Classic Kevin Lowe PR. Textbook. The evening of the gooning he knew he was going to accelerate the process and re sign him and announce it around the spotlight that is tonight, Holland and Tippets wishes be damned. Also, as proof that Kassian is a long term.player, not just some goon. He then floats it out to Spector to get people gabbing about it last week.
All the league is watching the Oilers tonight, this is to be the most attention they get all year nationally, so are going to milk it for every last mention they can get. It's probably also some Oilers alumni milestone from 1985 which they'll make sure all the assembled press knows about.
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Yeah, that last line is key and absolutely true. While I don't think the contract is that crazy giving money and term to a 4th line guy for a career year is just bad business.
Why now? If I was a GM that is one contract I’d gamble on taking into the summer. I guess the oil fans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that Kass will be around for their dynasty rebuild
I like the contract, it’s near half of what Lucic gets paid and three times the output with similar grit.
sure and at the same age Lucic had a cup ring, 4 or 5 25+ goal seasons and approximately twice as many career goals and points as Kassian does now- and his descent since has been well documented..
Odd to read HF right now about it. How is the comparable Ferland? Do they forget who Kassian plays with? On the other hand, Ferland has had a successful career playing with anyone (albeit his most successful with Johnny).
I feel Kassian should give McDavid $5-7k per year of his contract - McDavid has earned it.
So what exactly is the Oilers plan then? Is Kassian a fixture on their top line? If they plan on upgrading their team (which they should) then he won't be playing with McDavid. He'll be back on their 3rd or 4th line (which is where he would be on any decent team), so if that happens how bad is this contract going to look? Or maybe the plan is to keep him on the 1st line for the next few years, which is also terrible news for that team.