HICKEY’S TAKE
With every Habs’ win, defence man loses value
ON P.K. SUBBAN: HIS STOCK IS FALLING EACH TIME THE HABS WIN.
Let us assume that defence man P.K. Subban has enough money that he can afford the NHL Network and is able to follow the Canadiens from his home in Toronto.
If he has been paying attention, he will have noticed several things:
The Canadiens are doing fine without him in the lineup.
This team is better than the one that finished last in the Eastern Conference a year ago and Subban would probably enjoy being part of it.
His stock is falling with each Canadiens win.
Make no mistake about it — the Canadiens could be a better team with Subban filling one of the top four defence spots. But there’s no guarantee and Subban’s position becomes more difficult with each day he remains unsigned.
In an interview with colleague Dave Stubbs, Subban said he wants to be compensated for what he brings to the team on and off the ice. It seems to be a fair request, but the reality — as we pointed out here a week ago — is life in the National Hockey League isn’t always fair.
Young players like Subban have little in the way of bargaining power. The NHL collective bargaining agreement limits what they can earn in their first three seasons. After that initial contract, many teams offer “bridge” contracts that give a player the chance to prove he deserves a rich, long-term deal in his third contract.
The landscape in the NHL has changed somewhat with players like Carolina’s Jeff Skinner landing long-term deals while still playing on an entry-level contract. But deals like that run contrary to
It’s time for Subban to get together with the Canadiens and remind everyone that he doesn’t suck.
the thinking in Montreal and that means Subban has a decision to make.
He can take the best short-term deal available from the Canadiens or he can sit at home and watch his erstwhile teammates. He can take a chance that the team will go into a prolonged slump and general manager Marc Bergevin will come begging for his services. He can also run the risk that Bergevin will wake up one morning and decide the best thing to do would be to cut his losses and trade Subban to, say, Edmonton, where there is a need for defence and a plethora of talented young forwards who could come this way.
In the meantime, Subban is hurting his brand. He is playing into the hands of what I call the haters and the doubters — the people who believe he is a selfish and overrated player. Subban answered those charges last season when he changed his playing style, concentrated on playing better defence and led the team in ice time and defence scoring.
Bergevin, Subban and agent Don Meehan met in Toronto Friday and the word is that the defence man will use the weekend to mull over his options. In the meantime, Subban’s absence isn’t going over well at a time when people are still recovering from the prolonged battle over a new CBA. People — including those in the Canadiens organization — don’t take kindly to another off-ice battle.
When the Canadiens played an intrasquad game at the Bell Centre two days before the season opener, there were loud chants of “We want P.K.” The chants weren’t as loud for the opening game, and when the Canadiens beat Florida in Game 2 the only mention of the defence man came from a group of frustrated fans who yelled “P.K. sucks.”
It’s time for Subban to get together with the Canadiens and remind everyone that he doesn’t suck.