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2025-2026 Off Season Thread - The Rehappening

I mean even if public perception was that he wasn't that good (I disagree!), that's a different debate than whether he was actually good. He was. And a defenseman of that caliber will almost always be more impactful than a winger, no matter how good that winger is.
 
I recall it being a big hubbub over which one the Sens would choose as both were considered elite guys. Everyone seemed to agree with the Redden choice because he was more mobile and more offensively inclined. I don’t think Chara became suddenly better.
 
We need older nerdies to confirm that!

I think he had two or three legit super elite years in Ottawa that weren't all that different than how he performed in Boston. What people maybe couldn't predict was how long he'd be amazing for. And maybe he didn't have that 5+ year track record of being elite when he signed the contract so it was seen as a slight risk.

In any event, he was awesome at the time and maybe aged better than people expected.
 
CH1 said:
Yeah…. But he wasn’t seen as a future first ballot HOFer…. and he signed with Bruins at 29 so it’s not like anyone expected him to get much better than a solid #1
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But, as the next post points out, he signed for the equivalent of $16+M with the 2025-26 cap... Not better than a solid #1, you say ???
 
zeke said:
Signed for about the same as Gomez and Drury iirc.
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People complain about bad contracts now but GMs used to be nuts pre/early days of the cap.

Almost 16% of the cap for Drury and Gomez? They were making Sam Bennett the highest paid player in the league. Tavares was a steal.
 
leafman101 said:
People complain about bad contracts now but GMs used to be nuts pre/early days of the cap.

Almost 16% of the cap for Drury and Gomez? They were making Sam Bennett the highest paid player in the league. Tavares was a steal.
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A 31 year-old Bobby Holik signing for five years at $9M per season was definitely the moment where the pre-cap era went fully off the rails.
 
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