When Steve Yzerman lured George McPhee into taking Jason Garrison in the Expansion Draft, Lightning fans thought that they had seen the last of the #5 sweater. That was not to be the case, and Yzerman signed Dan Girardi on Day 1 of Free Agency Frenzy to a two-year, $6 million pact.
Often called one of the worst signings of the offseason, NHL fans including myself were not deterred from complaining about Yzerman’s decision making. But when I came to the realization that this was reality and not wacky GM’ing in an NHL video game, I started to create my own expectations for Girardi’s role in this club over the next two years.