Damien Cox (high school must have been fun for him) over at The Star rips the Rangers for once again overpaying, this time with Marc Staal..."Moreover, Staal had no real leverage with the Rangers. No offer sheet or a realistic expectation of one. No rival league. No arbitration rights.
But they paid up anyway, ostensibly to lock Staal up and obviously believing there's greater upside to his game, particularly his offensive game, than has been demonstrated so far.
Hey, he may have Rozsival-like potential."
...Cox is 100% right in criticizing the Rangers for grossly overspending on players such as Drury, Gomez, Rozsival and obviously Reddden, but I'm sorry he has no idea what he's talking about if he thinks Staal was just overpaid....Cox is showing his true Canadian anti-Ranger bias with this drivel. I'd be shocked if he even watched Staal play a full game last season. To say the Rangers best defenseman (which I guess isn't saying much) doesn't deserve $3.9 million per is just ignorant. It's not always about offensive numbers. Look at Orpik, he's making $3.75 million per year and scored just 2 goals to Staal's 8 last year. If Staal is overpaid what does that make Orpik in Cox's world?
...h/t to reader John D. for the link.
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19 comments:
i guarantee is ray shero of pittsburgh gave the contract, the entire canadian media would be saying its the greatest move in the history of the nhl. I dont care what kind of leverage staal didnt have, he deserved to get paid and not have a holdout
Agreed 100%.
The contracts fine and completely in line relative to other D contracts in the league, unlike stupid Reddens.
Speaking of which, Brooks in the post was saying how Redden wasn't making himself available 2 Media following informal workouts.
What an complete and utter lack of character and self-pride. Its hard to believe this clowns a professional athlete.
You would think he would say how he was embarrassed by his play and was going to do his darndest to justify his ridiculous contract. But no, its the same sense of entitlement an"poor me" attitiude.
I cannot see this slug go away fast enough.
I'm not sure if it's pro-Canadian/anti-Rangers or he's just an idiot. Even Leafs fans hate this guy.
Staal is getting what he should get. He is the Rangers best defensemen with no arguement. He plays well over 20 minutes a game. He plays against the other teams best players every game. And he brings all the necessary intangibles to the table. If you watch his skating and skills there is absolutely potential for him to be a 50 point guy. It's well noted that Bobby Orr has predicted he'll be a good offensive player - I'm pretty sure Bobby Orr is a better judge of this than some guy who sits behind a typewriter all day. On top of that if you look at what Defensemen get paid these days he's right in line with what a guy at his level get. This easily could end up being a bargain in a few years.
If you want to say Redden, Drury, and Roszival are overpaid that is fine - but this deal makes sense and is a significant symbol of a team finally trying to build the right way for a change.
Shocking to say but other than the Boogaard deal Sather had a phenomenal summer.
btw If I was Redden I'd want to keep a low profile too. There's absolutely ZERO good that he could do by talking to the media. Just doing his best to compete for a spot is what he should do. It isn't his fault that Sather was the only person on the planet that thought his deal made any kind of sense.
I totally agree that Cox has no idea what he's talking about. Even if the NYR overpaid slightly--and I don't think they did--but even if they overpaid, this is the time that I would be ok with it. With a young player like Staal, who the Rangers see as a long-term building block (rightly so), a contract that is favorable to him helps ensure he feels loyalty when he has more leverage down the road. How hard would the next negotiation be if Staal felt shafted on this one?
In reality, this contract is not only reasonable, it will look like an absolute steal in a year or two, as Staal continues to get better and salary inflation continues as it has--at a rate buoyed by UFA contracts that generally exceed most players' true value.
With the miserable showing the Leafs have had lately you would think this guy would have more important things to worry about. The Rangers signed their best defenseman to a 5 year deal totally in line with his performance and expected growth. To compare it with the bloated Redden and Drury contracts is ludicrous.
Just because Staal isn't Redden, he brings all the right qualities to the team, plays valuable minutes, etc, doesn't mean that Cox is wrong. We aren't looking at other teams comparisons to justify our own mistake. Staal had no offer sheet, no leverage, and no other alternative. If Slats was going to give the kid 5 years, he should have given less yearly salary in exchange for the security. Don't get me wrong, I love some Marc Staal, but this was not shrewd negotiating and when cap space is such a valuable commodity, the front office needs to start making some room any way they can. Does Stall deserve this money, yes, unquestionably, but was it a good deal for the Rangers? Not quite
People actually read the Star?
Anonymous,
I see what you're saying, but the reality of the cap situation is that Rangers can wipe Redden's bloated salary by demoting him. Apart from Drury and probably Rozy (whose UFA contract I maintain isn't totally off-market when he's on his game), the Rangers contracts are mostly on par with the league (jury is still out on the Boogeyman). That pretty much disarms completely the salary cap space argument you're making. Bottom line is this: $4mill for a young top-pairing dman is not even slightly exorbitant, no matter what mistakes the Rangers have made in the past.
Also, if you're going to assert such strong opinions, how about doing so with a name attached instead of from the veiled "anonymous" nom de plume? Then the rest of us can call you out when you're proven wrong--or right!
Cox is a twit, as he has proven time and time again with his columns and idiotic tweeting.
He has the credibility of one of the bums who sleep in Penn Station.
Over at tsn.ca, half of the reader comments say Rangers overpaid once again...Staal's a 3rd pair D-men.
Even on the Kovalchoke fiasco, some say the Rangers signing of Redden, Drury, Gomez caused today's salary circumvention contracts.
LMAO, I hear "blah blah blah".
Please, Redden is keeping a low profile because he doesn't have the character or fortitude to face tough questions.
i repeat, this was a very reasonable deal.. this choch over at the Star needs to shut the fu#$ up
yeah, Staal's a third pair defenseman.....and Sidney Crosby doesn't dive. I think the Rangers UNDERpaid for Staal, based on the length of his deal. Staal's UFA status would have brought him an even bigger payday no matter what the Rangers would have paid him if they wanted to drop the hammer on Staal. I would've thought they would've had to give him $4.5M a year. He's arguably the #1 defensive defenseman in the league, so I guess some of these morons on tsn.ca think that you should only get paid this sort of money if you're Sheldon Souray.
Someone has to play Devil's advocate.
For the record, I am Canadian and I love the Rangers!
(I also happen to agree with the contract Staal just signed)
kcmin... how would any of sather's signings have anything to do with cap circumvention? that makes 0 sense
chris,
I agree with you. My point is - many things you online read is drivel. Everyone has an opinion, blog or reader comments, but it's all subjective. And people either love the Rangers or hate the Rangers.
I think, other than the Boogaard contract, the Rangers finally smartened up this summer and actually signed reasonable contracts.
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