but not after his playoff performance this year….they’ve fallen back in love with him…cant imagine him going anywhere else….unless its like a brian leetch trade at the end of his career.

already takes up $3.75 against the cap, so even if he was to get a raise to $8M (unlikely), its only a $4M addition, not $8M. They can fit Richards on Tampa at a Cap rate somewhere close to St Louis’s, although I agree with Dig Deep that they would be making a mistake in doing so. Unless of course Stamkos shifts to Wing. There are other UFA’s and RFA’s to account for, but none of them will be getting more than a $1-$1.2M raise at most. Some(including Brewer) could be seeing the same or less money in their next contracts. And Roloson may come back…

When you talk about prime Free Agents, you can pretty much throw Edmonton, Buffalo, Calgary, the Islanders, and now Winnepeg too out of the mix. If the Isles get a new arena, they could come off that list, but the rest are there to stay. No one is going to any of those places.

Think of it this way. You’re in your car after a concert, and you have to take a HUGE dump. You’re out of town staying at a hotel, let’s say a Ritz Carlton. You’ve got a suite, with a golden toilet seat and a bidet that shoots warm spring water waiting up in your room. This is teams like NY, Boston, Montreal, Detroit. Original 6 teams, always lots of money, always lots of fans, the best possible situation you can play in. A little closer then that you’ve got the lobby bathroom at the Ritz. you won’t get the same privacy, there’s no TV to watch or bidet, and you’ve gotta tip the attendant. I’d put this as a team like Pittsburgh, San Jose, or Anaheim. Things are good right now, but when the team stops winning, they are kind of forgotten, and it can be tough for the team to make ends meet.

Next you’ve got your options between the concert and your hotel. A McDonald’s bathroom (Carolina, St. Louis, Colorado) – not a bad choice you can count on it being clean and stocked with soap and TP, could be packed and long wait, could be empty. The other choice is a Hess Express accross the street (Tampa, Dallas, Columbus, ) you’re not sure what type of facility to expect, maybe filthy, maybe no TP, and you also might have to buy a slim jim before they even let you use it. BUT, you can buy a tall boy for the ride home when you’re done, so there’s something appealing about it, and it’s closer the other options. Some of these spots are appealing to players who didn’t want to be in the Ritz to begin with, they thought it was too flashy.

Finally we get to the teams mentioned above, they are the stinking porto john, surrounded with flies and overflowing, 10 feet away in the same parking lot as you. As good as it would feel to pinch that loaf, you have to go inside to do it. Who knows what’s in there, and the whole time you’re worrying some drunk asshole knocks it over while your taking a dump.