This franchise has been looking for a defenseman like ADA since Leetch and fans have been clamoring for that as well. Now you guys can't wait to get rid of him. SMH.
Well this has been 18 months in the making. And it's not like this is an executive board voting on who stays and goes. We're just passengers.
But the glimpses of Tony were there two seasons ago. Then we acquired Fox. And a ton of people here really wanted Shattenkirk bought out despite the cap crunch, and a good portion of them had Trouba in the crosshairs for a long time. And then after we locked up the right side with Lundkvist developing, we went and dropped a ton of money on Panarin that a lot of people were dying for despite the cap implications.
So sometimes you get what you ask for. Gorton pulled the trigger but a lot of fans were clamoring for all these moves. There are 2 right d absolutely entrenched on this team, plus ADA. There is one left d playing way above his head as a rookie and then nothing. There is one legit center and another holding it down that fans are running out of town. There is one legit right wing that is an afterthought in trades. The goal is to build a cup team. And stacking everything on left wing and right d just doesn't feel like the winning formula.
I'm not saying that every person asked for the same moves, but they were all consensus. This was a pretty obvious outcome every step of the way. It's kind of unfortunate that Gorton hit the crossroads for goalie and right d after covid, but blowing the cap every single season and routinely buying out players is finally biting us in the ass.