The Minnesota Wild have extended defenseman Jared Spurgeon for 4 years, $20.75 Million ($5.18 Million AAV).
This is one of the best signings the Wild have made in years. Spurgeon is just entering his prime years at 26 and trails only Ryan Suter in defensive scoring this season with 16 points. With the new deal, Minnesota has bought up his last year of arbitration eligibility and three years of unrestricted free agency, which may save them money down the road if the speedy blueliner keeps putting up good offensive numbers.
If there is one player and one team that have been connected more often than Patrick Marleau and the Montréal Canadiens over the past five years… I can't think of one.
There absolutely are people, some quite prominent within the Montreal organization, who see Patrick as a perfect fit. And now perhaps more than ever. The ball is still in Patrick Marleau's court however, and while there are signs he is growing more open to the possibility of a trade, my sources are split. Some are telling me that now more than ever he is likely to be moved, while others are saying that the signs point to Marleau being moved at the draft...or even next year's trade deadline.
The one thing that can't be downplayed in the situation is the Montréal Canadiens' desire to win and their perception of a big window being open right now...with this I agree.
Carey Price can take this team a long, long way and in the regular season can even make them dominant. The problem of course comes later. Montréal's offense is often maligned, when in actuality they are pretty strong, especially with Brendan Gallagher in the lineup. They can indeed put up numbers, but once the playoffs hit, and the further you go, the more likely you are to be facing hot goalies and goals become much harder to come by.
While it can be said the San Jose Sharks haven't been a good playoff team, Patrick Marleau hasn't been the problem. Marleau has shown he's a solid playoff performer who can score big goals in big games. He has not only done this with the Sharks, but also for Team Canada.
Montreal becomes a much more serious Stanley Cup contender with Patrick Marleau in the lineup. That I believe to be 100% the case.
More on this later, we will discuss this and more on today's podcast at 1 o'clock.