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Arbitration update: Subban signs for 8 years


hf101

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 This article on P.K's defensive prowess directly disagrees with your statement....a nice enlightening read....

 

 http://nhlnumbers.com/2013/11/14/pk-subbans-defensive-game-and-team-canada

In the same article he makes it a point to say that he played fairly easy minutes due to the lack of trust he has from his own coaches. I agree that he is very good on the offensive side but there are just too many of those "odd gaffes" for me to give him credit for being good defensively. Personally, I dislike the guy and his penchant for diving and attitude but that is my own opinion.

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@flyerrod  Yeah, I thought the article was fair in pointing out the positives and negatives. In the end, it ends with this quote, which is the underlying message in the piece..."Subban should be a lock for Team Canada and his defensive deficiencies are greatly, greatly overstated."

 

 He's not nearly as bad in his own end then people make him out to be.

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Defense is important, but so is possessing the puck, keeping it out of your own end, and scoring goals. Subban can help do all of that. Is he Scott Stevens or Nick Lidstrom in his own end? No. But this isn't that era. In today's game you need players like Subban who can skate, move the puck, and contribute offensively. And he's still only 25. He likely hasn't even hit his full potential yet.

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The Canadiens had to keep this guy on.

An overpay?
Sure...but then again, you can look all around the league and see overpays all over the place....some worse than others.
And some of them are downright TERRIBLE. I wouldn't characterize this one as terrible.
In fact, the question for the Habs never really was "Is this guy worth a $9M cap hit annually?", but rather, "Do we pay and keep him happy here, or let him walk and see someone ELSE overpay for him and have him help elevate/solidify THEIR franchise?"

I think it was a pretty cut n dry decision to be honest.
And for those looking at the pure numbers (i.e. goals and assists) to judge whether he is worth a big contract, hockey is very much a tactile and emotional sport as it is statistical.
Meaning that although you could probably find some other defensemen with 'better' numbers, PK Subban, like him or not, brings alot of other things to a team in one package that is quite difficult to find.

He brings character, sandpaper, athleticism, life to a PP, a penchant for some on ice (and off ice drama), much of which doesn't really hurt the team, but rather, brings attention to the Habs as a team (people will either WANT to see his antics or want to see someone 'get him good')....either way, the Montreal Canadiens, along with their other talents, are NOT a boring team to watch with PK on there....and people will pay to watch at the arenas, or tune in on TV when they know he will be playing.

Subban can also take a lot of the heat when things go badly for the Canadiens....which may help overshadow some other players' struggles, thus allowing them to straighten out their game, while PK takes the brunt of the criticism, justified or not. Subban is the type of player that can take the beating, both on the ice, and in the media, and continue to just do what he does.
I mean, there are many things you simply can't put a price tag on.

As with any large deal of this magnitude, the FO now has to be very smart about who they surround Subban with.
The bottom line is still winning games, and winning championships, and while Subban may not be the best defenseman out there, he is still a pretty good one, WILL help in the winning department, and is still young enough where he can improve his game tremendously while he continues to antagonize his opponents and the opponents' fanbase....and also continuing to prove doubters wrong.

All too often, teams piss n moan about not having that top level defenseman who can do a bit of everything for them.
When one comes along, PK Subban in this case, you as a front office have to decide whether you want to continue pissing n moaning about it, or just lock up the guy and make him part of your culture for a long time.
Canadiens chose option B, and I applaud them for that.
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