gets absolutely buried in them. Meanwhile, Dubinsky is battling Sidney Crosby successfully.
This is just the norm now. We have to come to grips with it. Good, effective centres get PAID. They're so hard to acquire, that they have to be retained when you do have them.
...the awesome thing about this is we have organizational depth at centre. Finally.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ricardodw
This contract makes 3/4 centre Stajan look like a huge over payment.
|
Exactly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by the_only_turek_fan
He has scored 20 goals only twice in his career and his career high is 24.
If Backlund scores 20 this year after 18 last year, does that make him a $5M+ player?
 |
Pretty much. If Backlund repeats, or improves, he'll land himself a $4M+ contract. Anything less will be a HUGE hometown discount. In the next few years we're going to see all 1st line centres making in excess of 9M with elite centres making 10M+, 2nd line centres will be making 5-7M and 3rd line centres will bring home 4-5M. The Toews deal is the new benchmark, not the Crosby or Malkin deals.