This is a pretty cheap, low risk signing.
I assumed the Kings would resign Lias and AA on low salary short term contracts to have an opportunity to really evaluate them during a full season.
So many folks kept saying the Kings wouldn't resign Lias or AA -- and I was like... whoa, that's weird. Of course they will -- they were pretty good players.
It's a no brainer to give them short contracts to determine if they end up in the long term plans of the team. I imagine one of these players are with the Kings when they win the cup in four years. (Don't call me out -- I'm just a Kings fan -- and optimistic).
MayorsManor was wrong when they said AA wouldn't be resigned. And the folks that parroted MayorsManor were also wrong. It just goes to show that as human beings with brains -- we as individuals know as much as any blogging site.
If you have an idea -- don't quote a blogging site. Just quote your own brain -- it's probably right more often.
Cheers.
CabbagesandKings
- Cabbages and Kings
To be fair, I don't think Mayor's Manor ever said that LA wasn't going to re-sign Athanasiou. They said that the Kings were likely not going to qualify him, since they didn't want to be beholden to the arbitration reward if he elected to go that route. They were pretty clear that the Kings wanted to bring him back on a reasonable short-term deal, but that they would prefer to let him become a UFA instead of letting him go to arbitration.
In the end, the Kings were able to negotiate a one-year deal that avoided arbitration. AA got a pretty substantial pay increase, but nothing that prevented the Kings from making the other moves that they wanted to.
I'm generally not a Hoven fan, but I don't think they were wrong about anything in this case.