Meet Jeff Hamilton.
When the Leafs signed him out of the minors on March 5th and inserted him directly into the line-up that same night, it was a head-scratcher to say the least. At least for most of us, who aren't exactly scouting the AHL for 30 year old UFA's.
Seven games later, the 5'10" right winger has two goals and a pair of assists and has provided speed and the intensity we saw in Moore. He even scored a beauty shootout goal last night, which of course, doesn't show up in his stats.
So the Leafs take on another reclamation project it would seem, although maybe one with even more upside when you look deeper:
HAMILTON's Career NHL pts/game before signing here = .503
MOORE'S Career NHL pts/game before signing here = .220
Some were pretty insistent that Burke had foolishly traded away an incredible player in Moore. Ottawa fans, mostly. I hate to say it, but Moore is pointless in 6 games since joining the Sabres. I wish no ill will on Moore and think he's a solid fella, but his ask of $2.5M a year was way too much and Burke knew it. Hamilton seems to be filling the same role, so far, and one would think if he keeps up his play the Leafs may have just replaced Moore at a fraction of the cost.
Not too shabby.
No comments:
Post a Comment