nickm

I was talking to a friend of mine at work yesterday. He's a Leaf fan (I live in Toronto) and he was telling me he's not surprised the Leafs are collapsing, its typical and in his opinion, the team is built to fail. What he said has pissed him off the most this season is not how bad the Leafs are failing now, but how bad Montreal is doing. And here's why: He said the Habs are better than their record is showing. They are hurting in the goal-scoring department, but have remained competitive with a solid defensive core to build upon. They'll strike gold with a top 3 pick this year, adding a dynamic talent to the roster, plug a few holes in free-agency, figure out the front office situation over the summer and will be right back in the playoffs next season. No decade long rebuild, just a fluke season that catapults them back around. He also agreed that Carey Price is a stud and if the Leafs had him, they'd be a top 4 team in the East. Whether or not I agree with that last part, I do agree with him in regards our team's outlook. I dug a little deeper into his theory, too. This year, the Habs have 18 losses/OT losses by 1 goal. 1 measly goal. They also have 7 2-goal losses where the 2nd goal was an empty netter. Thats a team thats right in the game until the bitter end, almost all season long. One or two scorers added (and a top 3 pick will be one of them) plus we get Gionta back healthy next season, that is another 25 goals and leadership. Factor in maybe even Markov on the PP and our record switches around. I know the NHL will add an amnesty clause because too many teams are saddled with bad contracts for the owners to shoot down the idea and bye bye Gomez. All of a sudden, we've got some solid cap space to work with again, with prospects on the horizon. Looking at things like that, it makes it a little easier to accept such a miserable season. Still disappointing. I don't know if you agree with me, but thanks for reading. Cheers!

I think the Ruutu signing in Carolina has set the bar on AK's next contract. I'm sure his agent has taken notice. AK is a couple of years younger than Ruutu, but both play a similar game and have career numbers that nearly match. Ruutu is more physical, AK has better scoring touch. Both players are giving you an average of 18-20 goals, 40-50 points, 125+ hits. With Ruutu signing a 4 year extension with a 4.75 mil cap average, I think we've seen the market for Kostitsyn set right there. While I like AK at what he makes now, I'm sorry but no. I let him walk at that amount. Hopefully PG has noticed what it could conceivably cost him to keep Andrei around.