- May 1, 2011
- 129,999
- 71,653
1 would be great, but I’m hesitant to do 2 because I think Kulikov may very well be playing above his head this year.For me it’s that and the young guys we have in the system. 3 years would be off the table for me because I think we will be seeing at least 2 of them ready for the NHL in 1-2 more years in Vukojevic, Bahl, Okhotiuk and Muk (All 4 play LD). 1 year would be a good stop gap and 2 years I could be talked into.
And he’s easily been the third best defenseman on the team behind Severson and Smith, I mean, it’s not even debatable that anybody else has been better than him. Subban isn’t terrible like I thought he was earlier in the year, but he isn’t particularly good anymore either. Murray has underwhelmed and Vatanen just looks like his career is over in the NHL and has really showcased why no one signed him until January 7th. And it doesn’t look like he’ll generate any interest on Monday. Butcher fell out of favor, but didn’t look any good when he did play.
it’s just that I have my doubts that this is sustainable going forward from him. And he hasn’t exactly been sheltered either. So we’ll be re-signing him and likely giving him these types of minutes again next year, if we do bring him back.