Snow deserves a lot of credit

[YearlyLottery]

Snow was not placed in a perfect situation. Milbury gave him no prospects and basically no team. So let's look into some of the questionable decisions Snow has made over the years.

Ryan Smyth:

Hindsight is great and all but this was highway robbery at the time for Edmonton, we gave them a first and two of our best prospects for not even half a season and Ryan Smyth. And if you believe rumors he traded Blake at the deadline as well

The 08 Draft:

Many could not understand why Snow kept trading down in this draft. Filatov was the answer and WE knew that but why couldn't Garth get that through his thick skull? Got some really solid guys out of this draft so this is a win for Snow.

The trading up to get CDH:

After the hype from JT I thought we were going to draft another foward but Snow stuck to his guns and drafted a smallish defenseman with loads of hockey IQ. I'm sure many will say this is already a win but I'll wait until the end of the year to see how he develops and how he holds up. I would say this is still in progress.

This is where MANY start to question his decisions..

Tim Thomas:


El Nino:
Everybody knows Isles are in need of goaltending help. Two young studs out there in Schnieder and Bernier. We get neither. We got Clutterbuck. Should've held onto this guy if that's what we were going to get. Asset management folks was disgusting here.

The Offseason:
This was where I started to dislike Snow. Team overachieved and guess what Garth did guys? Nothing at all. This was an absolute joke of an offseason starting with the draft.

Vanek Deal:
Tried to bring a superstar in and failed. Then traded him for a not so great package at he deadline.

This Offseason:
Major win. Addressed basically all of our problems.

 

[Quicklime]

Placing blame on the little guy is exactly how life and sports work. When the team sucks ( most often due to a GM), the coach gets fired by the GM. When the team sucks for seemingly forever the GM gets fired (not the owner) even if the owner is to blame.

We lucked into the current situation more than planned for it.

Okay, so we lucked into pretty much what Snow was saying was the plan for so man seasons?

Sure, I'll buy that.

I mean, I can follow as far as the sudden spending which again, looks more to be a product of the change in location and ownership, to hit the arena with a buzz around the team, but given what Snow was left to begin with for both the roster and payroll, what you're looking for out of the team within the previous 7 seasons s wholly unrealistic.

Milbury pawned the team, Wang ran it threadbare while Snow rebuilt the prospect pool. Now that the team has enough homegrown talent under contract control, Wang is spending to improve it, at least. This is far better than any flash-in-the-pan roster Milbury cobbled together, as we have the contractual upper hand.

And that is how a team with a longer success window is built. Other than having had to wait for something to be done right rather than forced early and of lesser potency, I'm not sure what you're looking for.

 

[Strome18]

Snow was not placed in a perfect situation. Milbury gave him no prospects and basically no team. So let's look into some of the questionable decisions Snow has made over the years.

Ryan Smyth:

Hindsight is great and all but this was highway robbery at the time for Edmonton, we gave them a first and two of our best prospects for not even half a season and Ryan Smyth. And if you believe rumors he traded Blake at the deadline as well

The 08 Draft:

Many could not understand why Snow kept trading down in this draft. Filatov was the answer and WE knew that but why couldn't Garth get that through his thick skull? Got some really solid guys out of this draft so this is a win for Snow.

The trading up to get CDH:

After the hype from JT I thought we were going to draft another foward but Snow stuck to his guns and drafted a smallish defenseman with loads of hockey IQ. I'm sure many will say this is already a win but I'll wait until the end of the year to see how he develops and how he holds up. I would say this is still in progress.

This is where MANY start to question his decisions..

Tim Thomas:


El Nino:
Everybody knows Isles are in need of goaltending help. Two young studs out there in Schnieder and Bernier. We get neither. We got Clutterbuck. Should've held onto this guy if that's what we were going to get. Asset management folks was disgusting here.

