Micklebot
Moderator
- Apr 27, 2010
- 57,026
- 34,794
Good. He's gotten a ton of praise because he's done a lot of good here, especially this last year, but there's nobody else that's responsible for the position theyre in and he deserves all the criticism for it just the same.
It's a bit of an odd situation; Pinto has no leverage whatsoever, he's a piece we want to be part of our core going forward, but his options are really to take what we offer, or sit.
I don't mind playing hard ball with Pinto, I still think the best solution for both team and player is the SJ/Lebanc play, but maybe the league has sent out a memo to teams that if they pull that stunt it will be looked at as cap circumvention.
I think Tank circled back to the team and when they saw he was willing to take 5m, they figured it was too good to pass on and they'd deal with the ramifications later. I don't mind that.
They probably expected Murray to get bought out, or the league to agree to a slightly higher cap, or a combo of both. Lots of variables at play, had Murray gotten bought out and the league opted for a cap of 84.5 instead of 83.5, he'd be looking like a genius (hyperbole) right now.