Tuesday, January 15, 2013

T minus 102 hours till puck drop. Still no black guy in sight.

So am I the only one nervous about this whole standoff thing between Bergevin and PK?  I mean, the kid wants a long term deal (let's say 6 yrs) and the Habs would rather give him a 2yr deal to have him cement himself as an elite Dman before they make him the best paid player on the team.  Seems to me like there is plenty of room to negotiate.  Unless of course Bergevin and Meehan take their compromising lessons from Bettman and Fehr.  If that's the case, then expect PK back sometime in April.

Something is definitely fishy.  Does the kid really want to stay here?  If he did, would he not take a 4yr deal? I mean the Habs can't afford to lose him, but I can understand a reluctance to sign him to 6 or even 8 years right away.  Don Meehan has done this often enough to know what the kid is worth and that holding out into the season is bad for everyone.  Maybe there's more to this story.  Perhaps Meehan slept with Bergevin's wife while PK videotaped it and now it's awkward.  Or maybe they all went to see Django together and Bergevin got carried away and started dropping N-Bombs.  Because if everything was honky dory, there's no way it would take this long.

If this was a regular year with a full camp and endless preseason games, I wouldn't be freaking, but is this guy supposed to sign and suit up the next day without so much as a full practice?  I know black guys are way better athletes but this might be pushing it!

I guess this is Bergevin's first test.  Don't fuck this up buddy, or you'll see how fast we'll all turn on you.  And as long as I'm giving advice, how about we don't wait so long to sign the guys we all know are cornerstones of the franchise.

Just sign him.  Now.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Problem with 4 years, is that it brings him right to UFA, so that's probably out of the question from the Habs POV.

A-Rab said...

So you give him an extension during his last year. What is it about this team that makes them allergic to resigning players before the very last second?

WhereIsMyBestFriendSteve? said...

I don't think you can count on an extension before the contract is over. What if the player isn't happy, doesn't like the coach or perhaps wants to go play with his bother?

You need to either do long term, 6 years, like with Skinner, Eberle, Hall, or you need to cut it off before UFA so that you can have the player's rights to at least trade.

Steve said...

I say lock him up. But if he wants a 6 year deal its going to be ave 4 mill a year. If he sticks with the Habs 3 contract schedule he might sign his third at between 5 and 6 per year. Or he may be only interested in the highest salary he can make and wants to be a UFA.

The UFA senario could be the hangup, because at 28 he might be looking at 10 mill a year.

At this point he is losing my affection, he should suck it up and even if its a one year deal be playing hockey.