Why Marco Sturm?!

In my last post I praised Mike Gillis for his move of going on the radio and defending his team and goalie against a very poorly written editorial. However, I will now slam him for the Marco Sturm signing. A signing I am still trying to figure out, especially at $2.25 million and that through six games he is a minus five and that's his only stat. But that's not my biggest problem. My biggest problem is for that $2.25 million, Marco Sturm was your best choice?! I find that very hard to believe. Here are several Forwards I would much rather have:



-Raffi Torres - Just was a Canuck and part of the best third line in the league last year. Signed a two year $3.75 million contract with Phoenix. In the long run its another year and $1.50 million in total, but when you have a shut-down third line and a guy that can check, score, and fight, you keep him. This is still confusing to me. If Raffi wouldn't of stayed for equal money then he had a problem with teammates or management.

-Patrick Eaves - The Red Wings locked up Eaves for three years at $1.2 million per season. He has been a solid third liner and penalty killer the last three years, and been a 20+ point player the last two seasons. I would of much rather had Eaves, if for effort only, for more money and more years.

-Jamie Langenbrunner - He signed a one year deal with the Blues this past offseason for $2.7 million, which is a little bit more than Sturm, but he has three points in seven games. Granted he is a minus 3, but for a little more money I would much rather have a guy that can score, and spend some time on the PP and PK. For the return Langenbrunner would be better.

-Fabian Brunnstrom - This is more a Dark Horse candidate, but I believe the Canucks could of taken the approach the Red Wings did. A Swedish player with a lot of talent on a roster loaded with them. And at one year $600,000 it was well worth at least giving him a shot.

There are several more, but nothing special. I am not going off on Mike today, but I just find it hard to believe that Marco Sturm at $2.25 million for one year was, at any point, a good idea for this team. He hasn't proven in the last decade he is a good player at $1 million per season. You have a team that just went to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals and is in a phenomenal city with a great fan base. You should not have to overpay mediocre talent.