It was inevitable. I write about quite and lazy GMs and first thing they turn around and sign, sign, sign.
While I was certainly wrong about Kovalev, his contract has now taken $5 million from the expected spend of the NHL teams with money. That's more than I'd expected. I'd think it was more than Kovalev expected.
Was it desperation?
Certainly was. And no one can blame Bryan Murray for being desperate. his team is falling apart before his eyes. two years after competing for the Stanley Cup he has lost the star goalie that took hi there and looks to lose his most lethal shooter to bouts of supreme vanity (and possibly insanity).
When player development goes this wrong you look for help wherever you can get it. And Kovalev will help. He'll help immensely. And who am I to say they overpaid ever so slightly. As a Habs fan I need to keep my mouth shut on matters like that.
In another unsurprising signing, the player who was said to be the second defenceman on the market this summer (by RDS, of course, healthy grain of salt and all that) is finally signed. Another cross-division rival swooped in here. Now Brian Burke has not only picked the player Ottawa supposedly wanted at the draft, he has signed the defenceman Gainey supposedly wanted to sign and now the one the media desperately wanted Gainey to sign. If only Niklas Hagman wasn't slayted to be on the top PP, this spiteful game might look like good sense.
Now I like Beauchemin enough, and would have been happy to sign him up. But he's not perfect. Two seasons ago, he put up the worst +/- on the Ducks (defending champion Ducks). This year he only played in 20 games, yet still managed to be on the ice for 31 goals against. My friend Spacek was on for 84 against, but then he played 80 games. Oh, he also scored 45 points. I'm reasonably certain I agree with Gainey on this call, though, I'd have been glad with Beauchemin over Gill.
Finally, on quite a day for former Habs, Chris Higgins was signed. Higgins!
Rememeber when we thought we would get this guy on a deal because he change mandate as a player. Well, according to the reports, even Chris Higgins - he of 50% the scoring of his previous contract gets a raise. It is the Rangers. But then again, it is precisely because that this is the Rangers that they should be scrounging every penny to keep for a centre to supplant Drury as #1. Or maybe that's why they signed Corey Locke?
No comments:
Post a Comment