LiveFyre is still about 1,000 comments behind on the last one.
To a certain extent, signing Clarkson to an insanely long contract is part and parcel with playing the UFA game. If you want to upgrade in the short run through FA, and Clarkson does fill a need for this team, it is going to be by doing something regrettable down the line. It just seems to the nature of the business now; do now, think later, and hope the cap ceiling skyrockets. 7 years at 5.25 million for a 29-year-old second/third line winger who has broke 40 points once is insane. It disagrees with every ounce of logic in me. But I will like seeing Clarkson in the lineup in the fall. Bolland and Clarkson add a nice dimension to the forward group.
Re-upping Tyler Bozak at 4.2 for the next 5 years and buying out Grabovski to do it is simply something I’ll never understand. I’m not watching the same game, I guess. Locking Bozak down at a figure that ensures he’s a top 6 center here for years to come is just accepting perpetual mediocrity at the position. I could’ve understood buying out Grabo to open space for that true number one center. The Leafs haven’t done that here. Not even close.
If this was the grand plan for taking the Leafs from fringe playoff team to contender, count me as underwhelmed.
