Timonen, Hamhuis, Suter...the list goes on and on. Weber was supposed to be the big UFA next summer, but not anymore. Still, Kevin Klein (one of our veteran D since our team is so young) will be hitting UFA. He is hardly an all-star, but with the string of weak UFA classes lately, he will certainly draw interest.
I have never been his biggest supporter, but he looked amazing in that Detroit series. I am not sure we win it without him. Josi, Blum, and Ellis, our three young blue-chippers, are all offensive, so having a steady defensive D to pair with them is key. Klein fits that role.
He is signed to a phenomenal deal, and will obviously get a raise. What do you expect his new contract to be? Do you want to sign him to a one or two year deal to see if he can keep up his playoff performance, or sign him for four, five, or even more to be sure he is locked up here. When do you want to see him signed?
Personally, if I am David Poile, I offer him a 4 years at 2.5 million dollars each deal today. If he won't accept, I would probably go 3mil for 3 years. As we keep losing our guys to free agency, we need to be sure the same does not happen to Klein. Sign him now Poile!
I don't see Klein going anywhere, but, then again, I figured if one of the big three left it would be Weber.
I think he would sign here for $3m per year, and that would be fair. Give him a six year deal, too, since he has shown the ability to play consistently.
If he were a UFA this offseason, I could have easily seen him get offered something in the $4-$4.5 range from someone desperate like DET or PHI. That said, maybe I'm naive, but I think Kleiner really loves Nashville and the Preds. I think Poile re-signs him to a 3-4 year deal by the deadline in the $3-$3.5 range and everyone goes home happy.
Klein already took his 'prove it" contract. he will be looking for big cake next summer...
if he has a good season this year he will command 4 mil per x 5-7 years, at a minimum... young defensemen are always at a premium in the UFA market
if poile can lock him him up for 3.5 mil or less... bravo... if not, we will see how the youth progress... if there is a cheaper version of him just around the corner he may go the way of young hamhuis...
My how times have changed. But Klein has indeed gotten better. He deserves a good pay raise. Hopefully he stays with the Preds for quite a while longer.
If Poile offers that now, if Im Klein I think very hard about going ahead and taking the bird in the hand... but if he has a really solid season, theres no way he takes that without at least taking a look at other teams offers as a UFA
He is easily worth 4/year on the UFA market, but I'm hoping by offering a longer term and a market he is comfortable with, we can keep him at 3.5 or less.
anywhere around 4 million per and i pass... if poile laid a contract of 5 years 17 million on the table, klein would be all on it. I'm pretty confident in that
Jim Diamond from the Nashville Examiner caught up with Kevin Klein at the SkOTU tonight. Klein welcomed a second son into the World this summer with his wife Jody and has been back in town for most of the summer training and spending time with his family. He has nothing, but good things to say about the team, the area, and his hopes to get a new deal done to keep him here...
Jim Diamond from the Nashville Examiner caught up with Kevin Klein at the SkOTU tonight. Klein welcomed a second son into the World this summer with his wife Jody and has been back in town for most of the summer training and spending time with his family. He has nothing, but good things to say about the team, the area, and his hopes to get a new deal done to keep him here...
Figured. He doesn't even show up when we agree to pay him $110 mil, why would he unless he has to?
To be fair, his girl lives there along with his family, and this summer in particular he has a wedding to plan. Not to mention I'd want to be as far away from what could be contentious contract negotiations as I could be, too. If I'm going to be playing for a team for the rest of my career I don't want to be in the middle of all of that and potentially ruin relationships (especially after last summer). Also, a lot of guys go home during the off season.
I think Klein sticks around. He has been under the radar playing behind Weber and Suter. The only time he's really stuck out to the hockey world was during the playoffs this past year. If he has a great year and signs a short term contract here I think we start worrying about him bolting for the FA market.
To be fair, his girl lives there along with his family, and this summer in particular he has a wedding to plan. Not to mention I'd want to be as far away from what could be contentious contract negotiations as I could be, too. If I'm going to be playing for a team for the rest of my career I don't want to be in the middle of all of that and potentially ruin relationships (especially after last summer). Also, a lot of guys go home during the off season.
Lol @ wedding planning as a reason he couldn't show up for even one day.
Lol @ wedding planning as a reason he couldn't show up for even one day.
