Well, that’s pretty much been his line on Leighton ever since the end of the SCF. :)

The key word is “optimistic” – there are no guarantees with that word. IMHO, he’s just deflecting away the topic altogether, which is what he should do until the whole Nabokov situation plays itself out.

I’ll expound a bit here – Homer really has two courses of action: 1) get a top-notch goaltender like Nabokov and hopefully be able to upgrade the defense a bit using as much creativity as he can in his future moves, or 2) if option #1 fails, sign Leighton and make every move possible to solidify and improve the defense before the beginning of the season. Frankly, I’d feel good with either option (sure, I prefer option #1, but option #2 certainly isn’t bad). Of course, the cap is going to be a major factor in the decision, so really it boils down to Nabby and his agent.