hartnell should have been bought out not briere.

[RonJeremy]

toughflyer - we are loaded at center, Briere is on a downslide, and Hartnell brings an element that is sorely needed ,and that is hard to find. Hartnell crashes the net ,takes major abuse in front, takes the body , scores the dirty goals in front, fights for his teammates and comes to play every night. He creates tons of room for Giroux. He had a broken foot and no training camp, he will bounce back. Even if he isn't scoring a lot, the other elements he brings are very valuable. Briere is a tiny , one dimensional player, and we just couldn't afford him, on top of that t,they had him on wing ,where he is not effective. Buying out Briere was the right move.

Edited June 28, 2013 by hf101
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[mojo1917]

Hartnell is a good teammate and that should count for something, when he was struggling at the beginning of the year two seasons ago , he still stuck up for teammates, fished a puck out of the net when his linemate scored his first nhl goal, he was shuffled between lines trying to find a fit but he hustled his ass off, things weren't going well for him and he was trying to lead by example on the ice.

you need guys like that on your team to win, the Penguins for all their skill lost their character guys like Asham and Talbot and it hurt the chemistry of the team.

i don't think 4.75 will be a bad price for hartnell until very late in that contract. I think it's a slight overpayement for production but when you factor in his worth in the room i think it's alright.

[jammer2]

@mojo1917 At first glance, it looks like Harts makes a bit to much. I've said it many times, guys that score at a respectable rate and are tough are hard to find. I always go back to the Brandon Prust contract, after scoring 2 goals in the regular season a few years ago, the Habs signed him to a 4 year deal at 2.5 a year. That contract is a prime example of how you have to pay out the nose to acquire toughness. Like you said, there will be inevitable suckage during the the last few years, but until then, we are actually getting a bargain.

The other factor here, in general, he makes the Flyers a tougher team to play against. I like that. He pays the price in front of the net, dishes out lots of hits in the offensive zone to maintain possession. You can tell he's loved and respected by teammates. That means a lot also. He's the type of guy that will wear down opposing d-men in a 7 game series, he loves to hit. The hotness of his wife is an added plus. When you factor in his all round game, if he pops in 25 a year, he's more than earning his paycheque. I believe he will do that for at least the next 4 years, so not a lot to dislike here. As the years pass in this current CBA, the league contracts will catch up to this deal to the point he's almost underpaid.

Edited June 29, 2013 by jammer2