Quote:
Originally Posted by Anduril
Who else would you have put that 4.5M towards?
C Helm 3.85 x5
RW Ladd 5.5 x7
LW Lucic 6 x7
C Nielsen 5.25 x6
LW Perron 3.75 x2
C Backes 6 x5
RW Eriksson 6 x6
RW Okposo 6 x7
RW Brouwer 4.5 x4
C Staal 3.5 x3
LW McGinn 3.3 x3
LW Boedker 4 x4
The list goes on but massively overpaying for slightly better players (50-60pts in Ladd and Okposo) is something I'm glad we avoided. You could point to players like Perron and Radulov as signing some great contracts but chances are they went to those teams specifically.
Given the context of how last season went, the weaknesses we had was getting another top 6 RW and Brouwer has been consistently a guy who could play throughout the top 9 while providing physicality and leadership. Like Elliot, it was a move that hasn't paid off but easy to fault it given the short time frame.
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Just because you have cap room doesn't mean you have to go out and spend all of it that offseason. You pay a premium for UFAs, that will never change. I just don't like the overpayment on a depth RW on a contender. Now we have almost 9M tied up in your 2nd and 3rd line RW. The 4.5 could have been used this summer to go after a #4 D and something else could have been done to try and fill the #1 RW and #3 RW. I think he will have a bounce back second half but this is as good as it gets as far as where he is in his career. This one deal isn't going to make or break the Cap and this team needs leadership but there are cheaper options for a 3rd line RW.