The Offseason:
This was where I started to dislike Snow. Team overachieved and guess what Garth did guys? Nothing at all. This was an absolute joke of an offseason starting with the draft.

Vanek Deal:
Tried to bring a superstar in and failed. Then traded him for a not so great package at he deadline.

This Offseason:
Major win. Addressed basically all of our problems.

He offered Nino for both but Vancouver wanted Nelson as well. While LA did not want Nino.

 

[A Pointed Stick]

Milbury pawned the team, Wang ran it threadbare while Snow rebuilt the prospect pool. Now that the team has enough homegrown talent under contract control, Wang is spending to improve it, at least. This is far better than any flash-in-the-pan roster Milbury cobbled together, as we have the contractual upper hand.

Once he got green lighted, he spent. This past year vindicates Snow specifically in terms of why he didn't improve the roster earlier. Regarding the quality of the product though, I chaff a little over using Milbury as a yardstick to say Snow is good. Milbury ensconced himself as one of the worst GMs in the league. Of course Snow is better than him. You or I would be better than him.

 

[YearlyLottery]

He offered Nino for both but Vancouver wanted Nelson as well. While LA did not want Nino.

I understand him declining Vancouver but Bernier is a great goalie. Would've understood if Snow parted with the first and Nino for him. I actually expected him to.

 

[Quicklime]

He offered Nino for both but Vancouver wanted Nelson as well. While LA did not want Nino.

Plus, Anaheim and Vancouver slowed the Vanek deal down, haggling over Kesler. From what I hear, Vanek was Anaheim's back-up deal. He took the last deal standing. Not that I'm ecstatic about Collberg and I could be wrong, but for some reason I think that pick was used to get Ho-Sang.

Once he got green lighted, he spent. This past year vindicates Snow specifically in terms of why he didn't improve the roster earlier. Regarding the quality of the product though, I chaff a little over using Milbury as a yardstick to say Snow is good. Milbury ensconced himself as one of the worst GMs in the league. Of course Snow is better than him. You or I would be better than him.

This is true! I couldn't say if I'd have drafted the same way or taken the same chances, though. Too many of his 'bad' moves seem to break even - at least until Nino develops into what we wanted, or Vanek peaks above what we got out of him. Even then, he moves picks to manage the trickle-down effect (such as the above mention of Ho-Sang.) IMO, the tactical nature looks more like at worst "decent rookie GM who learns from his mistakes with the cap floor cuffs finally off" ranging to "a little extra patient, but absolutely good enough to be in one of those 30 positions."

 

[A Pointed Stick]

This is true! I couldn't say if I'd have drafted the same way or taken the same chances, though. Too many of his 'bad' moves seem to break even - at least until Nino develops into what we wanted, or Vanek peaks above what we got out of him. Even then, he moves picks to manage the trickle-down effect (such as the above mention of Ho-Sang.) IMO, the tactical nature looks more like at worst "decent rookie GM who learns from his mistakes with the cap floor cuffs finally off" ranging to "a little extra patient, but absolutely good enough to be in one of those 30 positions."

His winners outweigh his losers at the draft. The scouting-staff/structure is better despite the weirdness we see at times. Part of the problem of the Milbury era was while we did draft some good players I think the overall depth of our drafting was poor. Snow fixed that.

I still love the Ho-Sang move.

 

[Strome18]

Plus, Anaheim and Vancouver slowed the Vanek deal down, haggling over Kesler. From what I hear, Vanek was Anaheim's back-up deal. He took the last deal standing. Not that I'm ecstatic about Collberg and I could be wrong, but for some reason I think that pick was used to get Ho-Sang.




This is true! I couldn't say if I'd have drafted the same way or taken the same chances, though. Too many of his 'bad' moves seem to break even - at least until Nino develops into what we wanted, or Vanek peaks above what we got out of him. Even then, he moves picks to manage the trickle-down effect (such as the above mention of Ho-Sang.) IMO, the tactical nature looks more like at worst "decent rookie GM who learns from his mistakes with the cap floor cuffs finally off" ranging to "a little extra patient, but absolutely good enough to be in one of those 30 positions."

