Free Agency - Madness I tell you, Madness!
Posted 6:48 PM ET | Comments 0
In my first blog, I'm going to talk about free agency. In my opinion the CAP hasn't really taught GMs anything. They are still overpaying guys and signing players to ridiculous contract terms (8 years for Scott Gomez, 7 for Briere, 6 for Timonen). By the time these guys enter free agency again they will be in their late 30s, early 40s! How do these teams know that these players will be worth the money for their entire contracts! I know that they will pay off early on because Briere and Gomez are impact players, but I wouldn't take a gamble that they will be superstars for 7 years down the road.
I could understand signing a young guy like Sidney Crosby for that length of time, but a guy already close to 30, I think it's madness.
Now that I've ranted about the GMs that I don't think get it, I will talk about the GMs that do get it.
I'm a Canuck fan, so let's analyze what Dave Nonis has done so far. I know that many of us complain about our teams not doing things in the off season when clearly there needs to be something done. As in the case of the Canucks, they need more offense. However, knowing now the gross overpayment of certain free agents, I agree with how Nonis is going about it. He's waiting patiently for the right trade to come along, and not entering the rich world of free agency.
You look at the many teams that have signed players this off season (especially defensemen) they are all getting overpayed - 5 million for Sheldon Souray! - and then you look at the Vancouver Canucks and they have their top 4 defensemen all making 3.5 million. You can take almost 2 of the Canucks d-men and that would add up to Souray's undeserved salary. Nonis has successfully created a d-core that could be the best overall defense in the league and the most budget friendly. (barring any trades of course)
If the CAP was truly working, and every GM got it like Nonis does, teams wouldn't be paying Kimmo Timonen one of the largest D-man salaries in the league.
I could understand signing a young guy like Sidney Crosby for that length of time, but a guy already close to 30, I think it's madness.
Now that I've ranted about the GMs that I don't think get it, I will talk about the GMs that do get it.
I'm a Canuck fan, so let's analyze what Dave Nonis has done so far. I know that many of us complain about our teams not doing things in the off season when clearly there needs to be something done. As in the case of the Canucks, they need more offense. However, knowing now the gross overpayment of certain free agents, I agree with how Nonis is going about it. He's waiting patiently for the right trade to come along, and not entering the rich world of free agency.
You look at the many teams that have signed players this off season (especially defensemen) they are all getting overpayed - 5 million for Sheldon Souray! - and then you look at the Vancouver Canucks and they have their top 4 defensemen all making 3.5 million. You can take almost 2 of the Canucks d-men and that would add up to Souray's undeserved salary. Nonis has successfully created a d-core that could be the best overall defense in the league and the most budget friendly. (barring any trades of course)
If the CAP was truly working, and every GM got it like Nonis does, teams wouldn't be paying Kimmo Timonen one of the largest D-man salaries in the league.