LAK have been great since signing Fiala, and, IMO, just under 8 M isn’t huge for a star first liner. With that sort of attitude we’d never sign any star players for what they are worth.
Instead we gave Boldy a big contract. I really like him, but we could’ve gone a different route with, bridging him, and paying him the big bucks later, when Zucc’s contract was up, and we had a a lot of ELC talent. At this point, Boldy isn’t close to being as good as Fiala, yet is being paid only 1M less. I understand that there are other factors at work, but to this day, I think Guerin somehow allowed his emotions to get in the way in dealing with Fiala’s agent, causing him to botch the negotiations. He also overvalued grit, and character, and undervalued skill and flat out talent.
It’s true that winning teams need grit and character, but make no mistake, you get talent first(either defensive or offensive), then flesh out the rest later. You don’t get a Barclay Goodrow first, then look for a Stamkos, Hedman, or Kucherov. DeBrusk first, the look for a Pastrnak or Bergeron. Mario Tremblay first, the look for a Beliveau, Robinson, or Cournoyer. I could go on, and on.
I value defensive play highly, and know that there is a place for toughness and grit, but you always nail down your star scorers (you are lucky if you can get three), a goalie, a C, and two really good Dmen.
You then fill out the rest of your roster. You don’t nail down peripheral players like Foligno and Greenway at the expense of a first line star…nvm Goligoski, whatever the hell he is. Even Zuccarello, as much as I like him and think is doing great….you don’t keep him over a guy who is more talented, and 9 years younger, I don’t care how good he is. I still think that Guerin could’ve kept both, but if it came down to it, I’d have Zucc walk the plank every time.