You had to know some was coming, eventually, right? First of all, we didn't sign Chris Neil. Now, you know that if I had to pick Neil or Brashear, I'd pick Neil. Then, failing that, I'd pick burning in the fire of the sun, and then Brashear. But we already had Brashear, and our choices were sign Neil for $2.2 million a year or don't. Neil stuck with Ottawa, callooh callay.
Meanwhile, Freddie Sjostrom's status is no longer "we're probably not bringing him back." He signed with the Flames, 2 years, $750,000 per year. It still blows my mind that we didn't qualify this guy, but I guess we had no room for him, what with all the...wings...we have? I really don't get this non-move, it seemed like a no-brainer. But, I guess we'll bring up more of our kids, or whatever.
And, of course, the big news: Marian Gaborik. For $7.5 million a year over 5 years, we have a young goal-scorer. Forgive me if I sound dubious. I've seen this movie before. But, Gaborik is one of the elite forwards of the league, and I'm excited to give him a shot. So, Sather did his job. A little.
What happened to Heatley? No one fucking knows. It seems like he was probably holding out to try to go to us, but the Sens wouldn't budge on asking for Dubinsky, and Sather (thank Lord Jesus) wouldn't budge on keeping him. Where is he headed? We still don't know whether he'll end up an Oiler or stay with Ottawa. Either way, I can't imagine him being liked. Oh, what a guy.
As for Brashear, I'm afraid he's not going anywhere. Sather said, of replacing Orr with him, "I think Brashear gives us a couple of other things. He's quicker, he can get in on the puck a little faster. The style of game we're going to be playing, he's going to be a little more effective for us." Great. So I actually have to get used to trying to root for this pig.
In "yeah, we figured that by now" news, apparently "our RFAs are protected." I'm not sure what that means, exactly, but Steve Zipay tells us it means people like Dubinsky, Callahan, and Korpikoski will continue to be Rangers next season. Sweet, some fucking familiar faces.
Finally, still a little concerned about our centers. We have Dubinsky, Drury, Anisimov, and Boyle right now (assuming Betts goes - I know they're professionals, but I can't imagine Betts taking to kindly to not being pursued and then asked to fill in as the center for Brashear). I sure would love to pick up another centerman, but I can't be too picky here... The good news is that right now, Sather seems to think that if we don't pick up another center, Dubi can be our first-liner. Overall, we're not in a terrible position, I just really hate rooting for a team that is okay with Donald Brashear.
As always, we'll see what happens next.
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