$24 million???
For a guy who has scored 21 goals in his 2nd NHL season, under 50 points, doesn't hit or block shots, is a mid 2nd rounder to begin with, has played under 17 minutes a night (12th in ice time among Canes skaters) for a non-playoff team?
The hope must be that the 23 year old will develop some more and prove to be more than a tweener (not good enough to be a 2nd liner on a playoff team, but good enough to be a top-9 forward for an average team.
The signing is not by any means 'great'. It may turn out to be okay. Or two years from now he may be an overpaid 15 minutes a night 15-goal scoring, non-physical forward to be shipped to expansion Vegas along with a higher pick to unload his contract.
Yeah, vippe. You are Swedish, he is Swedish. We get your optimism. But there's no hard evidence that he's worth a 6-year deal at the moment. "Solid" is not exactly the right adjective.
How is this not a solid deal? He is a 4M player right now. With upside, I cant think of another word than solid. Me being swedish has nothing to do with that.