There is saying in the U.S. that the cure from the problems with democracy is more democracy. Such sentiment is the reason why Arnold Schwarzenegger is Governor of California today.
The cure to the problem of high price free agency is more free agency. With the hockey market being flooded today with free agents this theory will certainly be put to the test. My favourite thing about the pre-signing speculation period is that somehow the Leafs will sign everyone.
It got me thinking though. The consensus wisdom is that the Leafs are in trouble because they can't spend their way out of trouble. However they have another advantage. I don't know the percentage but the number of NHL players from Southern Ontario would be relatively high. If you are an NHL player who grew up idolizing the Leafs and you have a choice of going to Nashville or Toronto where are you going to choose to go? This has already played itself out with Jeff O'Neill. He is a good replacement for Owen Nolan and at $1.5/year much cheaper as well. I will watch with great interest of how this all plays out but things could work out fine for the Blue and White.
