It's been pretty well established lately that Brian Rolston and the Minnesota Wild will soon part ways. Depending on who you believe, Rolston's agent hasn't offered a counter proposal and/or the Wild haven't offered him market value. While I think Rolston is worth somewhere in the area of $15.0m over 3 years, something tells me his agent is looking for something around $6.0 per year. Is he worth that?
In my opinion, he isn't. He's a 30 goal scorer who plays in all situations. Not a superstar, but a team leader and all around good player. But the bigger issue is whether or not you can find a suitable replacement. Looking at the UFA list I don't see any good values there for Rolston-like money. Based on the lack of good alternatives, I think I'd overpay him just to keep him around. It reminds me a bit of the last Brad Radke negotiations with the Twins. Was Radke the ace of the staff? Clearly no, but you had to keep him in order to keep your team relevant. Brian Rolston is the Brad Radke of the Wild and, as much as it pains me to say it, I would overpay him to keep him in Red and Green.
In my opinion, he isn't. He's a 30 goal scorer who plays in all situations. Not a superstar, but a team leader and all around good player. But the bigger issue is whether or not you can find a suitable replacement. Looking at the UFA list I don't see any good values there for Rolston-like money. Based on the lack of good alternatives, I think I'd overpay him just to keep him around. It reminds me a bit of the last Brad Radke negotiations with the Twins. Was Radke the ace of the staff? Clearly no, but you had to keep him in order to keep your team relevant. Brian Rolston is the Brad Radke of the Wild and, as much as it pains me to say it, I would overpay him to keep him in Red and Green.
3 comments:
Bradke! Man do I miss him. Rolston I would miss considerably less than I miss Bradke.
I agree with you - Rolston is a solid player, consistent and a good leader. But he's not worth superstar money. And I don't understand why he would want to uproot his entire family, when they're so established in Minny, for MAYBE three more years of viable NHL playing time.
Rolston had 96 goals in three season and is worth every bit of 5 million a year that he got from NJ.
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