Friday, March 15, 2013

David & Goliath. New deal for Desharnais, Tinordi gets his shot

Earlier today, Marc Bergevin signed David Desharnais to a 4yr/$14M contract.  On any other day, I would say this is too much money and too much term for the Gary Coleman of the NHL.  But I guess I have no choice but to give our GM the benefit of the doubt.  His team is in first place.  His socks are extra colorful.  His coach seems to really have his finger on the pulse of the team and wants the kid around.  And we all know Max Pacioretty loves playing with him.   I mean, when Desharnais is on his game, he's well worth it.  We've seen him set up great plays and center our best line for an entire season last year while putting up 60 points.  But we've also seen him disappear in the first 12 games of this season.  So we obviously won't be able to truly judge this deal for a little while.  Personally, it's not so much the 3.5M salary that bothers me but the 4 year term.  He's either gonna be a steal in those last 2 years or a Kaberle.  One thing for sure is that he will never give us a half-ass effort.  The guy has had to work his balls off to get here and I don't think he's gonna start sitting on his laurels out of nowhere.  Besides, he has no laurels.  He's laurel-free.  What he does have is the confidence of the 2 hockey minds driving this ship.  He also has a captain with a wealth of knowledge on what it takes for a dwarf to make it in this league.

Another major variable to consider when judging this move is the development of Lars Eller.  If he keeps progressing like he is, he will make Desharnais expendible.  And by then, his contract will either be an attractive asset to another team or an anchor.  We should know that 12 months from now when Eller will be up for a new deal.

I'm sure you've also heard that bizarro Desharnais, Jarred Tinordi, has been called up.  He and his 6'7" frame will get their first NHL start in Jersey tomorrow.  I think we're all curious as hell to see what he's become after some time in Hamilton.  He's definitely a big piece of our blue line puzzle.  Little known fact: It's the same Jarred that lost 500lbs on the Subway diet.

Also, I would like all of you to stop referring to David Desharnais as DD.  I think about tits enough as it is.


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