The whole point is that there is more at play than simple 'player value' when addressing those deals though, which has been the entire point all along. Taylor Hall was never a 'Hart-trophy calibre talent' in Edmonton and finding a deal that would return us a 'top 30 player' at any position while also fitting our financial needs was ambitious. The Edmonton Oilers never had the trade leverage to make that deal. The Jordan Eberle deal moreso. The writing was on the wall this was a player the Edmonton Oilers could not afford to keep.
The New Jersey Devils are a team that batted well above their expected average this season. They latched onto the back of a player having a career season and barely scraped into the dance. Crediting Ray Shero for building a quality product is very premature. And again we're talking about a GM who took over a team with one of the league's lowest payrolls, a quality defense and high end prospect cabinet. They were a couple years removed from a Stanley Cup Finals appearance. People need to stop comparing other teams to the Oilers because its ultimately ignoring the key point. The turnaround the new GM was faced with in Edmonton was a significant one.
And it constantly baffles me that this comment continuously gets made when no one addresses these points at face value. I could give two hoots about his time in Boston. He had a completely different set of challenges there. The moves he made were coordinated with them, not some magic GM aura that he carries with him that makes him spend ludicrous cap dollars and make significant player deals. It constantly baffles me that some people are so obtuse when it comes to seeing the job that sat in front of the GM who took over from the previous era. Do you sincerely think that was an enviable post? Sure, you get McDavid, but that team was due for an enema.
