The Toronto Maple Leafs had cleaned house in June to free up
cap space to facilitate their rebuilding process, but have thus far made a
couple of questionable signings.
The first of course was second year d-man Jeff Finger to a
four-year, $3.5 million per season contract that has observers shaking their
heads.
The latest is forward Niklas Hagman to a four-year, $12
million contract, which breaks down to $3 million per season against the cap.
That’s right, $3 million per season for a winger who, prior
to this past season, never had more than 34 points in a season.
In 2007-08 Hagman had 27 goals and 41 points in 82 games
with the Dallas Stars but most of that might’ve had to do with linemates like
Mike Ribeiro and Brad Richards. In the playoffs in 18 games he managed only 3
points.
If Hagman were a promising young forward one could chalk
this up to Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher paying for potential, but Hagman will turn
29 in December and it remains to be seen if he’s a classic late bloomer due for
better things or if this past season was a one-off.
For the Leafs and their fans, I sure hope it’s not the
latter.
Certainly like this one more than the Finger signing. If the guy had been scoring 27 goals in multiple years then surely would have gotten more with this crazy market. Definitely improved the offence from the previous year and hopefully that continues.
Even if he's turning 29 in December, still a young guy that should help out for the term of his contract. Certainly not a bad signing.
Hagman is a great hockey player. Watched him all last year with the Stars. He does a lot of the little things that win games. He plays great on the PK. Just because you don't show up on the stat sheet does not mean you are a bad player. Only concern about this deal, Toronto may have spent too much for him. He will be greatly missed in Dallas.
I can't agree with u anymore..I still think the money was spent well ( ON HAGMAN ). Considering of what some of those other free agents got around the league.
See, the problem I have with this is that they bought Darcy Tucker OUT of his contract that was the same length, and for the same amount of money... If you were going to toss that kind of scrilla at someone, why not save yourself the 1 mil/year of cap space and stick with what you know. We all know Tucker had an off year last year and is easily capable of 40-50 points a season... Too much risk in this signing I say...
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
