i guess that is a good deal for carolina fans.

Posted by gretzky_to_lemieux on 02/22/12 at 04:12 PM ET

WOW Rutherford is a Clown ! The Pens Signed Neal for 5 Mill a yr. & he signs a injury plagued guy for 4 Yrs. @ 4.75 Mill a yr. ?

Posted by Evilpens on 02/22/12 at 04:38 PM ET

Great player.  Very seriously overpaid.  But it takes a little extra to keep a guy in Raleigh.  Rutherford has to weigh this against the cost of winning a FA bid, so it is a good move.  But there’s a damn good chance that this contract becomes notorious.

Posted by tuxedoTshirt from the Home of the 1937 World Champions on 02/22/12 at 04:41 PM ET

stop overusing Great Player ! He is NOT a Great Player & neither is James Neal at this point ]

Posted by Evilpens on 02/22/12 at 04:45 PM ET

Staal and Ruutu is a combined $13M. That’s a few million too much.

Posted by Moq from Denmark on 02/22/12 at 04:46 PM ET

Well, I mean it loosely.  Not Staal or Skinner great, just great to have on the roster.  He is expensive, but he is also a guy that most teams in the league showed some interest in.  If you got him, you’d be like, “great”.

Posted by tuxedoTshirt from the Home of the 1937 World Champions on 02/22/12 at 05:18 PM ET

I think, right now, Ruutu is probably priced about right here. Maybe half a million too much, but that’s nothing to really worry about.

However, I think, in 2 or so years, this is gonna be a tough one to swallow for the ‘Canes. Ruutu’s style of play lends itself to injuries and I think what we’re seeing now is just the beginning. And if he tones down his play to compensate, then he’s no longer nearly as effective, and thus, not even close to being worth his salary.

Rutherford is usually one of the wiser guys when it comes to not overpaying, so I’m a little surprised by this one.

I also wonder if they kicked the tires the ol’ Keith Tkachuk special, trading him and then re-signing in the off season.

Posted by Chris M. on 02/22/12 at 05:21 PM ET

I believe the Jim Rutherford has finally realized that his team cannot afford to keep casting off UFAs to get draft choices, which they never have time enough to develop.  The plan looks to be to keep the guys who can help and let the rest go where they may.  Unfortunately, most the the other guys are the future and they are far from stars.  Many are actually far from professional hockey players.

Someone commented that the Hurricanes have $13 million cap hit between Staal and Ruutu.  This is true.  Most of the excess in that is in Staal’s contract.  He appears to be playing better right now, but he will never be the best player on the team.  Give Jeff Skinner a while to mature and he will be the team leader.  At the age of 19, Skinner is outplaying Staal and Ruutu right now.

I suspect Bryan Allen will be around next year two.  The ‘Canes need for defensemen is unbelievably desperate. 

Doc

Posted by DocF on 02/22/12 at 05:34 PM ET

This was signed to keep a hardworking, tough as nails, veteran on a club that has too few playoff-experienced veterans. 

With the loss of Erik Cole, that became even more important, a lesson I think JR obviously learned, because he signed both Ruutu and Gleason.

Bryan Allen, I’d say you’d better check the house rental market.

Posted by DidJussiThat? from Raleigh on 02/22/12 at 07:16 PM ET

Neal deal’s looking pretty, pretty good.

Still, I don’t think this is anything stupid on Rutherford’s part. I assume an open-market replacement would cost him about as much and do a lot less. Ruutu can be a useful player even when he’s not scoring. Your Leinos or Kopeckys are just dead weight when they aren’t putting pucks in net.

Posted by larry from pitt on 02/22/12 at 08:17 PM ET

Also has a Limited NMC Clause ! God that is TERRIBLE

Posted by Evilpens on 02/22/12 at 08:35 PM ET

A limited NMC (as opposed to a full NMC, which is what Dany Heatley and Nash have) doesn’t tie a GMs hands that much. All it is is an agreement not to bury him in the minor leagues or waive him, plus a list of 5 or 10 teams he can veto a trade to, most of which would be teams that wouldn’t have any need to acquire him, anyway.

I assume, should they wish to trade Ruutu (don’t see why they would), the discussion would go something like this:

Rutherford: I have a few offers, who are the 5 teams Ruutu doesn’t want to go to, again?
Agent: Islanders, Edmonton, Phoenix, Columbus and Winnipeg.
Rutherford: Yeah, well, none of them called. Tell your client to pack his bags while I decide where he’s going.

Posted by larry from pitt on 02/22/12 at 08:45 PM ET

A bit too much for Ruutu, he’s a good player but so injury prone he’ll never live up to this deal.

stop overusing Great Player ! He is NOT a Great Player & neither is James Neal at this point
Posted by Evilpens on 02/22/12 at 03:45 PM ET

As much as at it pains me to say this, I believe Neal is a great player at this point.  He’s on pace for a 40-goal season.  I know he plays with Malkin bought the other jo wingers couldn’t do it with Crosby.

Posted by statelouis26 from Detroit, MI on 02/22/12 at 11:24 PM ET

James Neal is indeed a great player. I have no idea why the Stars let him go.

As for Rutherford’s signing habits?

I wish I was Bryan Allen right now.

Jim Rutherford is like the guy who goes to Pawn Stars with a $20 toy robot and goes out of there thinking it’s worth a million bucks because it’s valued at $40.

Posted by George Malik from South Lyon, MI on 02/23/12 at 12:24 AM ET

George because Dallas desperately wanted a PMD man & Pens desperately needed a W & the Stars made the Pens take Niskanen who was BAD after getting to Pgh. But this season He had been real good for Pens

Posted by Evilpens on 02/23/12 at 02:49 PM ET