When teams say they bring in a player due to “leadership” and other intangibles, many fans tend to roll their eyes. But when a team brings in a player that makes the team better AND improves the locker room? That’s the holy grail right there.
Take the Dallas Stars, for instance. Last year, they grabbed the big fish of Free Agency in Alexander Radulov, who turned out to energize his fellow teammates in addition to putting up big points. And the Stars seem to have found a similar spirit this past offseason in fellow Russian Anton Khudobin:
“We do play a game, and he’s one of the guys that recognizes that,” Stars coach Jim Montgomery said.