KennyBanyeah
Buckle up!!
Part of me wonders if he is just sitting in his lake house up there in Ontario knowing he is going to sign in Columbus. He's just been watching the chaos and slowly smiling more and more.
He has said that he thought the Sens offer was "fair", and that was rumored to be 8x8. He just wasn't sure that he could trust the direction of the team. He also said in an interview last week that all of this "who I grew up rooting for" and "love country music" stuff isn't even factoring in. It's a hockey and life decision. Bottom line - he wants a place with a chance to win that is also a good place to raise his kid.
Just by waiting he is likely going to get 2-2.5m more per year on a decision he's probably already made.
I'm a big fan of Matt Duchene but don't believe ANYTHING he says in the press. At least not since he left Colorado. Since demanding a trade there he will say "all the right things" to the media. The best example is calling the Sens offer fair. Melnyk and his boy toy did not offer lockout protection in the form of big signing bonuses on July 1st every year. That's what players of Duchene's calibre get. To call that fair shows that him and his agent are full of shit and have been in image repair mode since Colorado. He wants to cash in come July 1st and I don't blame him.
I hope he signs in Columbus but wherever he signs it won't be because he feels it's his best chance to win. He'll get paid and he'll like it for his family.