Let me try.
Fedorov's drop in play was evident to everyone in hockey while he was in Columbus. In a move that flummoxed stat junkies everywhere, he looked like a completely different player in a Caps sweater under BB's system. I don't think there is a surefire way of knowing how a player will react to a new situation.
Nope.
Feds was on his last legs. Everyone knew it, and that didnt change in coming to DC.
Ribs is in his "prime". It was far easier to see his ceiling. Heck, it can be argued that Ribs reached his ceiling in DC. And yet still McPhee let him walk.
Stop defending George. I get that he is probably the only Caps GM you have ever known, but the flaws in his team building are well known, his inability to make a winner is obvious.
McPhee's Caps are the by product of one lucky Ping Pong ball (Ovechkin). His teams have won THREE playoff series in 14 years. That is absurd.
I simply shake my head at posters that continually blame everything but McPhee for the Caps failures. He is the freaking General Manager. Its his team, his choices, his everything.
Bad coach? George's choice
Bad draft? George's choice
Bad contract? George's choice
Bad trade? George's choice
ALL of it is his choice, with a mostly unlimited budget! 3 series wins in 14 years! I dont see a series win this year (probably wont even make the playoffs).
So us Caps fans get to celebrate one measly stinking series win every 5 years?
Any other industry...and I mean ANY, that track record gets you fired a long long long time ago.
So many blinders on.