My younger brother says that my blog is boring and I ought to talk more about sports, since sports are more interesting than politics. I don't entirely disagree, on the latter part anyway. So...
On the first day of free agency, the Predators re-signed two of their biggest unrestricted free agents, Steve Sullivan and Joel Ward. Steve Sullivan got a huge new deal, $7.5 million for two years. It sounds like a lot, but reportedly it's less than what he wanted. He let everyone know by proclaiming on Twitter that his house was not for sale. Some will inevitably complain that we're overpaying, but there's no doubt that Sully is the heart and soul of the team. No one expected much from him when he returned to the ice in February after missing two years of play from a back injury, but he immediately contributed an offense and lit a fire under the team. He's got nine lives, and he still wants to prove everyone wrong. And I have no doubt he will.
Re-signing Joel Ward was just as critical. He was solid on offense although he hadn't had much playing time before this past season, and I believe next season is going to be a breakout year for him.
The Preds lost two players to the free agency--Greg Zanon to the Wild and Vernon Fiddler to the Coyotes. Losing Fiddler is certainly going to hurt a little. I'd like for the Preds to sign one more forward, especially since they went very D-heavy in the draft. Next year's free agency is going to be incredibly painful compared to this one, when Jason Arnott and Martin Erat's contracts are up (my take: let Erat go, move heaven and earth to re-sign Arnott).
But in the meantime, the Predators are back and WILL be in the playoffs next year!
2 comments:
Yes, but the Hawks signed Marian Hossa to a 12-year deal! (12???)
He's good and it's a great signing for them, but yes, 12 does seem excessive.
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