UFA Option: Brian Rolston

Brian Rolston is a player mentioned fairly often when the list of UFA possibilities is discussed. He's looking for big money, likely in the 4-5 million dollar range per season, the kind of retirement contract that used to be the norm in the NHL. The other thing floating around the message boards is that Brian Rolston won't play in Canada, although I've never seen anything from the player himself stating that (if you have,, or know how this rumour got started please let me know below).

Rolston's a nice player, but I don't know if he's worth signing at that price- I don't think he brings enough offense. Let's take a look at his past two seasons.

Time On Ice
2007-08: 14:18 EV, 1:58 SH, 3:47 PP
2006-07: 13:25 EV, 2:38 SH, 5:12 PP

Quality of Competition
2007-08: 5th among Wild forwards
2006-07: 7th among Wild forwards

Points/60 at Even Strength
2007-08: 1.42
2006-07: 1.60

Points/60 at 5-on-4
2007-08: 4.64
2006-07: 5.02

Goal differential/60 at 4-on-5
2007-08: -5.45
2006-07: -3.62

RTSS/60
2007-08: 2.18 Hits, 0.89 BkS, 10.66 Shots
2006-07: 1.48 Hits, 1.30 BkS, 11.03 Shots

Like I said, he's a nice player. He's an excellent penalty-killer, and a good option on the powerplay. He also shoots a ton. At even strength he does well against relatively difficult opposition, and chips in with the scoring at a legitimate second-line rate.

The only problem with Rolston, from my point-of-view, is the dollar figure. He isn't young (35) and if he's looking for a 3-yr+ contract at 4-5M/yr, he just isn't worth it. I'd be leery about signing him past one season at that dollar figure.

Off-topic, I'm out of town starting at some point tonight, and will be gone all weekend, so there may not be any updates on this blog until Monday or Tuesday. I will (hopefully) post a compendium of all my free agent posts in time for July 1st, though.