goodlube said:
they have 8 players signed and $24 million committed so that leave $20 million to sign Sedin, Sedin, Carter, and a whole bunch of new defensemen ... couple wingers ...
looks like lots of quality available for the money remaining.
If I'm not mistaken most if not all NHL teams have player salaries structured so that a few "Elite" players like the Chris Prongers, Scott Niedermeyers, etc are making big bucks while the rest of the team is made up of lower salary players. The new collective bargaining agreement has created a bigger disparity between upper and lower echelon players. I don't think the Canucks are much different.
I think that a true test of a GM is going to be:
1.) The ability to convince better players to sign for less.
2.) Have a willingness to gamble with signing certain players (like Selanne) and getting lucky.
3.) The ability to judge young talent and lock them up early.
I think it's still too early to judge how Nonis is doing. He was basically stuck with last years team. If he had done any tinkering last year on a team that many hockey experts were picking as one of the top contenders to win the Stanley cup then I think the fans would have lynched him.
