I stand by my original thoughts that he should get a 3M-3.25M max offer from the Hawks for 2 or 3 years, take it or leave it. Even that deal scares me with his age, but he's not worth more. If some team wants to give him more, let them. I loved Hejda last offseason but he got way overpaid so you had to let Colorado have him.
I agree. Although 3.5 would be Ok for 2 years.
I think they should see if there any takers for Hammer too, Olsen can fill his role.
He needs to pick up his play if he wants to get paid by someone. He is not doing himself any favors in the playoffs. Anything north of $2.5MM and let him walk.
Bowman isn't going to sign Oduya to a Tallon contract. He's crashed and burned the last 8-10 games. If he can't continue the play he did right after the Trade Deadline than sayonara, Johnny O.
Smart money says he will not re-sign. And it won't be his choice. Not for that amount of money anyway.
Why would management want to tie up two 'solid' d-men (Hjalmarsson and Oduya) for $7.5m? That's a lot of money tied up in two unspectacular but very solid guys. I would think it will be easier to find a free agent for around $1m per.
Just a few names come to mind (keep in mind these guys current salaries vary but I am assuming they will command around $1m or a hair more for 2012-13):
Mike Lundin
Randy Jones
Nicklas Grossman
Sheldon Souray
Sami Salo
Jason Garrison
And before you kill me over the guys I named I am only trying to point out I would much rather have a steady, reliable, smooth-skating d-man for an ecocomical price and use the money saved for another scorer or for the trade deadline.
Grossmann signed a 4 year extension with Philly @ 3.5 mil per season. I think we're getting to the point where even servicable players will get north of 3 mil per. The cap has gone up that much.
Smart money says he will not re-sign. And it won't be his choice. Not for that amount of money anyway.
Why would management want to tie up two 'solid' d-men (Hjalmarsson and Oduya) for $7.5m? That's a lot of money tied up in two unspectacular but very solid guys. I would think it will be easier to find a free agent for around $1m per.
Just a few names come to mind (keep in mind these guys current salaries vary but I am assuming they will command around $1m or a hair more for 2012-13):
Mike Lundin
Randy Jones
Nicklas Grossman
Sheldon Souray
Sami Salo
Jason Garrison
And before you kill me over the guys I named I am only trying to point out I would much rather have a steady, reliable, smooth-skating d-man for an ecocomical price and use the money saved for another scorer or for the trade deadline.
Jason Garrison for just a hair north of 1 m? Are you nuts? If you want any Defensemen halfway decent in UFA be prepared to pay at least 3.5 million.
Whoops! Sorry about Grossman. And Garrison had a damn good season too. I pulled up a list of FA D and just listed the first 5 or 6 I saw that made around $1m per.
With the way Bowman is running this team, I'm sure he wants to give Olsen a shot to be a regular.
Well last year, we signed veterans that Queneville had significant experience coaching (Mayers and Brunette) so I think he had a big role in those. I think with the more stable cap situation the Hawks are in going forward, Bowman will look to make some moves to better the team.
