Richard Gynge made his best season ever in the SHL.
Despite this, Växjö did not want to extend.
Now the club explains why.
– Then we can not spend so much money on a player, says sports director Henrik Evertsson to HockeyNews.
Richard Gynge comes from a real great season with Växjö Lakers where he accounted for a full 48 points in 52 games. The star has been prominent in the SHL for many years, but he has never managed to score so many points in one and the same season before.
Ready for play in HA
It was therefore surprising when the news came that Växjö will not extend with the star, who on Monday instead finished for AIK in the Hockeyallsvenskan. Swing has been a bit of a crowd favorite in Växjö, and many have questioned the Lakers’ choice not to make any major attempts to keep the star.
Now Henrik Evertsson, sports manager at the club, explains why. He says that he can not look at it as a “regular” supporter, but goes for an overall picture.
– It is partly Richard’s age, and that includes how many more we have. We have “Robban” (Robert Rosén) who is the same age and you may not want to be seated with two very expensive players of that age who can “dip” at the same time. Richard scores a lot of points but is also a fairly distinct scoring player and may not have his strength in the two-way game that way, Evertsson tells HockeyNews.
“Then we can not put so much”
Evertsson believes, however, that there are no hard feelings between Växjö and Gynge.
– This is always the case with a high-profile, high-paying player, and you always get to a point where you end up with “the big picture”. We need to reinforce something else. Then we can not spend so much money on a player but we need to spread more. You have to live with that when you are in that professional category, he says.
He does not want to answer whether Gynge and the Lakers discussed a possible continuation.
– Do not want to go into it but it is a decision we make and then how we come to it, I do not intend to sit and say that he demanded this or that. This is where we simply landed and how we did it we keep to ourselves.
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