csi: white

according to the herald, the flames have signed ian white to a one-year deal for $2,999,995.00. i'd like to call that five bucks the ol' darryl sutter slap in the face: "son, to be perfectly honest, you're simply not worth three million."

the eleventh hour settlement before a scheduled arbitration hearing means the dudes over at the NHLPA get to go for an extra-long lunch today, and that the flames are WELL over the cap. well done, darryl. the dud kotalik and staios contracts you picked up for absolutely no effing reason last year are currently having their way with your backside.... how does it feel ?

i wrote the following in the comments section over at domebeers, in response to a post querying the lack of offersheets for the diminutive defenseman, but i thought it was worth re-posting here:

- other GMs know that sutter can ill-afford to sign white to anything above 2 and would scoff at anything above 3. [editor's note: when i read the terms of white's deal, i actually thought of this exact sentence]

- a 3.5 million dollar offersheet would not be matched by the flames, and white's new home club would give up a first, second, and third round pick (what i figure sutter was HOPING for). [editor's note: the last-minute, pre-arbitration deal makes me doubly sure that sutter was expecting an offersheet, and when one didn't come he was forced to re-sign the asset. i would not be remotely surprised to see white+ dealt for parts before training camp opens: see the asterisk section below, which fully applies here.]

- if an arbitrator gives white anything above 3, odds of sutter walking away are probably 50/50. this would make ian white a free agent.

- if i was a GM, i'd probably wait it out. then you can get ian white for 3.5 and lose nothing.

**alternately, if sutter signs him at 3.5, other GMs can trade their expensive, useless, old players for him.... WAY better than dropping high draft picks.

much to olli jokinen's chagrin, the flames keep the best moustache on the team for a dollar amount that, in my opinion, is a good deal for both sides. sutter gets to maintain that the phaneuf deal was sound, and white gets to enter free agency with a couple extra mil in his pocket... i will be thoroughly surprised if either he or gio make it through next summer with a flaming C on their chests but that will be a tale for another day, to be sure....

**UPDATE: jay feaster says exactly what i said above (in different words); that the white camp were insistant that there be a 3 in the number, and flames camp were insistant that there not be. so sutter says "we'll give you 3 mil minus five goddamned dollars so that you end up essentially getting 3 mil and we end up looking like a bunch of monkeys in suits."
DEAL !


happy long weekend, everybody...
:)