Mason Raymond? Let me tell you about Raymond.
He has blazing speed and can make some amazing rushes up the ice.
He is a great PK'er
Above average passer.
Very strong in the D zone.
He is a total perimeter player. His patented move is to gain the O zone, do a button hook and curl away from the boards to the centre and then either make a dumb pass or get knocked off the puck. He has absolutely no board play.
He is a capable 20+ goal scorer on the right team, great shot.
Last season he was still recovering from the broken back he received in the SCF against Boston.
The big knock on him is his lack of physical play. On a big team he is a good complimentary player but on a small team or soft team he is just one more small, soft player. Vancouver needed to turn the page because we need size and grit. He was no longer performing up to expectations and seemed to lose his confidence.
He was seldom benched or seldom a healthy scratch. He was one of those players that AV gave a ton of ice time too and plenty of opportunity to be that offensive sniper we needed. He just couldn't do it. He is a streak scorer, seems unstoppable for 2-3 games then disappears for 20 or so.
He definitely would benefit from a fresh start but you have to know what you get. He is a complimentary player not the guy to build around. I think he is holding out for a 3-4 year deal around the 3 million range but I would be a little hesitant to sign him at that. Perhaps a 2 year 2-2.5 per deal to prove himself on a new team.