Cristobal Huet is off to Chicago...
...enter Jose Theodore
No, wait. Scratch that. Perhaps the order of events is reversed.
Last February, a top-flight goaltender fell into the Caps’ lap – Cristobal Huet. And, even though they were not perhaps looking for a goaltender, the offer was too good to pass up. It relegated Olaf Kolzig to the bench (and, ultimately, to Tampa Bay…the Bill Ranford cycle is complete).
It was a case where, if Kolzig was not pushed out the door, then he was nudged aside by an opportunity presented.
Well, today, the tables might have been turned. As JP points out at Japers’ Rink…
“When a player specifically asks a team for an offer of a certain duration and dollar amount, the team makes that offer and the player walks away, that's not "hit[ting] a couple snags." It's something, but it's not that.”
It occurs to us that the “what” isn’t that complicated. The Caps couldn’t wait anymore, and while Huet might have liked Washington, might have asked for a three-year, $15 million deal that the club was willing to provide, but wanted to “test the waters,” anyway, the testing of the waters inched a little too close to the deadline (and maybe beyond), and there was Theodore – the next opportunity (this one born of necessity) – just outside the door.
Perhaps it wasn’t a case of the deal “falling apart,” as Huet’s agent indicated. It might have expired of natural causes…that cause being “time.” It might have been that the Caps simply couldn’t wait anymore.
4 comments:
I mentioned this on Japers' blog, but I post it here, too. Today, on a French-language radio station, Huet said that after they got the deal from Chicago, they went back to the Caps to see if they would match it. McPhee said no and moved on.
After the Caps had already agreed to what he wanted...
Business is business, and one should never let emotions get the better of one, but the more I think about it, the more I think it's just as well he's in Chicago. I don't have the feeling it's going to work out for him there, except for the check-cashing part.
I don't blame McPhee: given what Huet and his camp already done, who's to say they don't then go back to Chicago and get them to try and bid higher, etc, and try and get a bidding war going? Mean while, Theodore comes off the board...then the Caps really would have been in trouble.
I agree with Peerless: I don't see Huet having a lot of success in Chicago because I just don't think that team is going to be that good for at least another couple seasons.
You've captured it just right, PP. McPhee HAD to make sure he had a top goalie, and couldn't afford to wait. It was absolutely the right move to make.
I'll bet it works out better for the Caps.
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