“He’s been a very good player for us and
we’ve had great value for what we’re paying him,” Maloney
told Fox Sports Arizona. “I feel like we’re always fair in our
contracts, my idea of fair and other camps’ idea may be different,
but when you look at his numbers, he’s probably earned more.”
Vrbata, 32, is in the final year of a three-year,
$9 million deal with an average annual value of $3 million. While
Maloney’s assertion is rare for a GM, who openly admits he got a
steal of a deal? it ultimately rings true. The skillful Czech
finished second on the team in scoring last year, with 28 points, and
finished 11th in the NHL in goalscoring in 2011-12, with 35. (To put
that number in perspective, it was more goals scored than Rick
Nash, Bobby
Ryan and John
Tavares).
Vrbata’s goals were crucial scores as well. He
tied Tampa Bay’s Steve
Stamkos for the league lead in game-winners (12), pushing Phoenix
to its first-ever Pacific Division championship. Vrbata sounds as
though he wants to stay in Phoenix and, after briefly leaving the
organization to sign in Tampa for the 2008-09 season, realizes the
desert is a good fit for him.
“Phoenix is the place where I’ve had the
most success, where we like it as a family and where I like it as a
hockey player,” Vrbata explained. “All the people around
the team, Tip, Don, Shane (Doan) and the players, they make it a
great situation for me. I wanted to be here even when the ownership
situation was in limbo. With this new ownership group in place, it
makes it even more appealing.”
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