Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Lightning sign Mattias Ohlund



















UPDATED

-TSN reports that contract is for 7 years at 3.75 million a season
-The terms are for 7 years for for 26.25 million which is front loaded over 5 years then drops off

Since I live in Vancouver, I have seen a lot of Ohlund. He's a great stay at home defenceman that still has a bit of an offensive side to him. He will be tough when he needs to be, hitting guys into the boards or into the bench and can hold his own in a fight. Clearly one of his roles is to be a mentor for Victor Hedman which I think he will do a fantastic job of. In Vancouver when Bieksa went down with a lacerated calf injury Edler was brought up from the farm as a rookie. Edler was put on the pairing with Ohlund for the season and by the end of it, we could count on Edler being a solid defenceman. I'm excited to see Ohlund get the money he was looking for that Vancouver couldn't give, plus I can still cheer for him since he's moved from one favorite team to the other.

2 comments:

  1. Perfect Swedish mentor for Hedman. Good mentor for Andrej Meszaros also, now that I think about it. If the Lightning were going to go out and get a guy, this is the type of player they should be going after. 7 years is a big much, but he seems like a perfect fit.

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  2. I agree. I've seen how great of a job he did with Edler in Vancouver, and he will be an awesome mentor for Hedman. The contract is not bad since it's so front loaded, where the bulk is spread mostly in the first 5 years.

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