Whether it is right or wrong, I love Garth's strategy during the draft. He seems to target 2 players in the 1st round and goes and gets them. This allows him to trade 1st rounders away. Whether right or wrong, he still has quality and quantity, to spare.

 

[Strome18]

I understand him declining Vancouver but Bernier is a great goalie. Would've understood if Snow parted with the first and Nino for him. I actually expected him to.

It takes two to tango. What if he did offer that up as you wanted and LA said they wanted more?

So he got traded to Toronto for forward Matt Frattin, goaltender Ben Scrivens and a second-round draft selection. What if LA at the time of the draft wanted Nino, 1st rounder and Poulin/Nilsson?

I still would rather have Halak and Johnson.

 

[Space Herpe]

Whether it is right or wrong, I love Garth's strategy during the draft. He seems to target 2 players in the 1st round and goes and gets them. This allows him to trade 1st rounders away. Whether right or wrong, he still has quality and quantity, to spare.

He'll add two or three 2nd rounders, two or three 3rd rounders, and then trade a combo of them for that late first round pick to target that second player he covets.

Brock (he was 18 and just finished HS when Snow traded up so he could draft him)
DeHaan
Ho-Sang

Those are the ones that immediately jump out at me. I'm sure there are more.

 

[Frankie41987]

Snow was not placed in a perfect situation. Milbury gave him no prospects and basically no team. So let's look into some of the questionable decisions Snow has made over the years.

Ryan Smyth:

Hindsight is great and all but this was highway robbery at the time for Edmonton, we gave them a first and two of our best prospects for not even half a season and Ryan Smyth. And if you believe rumors he traded Blake at the deadline as well

The 08 Draft:

Many could not understand why Snow kept trading down in this draft. Filatov was the answer and WE knew that but why couldn't Garth get that through his thick skull? Got some really solid guys out of this draft so this is a win for Snow.

The trading up to get CDH:

After the hype from JT I thought we were going to draft another foward but Snow stuck to his guns and drafted a smallish defenseman with loads of hockey IQ. I'm sure many will say this is already a win but I'll wait until the end of the year to see how he develops and how he holds up. I would say this is still in progress.

This is where MANY start to question his decisions..

Tim Thomas:


El Nino:
Everybody knows Isles are in need of goaltending help. Two young studs out there in Schnieder and Bernier. We get neither. We got Clutterbuck. Should've held onto this guy if that's what we were going to get. Asset management folks was disgusting here.

The Offseason:
This was where I started to dislike Snow. Team overachieved and guess what Garth did guys? Nothing at all. This was an absolute joke of an offseason starting with the draft.

Vanek Deal:
Tried to bring a superstar in and failed. Then traded him for a not so great package at he deadline.

This Offseason:
Major win. Addressed basically all of our problems.

I don't really understand why you fault Snow for last years offseason. It's fairly obvious that Snow has been strapped by Wang's cheapness the past few seasons, I mean logically how does it make sense that Snow doesn't want to spend money? His job is to put together the best possible team with someone else's money, I can't think of any other possible reason a GM would not spend money to make the team better other than the owner directly telling them to keep expenses low.

And in that way, the Thomas signing was actually genius. They traded a pick that they eventually got back because they didn't resign Thomas and spent no actual money to get to the cap floor. It didn't affect the our teams play at all, but I don't at all fault Snow for being sneaky when on a budget.

 

[YearlyLottery]

I don't really understand why you fault Snow for last years offseason. It's fairly obvious that Snow has been strapped by Wang's cheapness the past few seasons, I mean logically how does it make sense that Snow doesn't want to spend money? His job is to put together the best possible team with someone else's money, I can't think of any other possible reason a GM would not spend money to make the team better other than the owner directly telling them to keep expenses low.

