Oh no, I can't make up my mind. It's all so hard. On one hand I want to play with my BFF Sidney. Sure is a lot of upside to playing on that line. Marty Brodeur won't STOP calling me since he re-signed. I like New Jersey buuuuuuuut I"m from Minnesota and boy would it be dandy to go back home. Yes, back home would be nice.
ENOUGH! Jesus Zach, you saw this coming, you had to. You knew 20 teams would line up and you had to know enormous amounts would be discussed. Didn't you discuss this with your agent? This smells to me as of now no matter who gets him he's going to have a rough transition if he's still this conflicted.
You don't think things get more complicated when the reality of the decision starts to set in?
You don't think given New Jersey's complicated ownership situation that it's not adding another layer of complication for him? He likely does want to stay in NJ in many ways, which is totally fair and reasonable, but he likely has some very fair and reasonable concerns that are hard to sort through. He'd be taking less money to play on a team that likely will not be able to stay competitive in the coming years.
Then you have the other teams likely in the mix: Detroit, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Philadelphia...
Minnesota is going "home" for him, and from what the Wild brass has said, they're certainly willing to pay him more than enough money to make it worth his while to come "home." But the Wild aren't exactly a contender now, are they? Difficult decision.
Pittsburgh has the Crosby angle working for them. Sid and Parise have history and Sid's arguably the face of the game right now. Pittsburgh also has the Crosby angle working against them. Crosby's a hard check away from retirement and given his recent contract and the Pens overall financial situation, I'd bet that the Pens offer is for significantly less money than any other team in the mix.
Then you've got Chicago, Detroit and Philadelphia. All teams are capable of being contenders; two of them have won the Cup in the last five years and one has made it to the Semi's and Finals in the same span. All teams have likely thrown big money at him, and all are attractive destinations in many ways. All three have positives and negatives though as well.
Bottom line, I don't think this is an easy decision for him, and no matter how many times you play it in your head, until you have to face the reality and actually sort through the deals and talk to the teams (which you cannot do before July 1, it's all merely informed conjecture/speculation/fantasy/darts...give the guy time. I expect he'll make a decision by tomorrow at 6 PM, just two days and change past the start of free agency.
Two days in which he must decide what the next 10-12 or more years of his life will look like. I think we fans can manage for another 24 hours.
And hell, it's better news than him signing in Pittsburgh, isn't it? Count your blessings, there's still hope!
As if this is the only time he's had to consider this? It ain't like he's suddenly been put on the f***in spot to decide the rest of his future. Pick a team ****** and make it snappy!
esteef
See above.
And this is why, in the new CBA, the NHL really needs to institute a week or two for teams to negotiate with UFAs before they're allowed to sign.
Concur. I started adding this to my previous long post but cut it as it was already getting long. It's silly that we put so much added pressure on these guys to decide their futures just because Twitter exists and no one knows how to wait for anything anymore.
I'd like to see anyone here have to make a major life decision of comparable weight as swiftly as they'd like to see Parise make his decision.
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