Good day one and all. It has been a while since I posted, but I thought the Markov deal deserved a visit and a comment on the blog.
First off I am glad to see that we have signed Markov. The price is a tad bit steep, but given the realities of taxes (net amount in his pocket) and being able to lock him in for the longer term, the deal made both sides happy. A win win deal will always yield more results than one agreed upon with resentment. Furthermore, with the trend of the salary cap moving up every year, I believe the 5.75 per year will be cheap (proportionally speaking to the overall salary of the team) in the third and fourth year for a defenseman of his talent.
With that said, I have seen some people questioning whether he is that good of a player. I can understand why one might question his abilities, since he is a player with no flash…no specific memorable events. Not like Souray with a record breaking year in goals and his wonderful highlight-reel goal on the SO. But don’t let Markov’s modest play style fool you. Think back to every game we played against star forwards. I’m referring to the Crosbys, Ovechkins, Lecavaliers, Briers, etc…Out of about 25-30 games we have played against teams with super star forwards, how many times can one remember where a super start had a super game. I remember more occasions where they were shut down (especially when we were at home and could match Markov against them all the time) than times where they had multiple goal games. That is value that is hard to find in the league and I am very very very happy we have someone like Markov leading our defensive core.
So an overall good deal. On to Don Souray.
