Why hasn't Sykora been signed?

I'll be the first to tell you that guys are going to be left out of NHL clubs because of the salary cap and the increased use of young players on ELC's, but sometimes you fall over an odd one.

Why hasn't Petr Sykora been signed yet?

Is there something going on?

Sykora had 25 goals, 21 assists for 46 points in 76 games. In his career, he's played 921 games and has 674 points - including 300 goals. Not too shabby.

He made 2.5 million last year - and I would imagine would settle for the same, maybe even as low as 2.2 - maybe as high as 2.75 depending on the length. Hmmm...sounds pretty good to me. A part of me wishes we acquire him and cut some of the plethora of fat we have. Why not? Stick him on line 3 with Regin and Shannon (Kelly's been traded by now) and you have a hell of a line 3 or 2B.

But if you're a team that desperately is looking for offence, wouldn't this be the first place you look? Mid-tiered prices for a skilled, crafty forward who's had a ton of NHL success?

Where's Atlanta in all of this? Edmonton? Vancouver? Anyone?

I don't understand.

Personally, I think his numbers are inflated. He played a regular shift with Malkin. Having said that, I find it hard to believe that he isn't signed yet. I would be really surprised if he isn't signed later in the summer when teams start to figure out their cap situation. Who knows, maybe he gets a better offer in Europe.

The guy was a healthy scratch in the playoffs for the Penguins. I'm not sure why, but there's gotta be an alarm going off for GMs because of that.

Plus, he's getting on in age, he's slow, and he's too one-dimensional. He doesn't play two-way hockey, and unless he has an elite, elite center on his line, he won't be creating shots for himself.

To be honest, why aren't we talking about a guy like Tanguay? Viktor Kozlov?

Tanguay will be done soon. Florida is real close according to RDS. He's looking for 4 years apparently. He's got the offers, he's just weighing the options.

I thought V.Kozlov signed in Europe?

SpezDispenser wrote:I'll be the first to tell you that guys are going to be left out of NHL clubs because of the salary cap and the increased use of young players on ELC's, but sometimes you fall over an odd one.

Spez> as you know, this is a subject we have discussed on several occasions on the forum.

Sykora's an excellent example of a player who has basically priced himself out of job, as younger and cheaper players provide a better ratio of a value/performance.

He may get another shot, but probably not on his terms.