And in that way, the Thomas signing was actually genius. They traded a pick that they eventually got back because they didn't resign Thomas and spent no actual money to get to the cap floor. It didn't affect the our teams play at all, but I don't at all fault Snow for being sneaky when on a budget.

Do you fault the budget for dealing all of our trade chips for Clutterbuck+ a year of Vanek though?

 

[Strome18]

Do you fault the budget for dealing all of our trade chips for Clutterbuck+ a year of Vanek though?

Really? All?

I say we still have a lot of bullets. We have lost 2 #1 picks and a 2nd rounder for Clutterbuck, McAdam, Collberg and a pick used to acquire HoSang.

So in essence, the Isles have a lost 2 #1 picks, 2nd rounder for #1, 3rd rounder, 2nd rounder and Clutterbuck. Not great but not the end of the world. Our free agents and dumpster dives have more than made up for the gap. We have Grabner and Hickey, two former #1 picks for their teams for nothing. We also got Halak for a pick and Ocho Cinco for nothing. Grabo and Kulemin for money. Sure, it would be awesome to have Niño on the first line and our pick next year to be able to dangle but it is now done.Who knows what comes out of those 2 picks and we shall see if the trade was as disastrous as many believe it to be. Niño has 7 goals, 3 in one game and 2 assists. Not earth shattering but I expect him to keep on improving and become a better player. He called his shot and was dealt, the Isles needed the malcontent to leave the team asap because of the potential spreading of his childlike actions to others on the teams he represented. The rest of the squad, Donovan as an example age fallen in line, as Lee as well.

 

[YearlyLottery]

Really? All?

I say we still have a lot of bullets. We have lost 2 #1 picks and a 2nd rounder for Clutterbuck, McAdam, Collberg and a pick used to acquire HoSang.

So in essence, the Isles have a lost 2 #1 picks, 2nd rounder for #1, 3rd rounder, 2nd rounder and Clutterbuck. Not great but not the end of the world. Our free agents and dumpster dives have more than made up for the gap. We have Grabner and Hickey, two former #1 picks for their teams for nothing. We also got Halak for a pick and Ocho Cinco for nothing. Grabo and Kulemin for money. Sure, it would be awesome to have Niño on the first line and our pick next year to be able to dangle but it is now done.Who knows what comes out of those 2 picks and we shall see if the trade was as disastrous as many believe it to be. Niño has 7 goals, 3 in one game and 2 assists. Not earth shattering but I expect him to keep on improving and become a better player. He called his shot and was dealt, the Isles needed the malcontent to leave the team asap because of the potential spreading of his childlike actions to others on the teams he represented. The rest of the squad, Donovan as an example age fallen in line, as Lee as well.

I'm not following by 2 number one picks. I see it as:

2015 1st
2015 2nd
Moulson
Nino

Foooorrrrr

One year of Vanek
Clutterbuck
McAdam


I don't mind the Vanek deal but we really needed a goalie and Snow struck out bigtime. Will you atleast agree with that?

 

[Strome18]

I'm not following by 2 number one picks. I see it as:

2015 1st
2015 2nd
Moulson
Nino

Foooorrrrr

One year of Vanek
Clutterbuck
McAdam


I don't mind the Vanek deal but we really needed a goalie and Snow struck out bigtime. Will you atleast agree with that?

Niño = #1 for Clutterbuck and McAdam
1st, 2nd for Vanek
Vanek for Collberg and 2nd used for HoSang

I agree that the goalie was a bigger need but those goalies either were too expensive for his taste or did not want to come to LI (free agents).

With our drafting we seem to draft 2 - 1st rounders more often than not, I think Snow was dealing from a strength. He used the picks and has a Nelson, for example, to make up for a Niño. I think deHaan was an extra 1st rounder as well as HoSang, who could be considered our 1st rounder for 2015, since we do not have one at the moment. Oh well, past is past time to root for a team that at least makes me happy.

