Paul McCann: A Conundrum in Music City

Preds are coming on! Please knock Chicago out of the play-offs!

A Couple of the Millionaire Slackers go down, forcing the Preds to finally play some of the young hungry guys willing to work hard, and suddenly you start winning some games? Who would've thought? It's why a lot of us wanted to see Poile give some of the young guys a chance at the beginning of the season.

I'm glad to see them playing hard, but I have mixed feelings. The Preds do this a lot, be just mediocre enough to feel like you don't have to make any major organizational changes, but not quite good enough to be a serious contender. Let's be realistic here, Tampa, Florida, and Carolina are clearly the class of the division, and everybody else are just a clump of mediocre to bad teams with numerous flaws. At least one of that group has to make the playoffs.

There's no conundrum here, I don't think the Preds should be doing anything crazy at the deadline. They shouldn't be buyers, but I don't think they need to be sellers now either. Ekholm is hopefully off the trade block. There's really no rush to trade him this season anyway. A lot can happen in two weeks though. Keep letting the kids play, and let's see what happens.

Do not be fooled...sell...sell...sell!

Paul is a brand. He reminds us every single game. PLEASE STFU!

Anyway, it's probably unsustainable and I'd prepare for some regression.

They will regress once all of the overpaid players come back from injury.

They will regress once all of the overpaid players come back from injury.
- Polecat

They are winning without Duchenne and Ellis. Why not trade Duchenne? CBJ needs a center!

They are winning without Duchenne and Ellis. Why not trade Duchenne? CBJ needs a center!

- HenryHockey

Or: Duchenne to Le Habs for Kotkaniemi, Lehkonen and Drouin

They will regress once all of the overpaid players come back from injury.
- Polecat

This is the problem with long expensive contracts. Everyone plays hard trying to get the big contract then shuts it down after getting it. I'm all for paying big $ but contracts need to be reduced down to 3-4 years.

This is the problem with long expensive contracts. Everyone plays hard trying to get the big contract then shuts it down after getting it. I'm all for paying big $ but contracts need to be reduced down to 3-4 years.
- wrister

,
This would be great, but the player's union would never go for it, and you'll never get GM's to unanimously agree not to dish out ridiculous contracts. It just takes one GM willing to dish out something ridiculous, and everyone else is left playing catch up. It's why Poile got stuck signing Weber to a 13 year deal... You just lost Suter the year before, you couldn't lose another cornerstone player at time and risk looking like a cheap organization who can't hold on to your star players. Players are always going to want as much money as they can get, and they want the security of long-term contracts. That's not going to change anytime soon.

You can't blame Poile for paying market value, but I can criticize him for the people he chose to give those contracts to. He overvalued Joey, got way too enamored with Duchene, and while I understand the Ellis signing on some level I never did agree with it. He also overpays in trades for guys like Turris and Kunin. It's becoming a pattern you just cant ignore.

,
This would be great, but the player's union would never go for it, and you'll never get GM's to unanimously agree not to dish out ridiculous contracts. It just takes one GM willing to dish out something ridiculous, and everyone else is left playing catch up. It's why Poile got stuck signing Weber to a 13 year deal... You just lost Suter the year before, you couldn't lose another cornerstone player at time and risk looking like a cheap organization who can't hold on to your star players. Players are always going to want as much money as they can get, and they want the security of long-term contracts. That's not going to change anytime soon.

You can't blame Poile for paying market value, but I can criticize him for the people he chose to give those contracts to. He overvalued Joey, got way too enamored with Duchene, and while I understand the Ellis signing on some level I never did agree with it. He also overpays in trades for guys like Turris and Kunin. It's becoming a pattern you just cant ignore.
- Squatchy

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Big contracts are fine but,it should have some sort of production requirement attached to it.
You don’t produce, you don’t get paid.