Joined: Apr. 2017
Posts: 19,256
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I'm reading that Smith stayed on LITR as a strategy against Bowman so he couldn't be bought out as the CBA doesn't allow for LITR players to be bought out. Maybe that's not true and he's truly on LITR or maybe he's not coming back from LITR. Back surgery, I think he had a fusion, is not easy to come back from for a hockey player. Either way, I think Bowman buries him in the minors or he stays on LITR; both scenarios saving additional cap space.
One journalist made an important comment that I think echos where we are at. Crawford wouldn't agree to roughly $3.5M and was expecting around $5M. Is re-signing Crow worth losing Strome or Kubalik when we are trying to retool on the fly with younger players? The answer is of course no. As such, re-sign Strome and Kubalik and let's see what the young kids have (Strome, Nylander, Debrincat, Dach, Kubalik, Carlsson, Highmore, Mitchell, Boqvist, Delia, Lankinen, etc.). It's a fair approach in a abbreviated season and a flat cap world right now. I'm no fan of Bowman but honestly this team is not a cup contender so why sign Crow for big money ($4.5M to $5.5M) and pretend we are?