 

[DerekKingSnipes]

Snow has done a borderline terrific job of drafting and unlike MM he has held onto the right kids. That is by far his greatest strength as a GM. Clearly the organzation is in good shape, we see it with the Islanders and even the Soundtigers are winning with a D that is completely made up of prospects.

 

[BillD]

Drafting is all about being the anti-Milbury. A team must continue to keep their supply line of prospects coming for future requirements.

With the surprise we fell into of Grabovski/Kulemin FA signing plus Conacher dumpster dive, we now have some excess at the NHL level on 1 way deals. With Bailey back and Grabner due soon, I would expect that Garth will try to hold on to his depth for as long into the season as possible with phantom injuries to the IR, but in the end, his goal will be to try and gather some draft picks for the 2015 draft in at least the 2nd round, hopefully the 1st.
Going into the draft with no 1st or 2nd round picks will hurt the organization depth down the road no matter how many great prospects we have now.

 

[Strome18]

Drafting is all about being the anti-Milbury. A team must continue to keep their supply line of prospects coming for future requirements.

With the surprise we fell into of Grabovski/Kulemin FA signing plus Conacher dumpster dive, we now have some excess at the NHL level on 1 way deals. With Bailey back and Grabner due soon, I would expect that Garth will try to hold on to his depth for as long into the season as possible with phantom injuries to the IR, but in the end, his goal will be to try and gather some draft picks for the 2015 draft in at least the 2nd round, hopefully the 1st.
Going into the draft with no 1st or 2nd round picks will hurt the organization depth down the road no matter how many great prospects we have now.

Though I agree he will probably trade all his picks for a 1st or 2nd rounders.

I still do not agree that this missed draft on the 1st rounder or 2nd rounder will hurt them. We lost Niño a 1st rounder and still had Nelson. We got MDC last year and gained HoSang. I think we will be more than fine with free agents looking at Brooklyn and this team going forward.

 

[ScaredStreit]

So far so good this season BUT he doesn't deserve any credit until he actually accomplishes anything. It's like a high schools student doing a crappy job on a test, but giving effort therefore they deserve to pass. I don't think so.

Only time will tell if Snow's successful or not. So far he's been a BIG failure, but this year things COULD change. Not WILL change.

 

[Quicklime]

So far so good this season BUT he doesn't deserve any credit until he actually accomplishes anything. It's like a high schools student doing a crappy job on a test, but giving effort therefore they deserve to pass. I don't think so.

Only time will tell if Snow's successful or not. So far he's been a BIG failure, but this year things COULD change. Not WILL change.

I think the point being made is that with the condition of the team when he took over, there was literally no chance to not be a "BIG failure," given what the Islanders had when he took over. This is why smart drafting, staying patient and most of all, not deviating helps us in the long run, along with the cap manipulation he's HAD to do from a short payroll leash sets us up so well right now. That is a WIN.

As the Isles had nearly no prospects and a rotisserie of near washed-up vets at the start, no amount of steroids, angel dust, holy water or kidnapping of Wang's son was going to make that team play stronger or Wang pay so much out previously, and the effect wouldn't be the same kind of catalyst without the pipeline behind it, so I see logic in the patient approach.

If you define his tenure as a failure due to arguably never being in the position to succeed, I could agree, though.

 

[ScaredStreit]

I think the point being made is that with the condition of the team when he took over, there was literally no chance to not be a "BIG failure," given what the Islanders had when he took over. This is why smart drafting, staying patient and most of all, not deviating helps us in the long run, along with the cap manipulation he's HAD to do from a short payroll leash sets us up so well right now. That is a WIN.

As the Isles had nearly no prospects and a rotisserie of near washed-up vets at the start, no amount of steroids, angel dust, holy water or kidnapping of Wang's son was going to make that team play stronger or Wang pay so much out previously, and the effect wouldn't be the same kind of catalyst without the pipeline behind it, so I see logic in the patient approach.

