St. Manny, the Benevolent

I have heard this tale before. The mythical center who rides into town, takes 1/2 pay to play for your team.

He of the penalty kill acumen. He of the defensive prowess. He of the offensive talents.

Oh, holy is that man.

Joking aside, Manny Malhotra is an absolute saint. He took a one year deal at a cap hit of $700,000 (turning down a four year offer from Atlanta for $8MM in the process), to play with San Jose. He wants to be on a winner.

He’s exactly what the lower lines needed.

We’ve jumped in to his stats before, but here’s the bare bones. He’s coming off his best career season, in which he scored 35 points. He tallied 11 goals and 24 assists, and 3 of his goals were game winners. He’s a great penalty killer and a solid defensive forward.

I was a big supporter of bringing Goc back, but if you gave me the choice between the two, I would pick Malhotra every day of the week and twice on Sunday. I’m not trying to make the signing sound like it’s on the same level as bringing Heatley in (I’ve ran into trouble with not clarifying before). He’s not a world beater, but he’s a good fit. I was excited when he was signed, but now that the contract is finalized, I couldn’t love the guy more. It’s an amazing steal.

All in all, you usually don’t sign a player in his prime who just had his best year to a 50% discount, but that’s exactly what the Doug Wilson just did.

Praise be to Doug.