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Good signing for the Sens - Phillips is a steady guy on the line and they were smart to lock him up.
*EDIT*
Maybe one of the admins could set up an Offseason signings thread? Seems like they are starting to pick up and we might as well have them all in one spot. Just my opinion...
Not an attack on Habs fans jackknife...not sure why you would see it that way. It is not even an attack on Souray. For the record, I do not attack fans of any team. I comment on teams, and discuss and debate players and successes/failures of them and their teams. Yes sometimes I tease people, and if people state things that are factually incorrect I call them on it., and debate about opinion things. That is not an attack of Habs fans, Flames fans, or any other kind of fan. I am not scared to voice my opinion on things, just as you are not. I have no problem that you think Souray is great. However, I will make mention of the fact that other people, experts around the league, and myself (not to be confused with an expert) do not think he is so wonderful. But it is not personal, and should not be taken that way, by you or anyone else.
I apologize if you take things I say personally, even though I have no way to know how you think. It is not intended that way.
Anyway back to the point. Clearly, it needs to be explained in more detail. I was trying to avoid an essay. Drat!
Phillips, Salo, Volchenkov and other defencemen are off the market. Overall, all three of those d-men are better players than Sheldon Souray, statistically and by reputation. The market for d-men has shrunk in terms of supply dramatically for this off season due to the above signings. Souray will make a splash in that market, and even more so now. Yes, I believe he is highly overrated, and have also stated that he has a good shot. He is weak in his own end 1 on 1, and in making the first pass out of his end. He loses focus easily, and if he was focused all the time would make for a much better player than he shows right now. Someone in the league will take a chance he will refocus, and become the player most thought he was capable of becoming. But those chances are running out. He will make tons of money because of the loss of the 3 mentioned players above, and other d-men to being resigned. If he signed a 2 mill deal, that would be fair. Even 3 mill. But he is not worth the same as Salo, or Redden, or even Kaberle for that matter. Anything more than 3 would be an overpay for Souray. Phillips is worth the same as Salo et al at 3.5 because he does a much different job at the same level. Similar to Mitchell and others at 3.5. IMO Souray does not, but will get at least that in the market because there is now a short supply of d-men
Is there anything incorrect about that? He makes a lot of mistakes. These are acknowledged by his coach, him, and other league people. He is NOT the next coming of Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey or Al Macinnis. Maybe Al Iafrate, but not the first two. He is not as good as people make him out to be, regardless of their club allegiance.
I say/have said/will say the same thing about certain Canucks (Naslund right now, Morrison always), Flames (Regehr, Langkow), Oilers (almost anyone wearing that uniform rigth now ), Red Wings (Hasek, Bertuzzi, Datsyuk), Blues (Weight, Backman, Jackman), Bruins (Kessel, Savard), Leafs (Sundin, McCabe, Kaberle, Perrault) and players from any other NHL team. It is not personal against any of those teams fans. All highly overrated.
The Phillips signing at 3.5 per year for four years is another great signing. Similar to Salo. Completely the opposite of Datsyuk.
