As far as I see it, Gillis delivered once again.
Luongo is absolutely still an elite, proven goalie, and trading him away for nothing only to have Schneider for two years before he became a UFA (and then still be subjected to Luongo's cap recapture down the road) was nonsense. They have just as good a shot of winning the cup this year with Luongo as they would have with Schneider, and if it doesn't pan out then the option to give him a compliance buy out next year is still on the table (and that way we would avoid the cap recapture as well). Meanwhile, we picked up a significant asset for the future, and a guy who might even contribute this year.
This gets repeated over and over again, but honestly, did any of the people claiming this actually watch this team last year?
The gap in performance between Luongo and Schneider was huge. And given their respective ages, it's only going to get bigger.
This gets repeated over and over again, but honestly, did any of the people claiming this actually watch this team last year?
The gap in performance between Luongo and Schneider was huge. And given their respective ages, it's only going to get bigger.
As far as I see it, Gillis delivered once again.
Luongo is absolutely still an elite, proven goalie, and trading him away for nothing only to have Schneider for two years before he became a UFA (and then still be subjected to Luongo's cap recapture down the road) was nonsense. They have just as good a shot of winning the cup this year with Luongo as they would have with Schneider, and if it doesn't pan out then the option to give him a compliance buy out next year is still on the table (and that way we would avoid the cap recapture as well). Meanwhile, we picked up a significant asset for the future, and a guy who might even contribute this year.
Do I think Schneider was worth more? Sure, maybe a bit more, but given the corner we were backed into, Gillis did well.
If you think about it, options were:
1) Buy out Luongo: avoid cap recapture, but do not improve chances of winning a cup OR add future value to organization.
2) Trade Luongo: get basically nothing, do NOT avoid cap recapture, do not improve chances of winning a cup OR add future value to organization
3) Trade Schneider: do not improve chances of winning a cup BUT add significant future value to organization, defer the decision on keeping/buying out/trading Luongo until next year. (market may improve, circumstances may change)
.
As far as I see it, Gillis delivered once again.
Luongo is absolutely still an elite, proven goalie, and trading him away for nothing only to have Schneider for two years before he became a UFA (and then still be subjected to Luongo's cap recapture down the road) was nonsense. They have just as good a shot of winning the cup this year with Luongo as they would have with Schneider, and if it doesn't pan out then the option to give him a compliance buy out next year is still on the table (and that way we would avoid the cap recapture as well). Meanwhile, we picked up a significant asset for the future, and a guy who might even contribute this year.
Do I think Schneider was worth more? Sure, maybe a bit more, but given the corner we were backed into, Gillis did well.
If you think about it, options were:
1) Buy out Luongo: avoid cap recapture, but do not improve chances of winning a cup OR add future value to organization.
2) Trade Luongo: get basically nothing, do NOT avoid cap recapture, do not improve chances of winning a cup OR add future value to organization
3) Trade Schneider: do not improve chances of winning a cup BUT add significant future value to organization, defer the decision on keeping/buying out/trading Luongo until next year. (market may improve, circumstances may change)
Schneider had very little long term value to the organization in terms of youth or future, 2 more good years and then he would just be another UFA getting big money. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but in 2 years our window might be closed and we'll be looking to refresh and get younger, not sign a 28/29 year old to a big UFA contract in the middle of his prime. I watched Horvat play in London a couple times this year, he's outstanding. An absolute workhorse, 16goals in 23 playoffs games, OHL playoff MVP.
Devils fan. Is this kid the real deal? I never seen him play besides the few playoff games this year. Is he our Marty replacement or a stop gap?
Devils fan. Is this kid the real deal? I never seen him play besides the few playoff games this year. Is he our Marty replacement or a stop gap?
The only way this trade doesn't look bad down the road is if Horvat becomes a selke-calibre top 6 forward and/or Schneider isn't nearly as good in Jersey as he was here (which is unlikely IMO).
Devils fan. Is this kid the real deal? I never seen him play besides the few playoff games this year. Is he our Marty replacement or a stop gap?
Devils fan. Is this kid the real deal? I never seen him play besides the few playoff games this year. Is he our Marty replacement or a stop gap?
Im glad Schneider is gone. There is no room for nervous players who will cramp up and become nervous enough that they cant play during the playoffs. Only having 1 win out of 5 in the playoffs with an atrocious last 2 performances is not gonna win you the Stanley cup. Lu brought us to game 7 of the SCF, and if the team could score,we would already have a cup.
Obvious the ownership made the decision here. Not much Gillis can do here IMO.