You can laugh all you want to, but who are we to judge a guy for spending his off season where he spent the rest of his life before coming here? His job is to show up to camp in shape, and live up to his expectations on the ice. Why are we grasping for reasons to be pissed off all summer? It seems like we've had enough legitimate ones without piling on. Maybe being around to help out with his wedding is a silly reason. I don't know. I've never planned one. But I'd rather give someone the benefit of the doubt for doing what he wants to do with his personal time than try to paint him as a selfish person for doing exactly what most of us would do.
For Klein, anything between $3m and $3.5m is reasonable. Although, the only thing we have to base those numbers off of is the cap over the most recent seasons. If a new CBA reduces the cap salaries will be rolled back, and $3.5m looks like more money all of the sudden. I'm not saying you don't still do it to keep him, just throwing it out there.
You can laugh all you want to, but who are we to judge a guy for spending his off season where he spent the rest of his life before coming here? His job is to show up to camp in shape, and live up to his expectations on the ice. Why are we grasping for reasons to be pissed off all summer? It seems like we've had enough legitimate ones without piling on. Maybe being around to help out with his wedding is a silly reason. I don't know. I've never planned one. But I'd rather give someone the benefit of the doubt for doing what he wants to do with his personal time than try to paint him as a selfish person for doing exactly what most of us would do.
For Klein, anything between $3m and $3.5m is reasonable. Although, the only thing we have to base those numbers off of is the cap over the most recent seasons. If a new CBA reduces the cap salaries will be rolled back, and $3.5m looks like more money all of the sudden. I'm not saying you don't still do it to keep him, just throwing it out there.
AMEN!!! I wonder if it was o.k. with everyone for him to have been at home a couple of summers ago when his mom was dying? If he wants a car brought out onto the ice to transport him to the airport seconds after he holds THE CUP up at The Bridge, that would be fine with me.
You can laugh all you want to, but who are we to judge a guy for spending his off season where he spent the rest of his life before coming here? His job is to show up to camp in shape, and live up to his expectations on the ice. Why are we grasping for reasons to be pissed off all summer? It seems like we've had enough legitimate ones without piling on. Maybe being around to help out with his wedding is a silly reason. I don't know. I've never planned one. But I'd rather give someone the benefit of the doubt for doing what he wants to do with his personal time than try to paint him as a selfish person for doing exactly what most of us would do.
I have no problem with him leaving for the offseason. I never said I did, nor did I say I was pissed off.
It does rub me the wrong way that he can't (won't is more accurate) travel here for even just half a day to express his appreciation for the commitment to 14 years/$110 mil. I heard that he had prior engagements the day of the SOTU, and I would be willing to bet ownership tried to work this around his schedule to get him here. I think he could have taken one day off of his greuling wedding planning schedule to show his appreciation if he really wanted to be here. It shows a lot to me about his feelings about this team and the contract situation. Of course he knew there was a chance we would match, as ownership said we would match any offer...but I think he was surprised we were able to. I'd be willing to bet his agent said "There's no way Nashville can match this". I know it's not personal against Nashville. Shea wants to be on a cap team, period. So far we have not shown we will be anything close to that. He would have rather played in Philly or he wouldn't have signed the sheet. Anyone saying he signed it to stay here is wearing blinders. I think Shea made a great decision for his long term financial future as did the Preds for theirs.
"Business, always business" - The Wire anyone?
All that said, I will have NO concerns with him once the puck is dropped and he will always be my favorite player as long as he is here. I don't blame him at all for signing the sheet, anyone would have taken that contract. I agree he can do whatever he wants and has no obligation to come here, I just think it would have been the right thing to do.
I applaud the owners for the match.
Ok Im done. Sorry to hijack Klein's thread.
Klein is beyond solid, he doesn't deserve the hate he gets from fans. Of course there have been some bad plays from time to time, everyone makes mistakes, I think Klein's have just been glaring obvious ones. Good player and I hope we keep him around.
to show his appreciation if he really wanted to be here. It shows a lot to me about his feelings about this team and the contract situation. Of course he knew there was a chance we would match, as ownership said we would match any offer...but I think he was surprised we were able to. I'd be willing to bet his agent said "There's no way Nashville can match this". I know it's not personal against Nashville. Shea wants to be on a cap team, period. So far we have not shown we will be anything close to that. He would have rather played in Philly or he wouldn't have signed the sheet. Anyone saying he signed it to stay here is wearing blinders. I think Shea made a great decision for his long term financial future as did the Preds for theirs.