If you define his tenure as a failure due to arguably never being in the position to succeed, I could agree, though.

In all fairness the team he took over made the playoffs. It's not like he had nothing to work with. It was when Blake, Smyth, Zednik, Poti, etc left that the team went into the basement.

And there's not a shred of evidence that Wang had restrictions on Snow's spending. Wang sure did open the check book up for several players.

BUT he's been the GM for EIGHT YEARS now. If you were to poll Isles fans (who were livid that Snow was our GM after Smith on here BTW), eight years that if after 8 years:

-We'd fail to win a single playoff series
-2/3 of our best forwards over that time Snow didn't draft
-Our best forward was a reward for LITERALLY being the worst team in the league
-We've consistently been in the bottom-5 of the NHL

And poll them if Snow was a failure or not.....I'd be willing to bet that the overwhelming majority of posters would vote "yes".

With that said this team IS better this year. I'm actually happy with the team. But let's not let ~1/4 of a season taint reality. We still haven't proven anything yet. Only that we can have a good stretch of ~20 games.

I'm not doom and gloom....I'm just not ready to bust out the drive for 5 bumper sticks yet.

 

[Quicklime]

In all fairness the team he took over made the playoffs. It's not like he had nothing to work with. It was when Blake, Smyth, Zednik, Poti, etc left that the team went into the basement.

And there's not a shred of evidence that Wang had restrictions on Snow's spending. Wang sure did open the check book up for several players.

BUT he's been the GM for EIGHT YEARS now. If you were to poll Isles fans (who were livid that Snow was our GM after Smith on here BTW), eight years that if after 8 years:

-We'd fail to win a single playoff series
-2/3 of our best forwards over that time Snow didn't draft
-Our best forward was a reward for LITERALLY being the worst team in the league
-We've consistently been in the bottom-5 of the NHL

And poll them if Snow was a failure or not.....I'd be willing to bet that the overwhelming majority of posters would vote "yes".

With that said this team IS better this year. I'm actually happy with the team. But let's not let ~1/4 of a season taint reality. We still haven't proven anything yet. Only that we can have a good stretch of ~20 games.

I'm not doom and gloom....I'm just not ready to bust out the drive for 5 bumper sticks yet.

I don't think you're doom and gloom; I just don't see how the team and ownership Snow inherited, which was largely low-ceiling leftovers (Hilbert), younger players with unsustainable production (Comrie) with vets exiting their prime (ranging from Yashin/Sillinger to Guerin) could have done much more to do the turn-around faster.

Some of those seasons were injury plagued, others were repeated comeback attempts by DP and three goalie carousels, and until now, the owner's decision to stick near the floor. All of them turned the team into a circus in the league's eyes, and flipping the script on that dynamic by going into 'rope-a-dope' and getting the added benefit of prospects developing seems smarter to me than trying to force the change and failing.

Plus, as for 2/3rds of the best players not being drafted by Snow, that argument is definitely out with Brock Nelson on the team.

I just see Snow as the same level of failure as a cinderblock is at flying, or a 1984 Ford Pinto failing to win a Formula 1 race, regarding the state of the organization at the time he took over. They may have made the playoffs, but they were only going so far with this roster:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006–07_New_York_Islanders_season

The roster, payroll, image and prospect pool weren't built to become a winner overnight, so I'd still say he deserves credit for not deviating and making what looks to be a viable, competitive team. Regarding total outcome, the jury can still be on pause, but logically I can't call him a failure because the team had neither the ownership, roster or image components to do much otherwise.

 

[Chrisinroch]

Do you fault the budget for dealing all of our trade chips for Clutterbuck+ a year of Vanek though?

You get it. Snow has done some good things, but on the whole he squanders assets. I don't know if he gets how this hurts the team 3-5 years down the road. He probably doesn't care. By then he's been replaced.

