For as long as I can remember, the Edmonton Oilers have had a tough time attracting big-name free agents. Obviously Edmonton isn’t the most desirable destination at the moment due to the fact that they’re in a perpetual race for Hall Nugent-Hopkins Yakupov whoever the first overall pick is. Even when the Oilers were good, the weather seemed to be a big turn-off for a lot of players. It’s tough. Would you rather chill by a pool between games or would you rather chill, literally, in a place that is occasionally colder than the surface of Mars?
In recent years, the Winnipeg Jets joined the Oilers in their cold weather struggles. Similarly, the Jets haven’t been very good since moving to Winnipeg from Atlanta so that doesn’t help very much, either. That seems like it’s about to change.
The Winnipeg Jets have experienced much more success this year than they have in the past few seasons. Who knows why, whether it be something in the water, some kind of magic, or something else that’s completely and utterly unexplainable, something about this team just seems different.
Then there’s the team I often yell and scream about, the Toronto Maple Leafs. They play in the so-called centre of the hockey universe and have all the money in the world. In fact, the Leafs have so much money that they’re paying a bunch of players not to play for them. Unfortunately and somewhat surprisingly, this hasn’t translated into any success as of late.
Which lead me to this burning question…
You’re an NHL player. You’re a UFA. The two teams with the most interest are Winnipeg and Toronto. Same money, same term. Where do you sign?
— Steve Dangle Glynn (@Steve_Dangle) February 2, 2015
The answers may surprise you…
@Steve_Dangle KHL — Adam Herman (@AdamHerman_BSB) February 2, 2015
Oh… Well that wasn’t an option but OK.
@Steve_Dangle Metallurg Magnitogorsk — Winging It In Motown (@wingingitmotown) February 2, 2015
Again, I’m asking whether or not you would sign in Winnipeg or Toronto! Gosh… OK let’s try again.
@wingingitmotown @Steve_Dangle see, I would have gone with Admiral Vladivostok, just to go somewhere where the Leafs couldn’t find me.
— Cutler Klein (@CutlerKlein) February 2, 2015
ARGH! KHL teams do not count, especially the expansion ones! Is anybody going to take this seriously?!?
@Steve_Dangle How old and how good am I?
— Andrew Berkshire (@AndrewBerkshire) February 2, 2015
A good question, Jerkshire. A player’s decision to sign somewhere is based on many factors, and one of those is usually what point they are at in their career. Just to give an example, I said Mike Santorelli. There’s a 29-year-old player, pending unrestricted free agent, and ready for a pretty decent payday.
@Steve_Dangle Winnipeg
— Andrew Berkshire (@AndrewBerkshire) February 2, 2015
There you have it. It’s 1-0 Jets. If the last nine games have been any indication, that should be more than enough to beat the Leafs.
Since nobody on Twitter seemed to take this seriously, I will pose the question to you. If you were an unrestricted free agent and your only two options are Winnipeg and Toronto, where would you rather sign?
[polldaddy poll=8628434]
