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So Long and Thanks for All the Fish. Warning: May Contain Conspiracy Theory |
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I like Radim Vrbata: he's a moderately talented goal scorer and has had his most successful seasons as a Coyote.
The Coyotes are a franchise that not only hasn't had any Championships but also struggles to get players to want to come to it, due mostly to the ownership issues that have plagued this team since it's inception. So, I do understand the tendency to overrate players that actually seem like they want to be here.
Still, the weepy toned good-byes and sentimentality I've seen in response to Vrbata's signing with the Canucks are a little much. This is a border-line second liner were talking about here.
Sure, I like Vrbata, but I have been saying for months that they can't afford to waste his roster spot on a 32 year old declining 20 goal scorer when they have some prospects they almost have to play- most notably Henrick Samuelson and Max Domi - as well as a need to add a legit top line goal scorer.
They should have actually moved Vrbata at the deadline, but they thought the Playoffs were a reasonable possibility, so they risked getting some nice prospects and assets in exchange for a chance to squeeze into 8th and get beat out in 5 games by the Blues or Hawks.
Let's not mince words: the Coyotes blew a great chance to build assets last March by stubbornly trying to make the playoffs when giving up early would have paid exponential dividends in a tough Western Conference going forward.
This is the curse of being last in the league in attendance: You can't afford to make moves for anything but the present due to the optics of trying to explain to casual fans why you're trading people while 4 points out of 8th. That is why teams in more traditional markets should have a huge competitive advantage (although corporate ownership in places like Toronto does a great job of re-leveling the playing field through sheer greed and stupidity.)
Since retraining him at the deadline was against my direct advice, and since I also strongly suggested that they do not resign him, I can't exactly get teary eyed over the hugely overrated Vrbata and the fact that the Canucks - learning exactly nothing from the weak return on Ryan Kessler - were willing to give out a no trade clause that the Coyotes wouldn't.
In fact, an interesting story emerged after Vrbata signed his 2 year $10 Million Dollar contract with the Canucks that the Coyotes worked hard to sign him and offered less money but more term, but then balked at giving him a no movement clause.
Fitting, since I just watched Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory last night (it was sweet) but I don't buy that the Coyotes really wanted to sign him. What I think - based on my believing that Maloney wouldn't actually be dumb enough to commit such a high percentage of his league-low internal salary cap to an aging 20 goal scorer - is that the Coyotes purposely let him walk while maintaining that they did everything they could to re-sign the popular player.
The reason I think this goes back to the casual fan, non-hockey, low-attendance market the Coyotes play in. It is a PR disaster to lose a popular player over a few hundred thousand bucks, but at the same time, it's pretty clear the Coyotes can do better than Vrvata. With Doan, Korpikoski, Boedker, and, one assumes, Erat, taking up four of the teams six spots on the wing (ignoring for a second the existence of a fourth line) retaining Vrbata would mean that the league's worst offense would be looking at changing one winger over the summer.
That would be ridiculous. It would be horrible management.
So credit to Maloney for having his cake and eating it too here. Vrbata, you were good for the Coyotes. A perennial 20 goal scorer and all-round professional, it was nice while it lasted, but you had to go and hopefully you will have fun playing on the team I predict will finish last in the Western Conference next year.
Thanks for reading.
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