He's played 68 games or more the last 3 years, but the point totals keep dropping: 65, 42, and 36 last year in 70 games.
$4 million for this season for roughly 0.5 PPG last year? No thanks.
OTOH, if this is Toronto preparing a compliance buyout, I could see trying him on a cheap contract as a third line center. That would put Jokinen back on the wing on the second line. But that means moving one of the kids down, likely Dalpe. Would you rather try Connolly and put Dalpe back in Charlotte to call up if/when Connolly is hurt, or try Dalpe now and trade for a better 3C at the deadline if necessary?
I don't know. From what I've seen of him, Connolly is pretty bad defensively, so if he's not scoring, then why waste a spot on him. If Muller is serious about focusing on play in the Canes own zone, then not sure why they'd want Connolly. Granted, I only saw him a handful of times last year, but when I did see him, I saw soft and bad in his own zone.
Yeah, I havent seen Connolly play really in a couple years.....Just remember he had some nice finish when he was with Buffalo. He does seem like a soft player, tho I am a bit surprised to see he has played so many games the last few years. Perhaps he should go back to the days of being hurt, when he was more effective when he was ON the ice.
