Anton Babchuk
Registered User
Slavin and Pesce's extensions kick in next season, while Hanifin and Lindholm also need new contracts. The only significant salaries they have coming off the books are Ward/Stempniak. They won't be having trouble hitting the cap floor next season.The Rask hysteria (capped by calls for a Buyout) is just silly. He's had a terrible start to the season. He has looked totally toothless in all 3 zones. So has Faulk to a large extent. So has Lindholm just about every season of his career.
The Canes are like $500k above the Cap Floor. They don't need to buyout a 24 year old making $4 million. smh.
And again the reason I suggested a buyout this season is because he jumps from a 1/3rd salary buyout this offseason season to 2/3rds buyout next offseason season. It's a big risk to wait and hope he bounces back. It's why the Sabres bought out Cody Hodgson after one bad year at the same age as Rask is now...they couldn't afford to hope he bounced back and deal with a buyout twice as costly if he didn't. They turned out to be right about that decision.
It's more than a terrible start to this season. He's been terrible since November of last year. His skating seems to be getting even worse, which is the same thing that happened with Hodgson. The game keeps getting faster and I don't know if Rask can keep up. If he had some actual tangible skill maybe he could be useful but he's just brutal with the puck. His main offensive asset is his shot and he rarely gets in position to use it effectively, which again goes back to his skating.
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