Not a fan of this signing..though it largely depends on the term. Guy is a shooter, he can rifle the puck (when he actually hits the net), but he brings little else to the table. He’s basically a 20/20 guy who has always played in a wide open system. The only way this makes any kind of sense is if it is a precursor to a trade of some sort.
Let’s just assume that Kotalik is here to replace Zherdev, and Higgins was here to replace Naslund… we just went from (based on last years production)..24G, 22A + 23G, 35A (47G, 57A) to 12G 11A + 20G, 23A (32G, 34A)
Even if you go by Higgins and Kotaliks career averages and assume they play all 82 games you go to 24G, 19A + 22G, 24A (46G, 43A) which is STILL a step down from what we got last year.
This is quite baffling. If we are in fact walking away from Zherdev, even with the addition of Gaborik we really are only a tiny bit better today offensively than we were yesterday. To me, the only way this makes sense, is if we are walking away from Korpedo (while bringing back Zherdev), and replacing Korpi with Kotalik.
It gets worse, apparently it is a 3 year deal for 3 million a season. I really do not understand this signing whatsoever. 3 years, 3 million per for a guy who, on his best year will basically just equal what Z gave us last year, whereas for 4 mil you could lock up Z and have 60 points almost guaranteed with 80-100 point upside if he ever brings it all together…this is just a stupid move on so many levels, unless of course it is a precursor to a trade.
