I am not, wide open for the cup this year. Both the East and the West are open. Hawks lose Kane. Kings up and down. Cup is wide open. Who are the favs? Pick 4 teams in each conference and good luck.
Where is this coming from, this love fest? They traded call, could there be any more love than that of the former captain? Think they did just fine giving up their boyfriend last year. This is a business and if Zucc thinks he is more valuable than he really is, that is a selfish player. Dont profess your love for the team and city and how you want to be a member of something special in the greatest city in the world and then bitch about 500k to 1 million dollars. Bye Zucc your not as good as you think and can be replaced with another smurf.
the more I think about it the more I see Sather dealing Zucc If Pacioretty is making 4.5 / 6years than there is no reason Zucc should demand more...
And if they trade him they trade him Al...I am fine with that. BUT I would NOT trade him unless it improves the team. That is where I differ from some in here. We are in this to win a cup, and if trading Zucc makes us worse why the HELL would I do it? Just treat him as a rental guy that we didn't need to give up picks to get. I never said I wouldn't trade him because he is a leader in the locker room and well liked. I said I wouldn't trade him unless I could get a better player, or at least as good of a player. That is what happened with Cally right? MSL was the better player, so that deal was perfect for Sather. If I cannot get better I hold and deal with it this summer.
The offer is more than fair. I just think when push comes to shove Sather doesn't deal him. We'll see...
Told you guys.... 4:08PM: The situation with Zuccarello and the Rangers has “shifted” since yesterday and the two sides have resumed discussions and hope to still get a deal done. (Katie Strang)
6:51AM: The terms of the deal have been finalized, FOUR-YEARS and $4.5 million, but the partial NTC will be finalized this morning. (McKenzie) Give Zucc credit. He showed he wants to be here. Came off the crazy 5 mill + stance and took a very fair deal for him, and one that helps the team also. My guess is he said give me four years only so I can get out there and get another deal after I prove myself over a handful of years. He'll only be 31 I believe. Shows you what this guy is all about (unlike Cally), and that he wanted to be here. Takes his 1 mill raise (up from 1.15 last season) and is very happy. Good for Zucc. Nice jump in two years.
Am I glad this rumor died. One thing for sure....if Zucc did not agree with contract, I am sure Sather would have dealt him.
The Callahan trade helped the Rangers w Zuc IMO. Zuc never wanted to leave NY but he knew Sather would move him. I do think Zuc took less then he would get from a team on July 1 but 4/18 is a fair contract for a good (not great but still important) player
In the post today, Zucc pretty much said to his agent to stop being a moron and take the offer. He didn't want to leave NY. Agents are dangerous. I can't believe Callahan was so stupid that he turned down the offer Sather game him which was complete overpayment.
Cally being stupid was a plus for us for sure. If we had him at 6 mill per that would be bad. I think 4.5 mill for a 50-60 point guy, which is what Zucc is (59 points last year and on pace for 50 points this year after a slow start) is very fair. 5 mill + would have been too much. Just my humble opinion.
Honestly, 4.5 million for a 50 point player that plays defense is not overpayment. Last year he was tied for 50th in the league for scoring. So out of 750+ players in the league, only 49 did better than he did offensively. About 20 of those guys don't play defense for crap. I would have traded him if he wanted over 5 million. 4.5 is good for what he brings.
There's no one good coming up as FA that we could get that could be replace the 50pts we get out of Zucc, so i understand we don't have a lot of options. But at $4.5M i'm not crazy about a guy that is not in the top 20 scorers at his position and lacks the size we need to compete with the big dogs in the playoffs. If i could choose i would rather pay that money to Bozak, for example.
