Ballard Signs For Six Years

The pieces are falling into place, just like most Florida Panther fans had expected. Keith Ballard, recently traded to the Florida Panthers in a very controversial trade on GM Jacques Martin’s part, for Olli Jokinen. The dollar amount for the contract is uncertain at the moment, but it has indeed gone down.

So Martin keeps dodging bullets, which surprisingly, he has done well. Is it me or does everybody jump on the Florida Panthers bashing wagon? Anyone who reads the famous HF Boards knows that the Panthers are the worst thing to happen to the NHL, on par with Gary Bettman. But who takes those posts personally? Almost all of them are off base and just a terrible attempt to act like they know something about a franchise they know nothing about. The point I’m getting at here, is that, people bash senselessly without looking at the whole picture, or the plan in South Florida. It looks bright, I love what Martin is doing here. The Florida Panthers’ defense is the best it has been in ages. Bash Jacques Martin all you want from a coaching stand point, but he doesn’t let others’ opinions bother him when he’s wheeling and dealing with other GMs. No matter how controversial his moves are, he seems quite confident that they are the right ones to make. I like that kind of character in a General Manager. I think he realized that his coaching days were done this past summer, I suppose blowing one goal leads in the third period at most games didn’t really sink in with him. I’m pretty sure Alan Cohen, the Florida Panthers owner, gave Martin an ultimatum. Why wouldn’t he? I’d be sick to my stomach too if I saw how much money I was throwing into a black hole of unprofessional management that this franchise used to have. The point I’m making is, Martin belongs where he does, thus why he signed a contract extension, no longer is he behind the bench, say good bye to those days, pal.

So with Martin in the position that he is in, it’s not looking all that bad, some see this Ballard signing as a precursor to something bigger. Martin has always been mysterious and poker faced when it comes to trade talks or even rumors. McCabe who? Basically the way he went about that whole deal before it went down. Claiming he hasn’t watched him and had no idea where the rumors were coming from. Okay, so maybe sometimes it’s easy to see through, especially when TSN calls it a done deal two weeks prior.

This is why it’s tough to tell what will happen next. Welcome to the Jay Bouwmeester saga, friends. This is just getting started. Keith Ballard signing six years could mean a few things.

One: Martin knows the possibility of signing Jay Bouwmeester is pretty much nonexistent and wanted to lock Ballard up long term to have a credible replacement when or if Bouwmeester leaves (which I believe was the whole point of the Jokinen trade.)

Two: This signing along with the Van Ryn / McCabe trade shows that Martin is committed to winning, and wants Jay Bouwmeester to sign next to be apart of this team for when they make the playoffs. Notice that I said when, not if, but when. I really do think they have the chance.

If Jay Bouwmeester doesn’t sign before the deadline, you can pretty much bank on him not being apart of the squad anymore. If I had to guess, he’d be shipped out for some type of good forward and solid defense man package. I wouldn’t expect a pick or prospect. That’s at the trade deadline anyway.

I’ll tell you what, if the Panthers did only get back a medium or good prospect and a pick, I wouldn’t be surprised at all, after all guys, this is the Florida Panthers, ok chalk it up to Keenan for the incredibly ignorant moves, but Martin isn’t exactly an experienced GM, but I have faith.

If the Panthers come out and play a good first half and sustain at least one good winning streak in the second half (maybe 6 wins in a row? They’ve done it before, quite a few times.) They will have a great chance of making the playoffs.

Honest.