Shero donated him to Phoenix because he idiotically believed he could sign Parise. Pathetic return for a top 4 dman.
It was a horrible trade. But shero gets a free pass! I mean, he didn't want to hurt Z's feelings.
Zbynek Michalek
- Thread starter cassius
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Shero donated him to Phoenix because he idiotically believed he could sign Parise. Pathetic return for a top 4 dman.
It was a horrible trade. But shero gets a free pass! I mean, he didn't want to hurt Z's feelings.
Ogrezilla
Nerf Herder
We got a solid prospect in Ruopp, and got the pick to draft one of our better forward prospects in Sundqvist. Not a great return, but considering the main goal was to get cap space and move a guy who clearly didn't work well here, it isn't as bad as people make it out to be. The mistake was not having a plan B after Parise.
AjaxTelamon
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- Jul 8, 2011
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We ended up getting those assets for no NHL assets in return aside from the money spent. Not like RS had many other trade options, the guy was coming off a bad year and had years left on his deal.
We had a plan B and C.
Plan A was to sign Suter and Parise even though Suter stated he wanted to remain in the western conference and be close to Wisconsin. Shero forgot that pittsburgh is neither in the western conference nor is it close to Wisconsin.
Plan B was to sign Parise. We saw how that worked out for us.
Plan C was to sign Doan. All it would have taken was for Phoenix to move and no western conference teams to make him an offer. It sure sounded promising.
Ladies and gentleman, ray Shero, our GM.
Ogrezilla
Nerf Herder
and if that remains the worst mistake of his tenure, we're doing better than most.
Shady Machine
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- Aug 6, 2010
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The Tang
I like gooooollllddd
Ogrezilla
Nerf Herder
Til the End of Time
Registered User
i still dont understand why shero had to immediately dump michalek before going after parise. by the accounts that emerged after he signed with the wild, the penguins were never seriously in the running-- the pens made their initial offer but then were given no indication whatsoever in the days that followed that parise was interested.
why didnt shero wait until he had signed parise, or at least had heard that parise was even slightly interested, before dumping michalek? its not like he got a great return that wouldnt have been available had the penguins had both michalek and parise on the payroll and had to deal from a position of weakness. he got a mediocre return anyway.
dumb move.
i also dont like how shero asked martin/michalek if they wanted to be here and then dumped michalek at his preferred location. bending over backwards to make players happy way too much. do whats best for the team, not whats makes the players happy.
why didnt shero wait until he had signed parise, or at least had heard that parise was even slightly interested, before dumping michalek? its not like he got a great return that wouldnt have been available had the penguins had both michalek and parise on the payroll and had to deal from a position of weakness. he got a mediocre return anyway.
dumb move.
i also dont like how shero asked martin/michalek if they wanted to be here and then dumped michalek at his preferred location. bending over backwards to make players happy way too much. do whats best for the team, not whats makes the players happy.
Ogrezilla
Nerf Herder
BrokenStick
Registered User
It really looked to me like he wasn't the same guy after he came back from a concussion that year.
It seemed almost like he was all of a sudden afraid to go in the corners, to take a hit.
Maybe I was just imagining things, but he very quickly became a liability in the D zone, and at that salary, he had to go.
It seemed almost like he was all of a sudden afraid to go in the corners, to take a hit.
Maybe I was just imagining things, but he very quickly became a liability in the D zone, and at that salary, he had to go.
BumFortyOne
Registered User
I disagree with this. While this is a business, the players are still people. So whether or not anything tangible comes from it, I'd rather a classy guy like Shero running this team than a guy like Holmgren.
Also, it may have been that Phoenix offered up the best deal given that Shero didn't want to take salary back. Especially since he was coming off a bad year with three years left at a not insignificant cap hit.
Shady Machine
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Yeah but again, he could have waited to see how things played out. Michalek was still a valuable top 4 dman and could have been traded later if needed. That said, I'm beyond over it.
Ragamuffin Gunner
Lost in the Flood
Because Shero would rather trade a guy for a pile of garbage to the team he wanted to go to than hurt his feelings and get actual value for a top 4 Dman.
He also thought it was a good idea to unload salary to take a run for ZP, even though he didn't have to.
One of Shero's worst moves as a GM of this team.
Ragamuffin Gunner
Lost in the Flood
I love the hyperbole! Would you rather have Holmgren!?!?!
I'd rather win than have a GM who gives away top 4 Dmen so he doesn't hurt anyone's feelings. But that's just me.
The Tang
I like gooooollllddd
BumFortyOne
Registered User
That wasn't hyperbole. Just my opinion that I respect Shero and the Penguins organization for treating their players with some respect. As opposed to Holmgren who will sign his guys to long term deals and then ship them out not a year later.
I also don't think trading away Michalek had any impact on this team's ability to win. He clearly didn't fit stylistically with the way the team wants to play with Crosby and Malkin in the lineup so he was shipped out. Maybe Shero could have gotten back marginally better assets from another team, but apparently Shero was/is really high on Ruopp and the draft pick he got back is now one of the team's top forward prospects. I'd hardly call that "giving away" an asset. In any case, Michalek came here as a free agent so to get decent assets back for a defenseman who struggled in a new system and who still had three years left at a significant cap hit without taking back salary isn't a fleecing in my eyes.
Ogrezilla
Nerf Herder
factoring in Michalek and his lack of a plan for if he didn't get Parise, yes. Except for maybe the Morrow trade I guess.
Ziggyjoe21
Registered User
While Shero didn't get ideal value for Michalek, it wasn't a terrible trade like you make it sound.
1) created cap space to go after a FA. Sure they didn't succeed in getting Suter or Parise, but we signed Scuderi a year later. D is the last thing this organization needs now or in the foreseeable future.
2) It got them a decent D prospect and their best goalie prospect since Fleury. Zatkoff has been very solid so far this season.
3) If Michalek was still here, people like you would be complaining that he's playing instead of Maatta, Despres, and Bortuzzo.
I see 3 positives that this trade created and literally 0 negatives. The D is solid. The PK is tops in the league. D depth is unmatched.
JimmyTwoTimes
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- Apr 13, 2010
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All our dmen were bad his last year here. Look how Martin turned it around, along with the group as a whole. Not saying he was the reason we didn't win the cup, but it certainly could've helped having him.
BumFortyOne
Registered User
Well Shero apparently sat down with both of them and asked them if they wanted to stay on the team. Martin gave an emphatic yes and we can assume that Michalek did not. I'd rather have the guy on the team that really wants to be here.
But you're right that there's no way to know if Michalek would've turned it around here. I'm sure he would've been better, but defense isn't the weakness of this organization anyway.
Haha I never said it was his worst mistake. It was just an example of a completely wasted off-season.
Ziggyjoe21
Registered User
wasted off season? sigh.
Signed Vokoun, who saved the team from another Fleury playoff collapse. Played great in 3 of the 4 games vs Boston.
Traded away Staal (was it the same off season? I can't remember). While he had no choice, he got a significant return. And let's be realistic, $6 million for Staal is overpayment.
With trading away Michalek, created enough cap room to make a big splash at the trade deadline. Which he did. When was the last time a team acquired an Iginla, JJ, Morrow, and Murray in the same deadline? Also, this allowed him to bring back Scuderi the following year.
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