 

[MichaelK]

You get it. Snow has done some good things, but on the whole he squanders assets. I don't know if he gets how this hurts the team 3-5 years down the road. He probably doesn't care. By then he's been replaced.

Assets are not what posters on this board say they are worth, but what NHL teams say they are worth. Vanek was going to be a UFA so it was about getting what we could since we could not reach a deal. I would have liked more than Collberg, but at the end of the day it was that or nothing because the interest was not there

 

[Brooklanders*]

Say what you want about the Vanek asset management and the duration of this rebuild, but I just don't know how anyone can look at this roster - NHL and below - and not be ecstatic about the shape it's in.

During that time when we could not attract UFAs/spend money, Snow stuck to his guns and didn't part with his high-end prospects to bring in established talent. It hurt us in the short term, but the long-term payoff has the potential to completely blow away what short-lived success we could have had with a couple of big trades over the last 2 or 3 years.

Breaking down the roster as a whole:

Our forwards are strong. We have three lines that can score(one of which is a legitimate 1st line, another is already having success and just might have 1st line upside, and the other has proven to be a very capable defensive unit) and one of the most physical 4th lines in hockey.

The beauty of the forward core is that pretty much every member of "the core" is on the right side of 30. Hell, most of them are on the right side of 25. Tavares, Bailey, Strome, Nelson, Lee, Cizikas, and Martin all fit that criteria. Guys like Okposo, Grabner, Clutterbuck, and Kulemin are just outside. Nielsen and Grabovski are the only two who have entered their 30's, but both are only 30 on the dot.

The only holes I can potentially see popping up in the near future are 1LW and possibly 4C. One should be relatively easy to fill, but the other could be a bit more difficult. However, Snow has at least stockpiled some solid candidates. Guys like Bailey and Grabovski as possible immediate answers, with prospects Dal Colle and Ho-Sang giving us options sometime down the line(maybe as early as next season for Dal Colle, depending on how he develops this year and how he performs at camp).

Defensively, talk about a 180. A year ago today, our defense was probably half as effective as what we are icing now - that is probably putting it nicely. Boychuk was a huge addition. As was Leddy. de Haan has developed incredibly well. Hamonic has established himself as a top-pairing guy. Hickey has been a pleasant surprise. Like the forward group, the core is young. Hamonic, de Haan, Leddy and Hickey are all 25 and under. Boychuk, like Nielsen and Grabo, is the "old man" of the blue-line core at 30 years of age.

While Visnovsky will most likely be gone next season, Garth has stockpiled an impressive group of high-end D prospects, that includes our two top guys who will both have a year of pro experience by the time TC rolls around next season. The fact that a prospect like Griffin Reinhart could have a tough time cracking our lineup should show just how far this defense has come.

In net, while we still don't have that "goaltender of the future", we do have a capable duo of the present. Halak has been solid, and is easily the best goalie we've had in years. Johnson might be the best backup we've had in God knows how long. You can already tell how big of a difference quality goaltending can make with a team. The guys just play much more confident hockey, and are much more aggressive knowing that if a mistake is made, chances are it won't be a back-breaker like it was last season and seasons prior.

Halak is the perfect goaltender for this team right now, and props to Snow for targeting him aggressively.

The NHLers, the prospects, and the effectiveness he's displayed with locking these guys up at reasonable salaries should start earning this guy some respect. Obviously the team will need to win when it matters before most people change their opinion(understandably so), but I can't help but be pleased about the present and excited about the future when looking up and down at this organization.

Vanek is bad asset management.
He could of just dealt Moulson for prospects. He got zero value.
Same with Nino.
Another bad move was not trading Boyes and PA at the deadline for picks?
Boyes on the roster is a big reason why Ninos in Minnesota.
No one mentions losing Spurgeon either.
Not getting a goalie last season was dumb instead he signs this awful Johnson guy.
His lateral quickness is comical.
Wraparound city.