- Jan 18, 2012
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Confirmed with Link: Buch traded to STL for Blais + 2nd (2022)
- Thread starter JohnC
- Start date
will1066
Fonz Drury
- Oct 12, 2008
- 43,951
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Blais might be a good 3rd line player. Awesome is pushing it quite a bit.
Buch is a good 2nd line player who may end up on a 1st line, on the PP and the PK.
The part I still don't understand is why they didn't wait until next season.
The Garden has loved lots of crappy players, so that means nothing.
EdJovanovski
#RempeForCalder
Blais gonna be playing in Hartford?
Still wouldn't be surprised if Buch puts up more goals in the NHL than Blais would in the AHL lol.
KirkAlbuquerque
#WeNeverGetAGoodCoach
Chimpradamus
Registered User
i guess the way i think about it though is more - we don't have a blais now. those pieces are critical if you want to win anything - look at tampa pre roster reconfiguration. whereas a buch - yea he turned into a very nice player. i loved a lot about his game and the way he grew - but in a cap world with panarin, laf, krav, kakko, kreider, chytil, barron all potentially viable top 6 wings depending on how things shake out and all one or more of cheaper / better / locked in / higher ceiling ... he was going to be moved. keeping him for a season idno i wouldn't have gone down that road - playing a season knowing deadline or next offseason you're gone no matter what is not typically the best conditions for a player and potentially a locker room.
you can't look at this trade from a buch plays on a higher line, produces more, is more versatile so we got burned. because while buch became a very good and likable player, he's still not a guy you build a top 6 line around. like the market was not going to be that hot for a buch where you had to pay him - and most of it would be teams looking to pay exclusively in draft picks / guys years away which wasn't happening. if you look at this from a who's gonna score more points frame of mind its missing the point. its a bet by drury that we have just as good and potentially significantly better options as top 6 rw's. thats a gamble. but it puts them in those spots, and creates a bottom 6 spot to be filled with the type of player he wants there. the long run view of this trade will not be blais vs buch point totals. it'll be did kakko/krav or other kids emerge and create an elite top 6 - and did we add a guy who became a significant contributor to our bottom 6. this was a roster configuration trade, a bet on what we have behind buch and looking to add the kind of player we want to have in the lineup - whos value will be measured in a lot more than point totals.
I'm hoping there's still a tiny bit more upside with Blais. He was pretty productive in the AHL and did a lot for the minutes he was allotted in St. Louis. Do I think he's going to even come close to Buchs production? No, but I can see him hitting 25-30 points while bringing it in all other aspects. I'd rather have him and the difference in cap hit going towards a position that needs filling
Riche16
McCready guitar god
The contract is the shit icing right on top of the shitcake
- Jim Leahey
- Jim Leahey
I still don't understand why they didn't wait until next season unless it's your contention that the Rangers have a good chance of winning the Cup next season, which I doubt.
I also believe the Rangers would have brought in more next season for Buch. Unsure why you think otherwise.
my opinion on that would be twofold - 1 it requires signing buch to a 1y dead man walking deal. whether its deadline or offseason, its the end of the road here. i just don't think thats the best thing for anyone. you have a guy playing all year wondering where and when his time will come. thats a tough spot to put a player - remember zucc's final year into the deadline? at best it only impacts him but you have to also consider what impact it might have in the locker room. even if there's no major drama its just uncomfortable.
2 - and i think the bigger reason for doing it now from mgmt perspective- the most outspoken drury has been on anything since taking over in what changes might be in order were taking the pieces we have and turning that into a complete roster - and the most sought after pieces for him to do that were physical, hard to play against bottom 6'ers. he wants defined roles, a complete roster assembled and my guess is see where we are with what he can bring in this summer / what jumps the kids make. he was not going into this season trying trying to find ice for kravtsov on a line with goodrow and brais. we weren't going into this season with a kid line in the bottom 6 with guys that couldn't support with matchup mins or be counted on for consistent production. in my eyes i don't see why we'd want 1 more year of buch. to me the hypothetical that makes more sense to consider is did we take the right approach on return. because we def coulda gotten like a 1st and 3rd type deal where there's some potential upside but its longer term. drury was obviously committed to getting a guy that can play today. i'm happy with the deal as is for what it does in the bigger picture. i know i'm in the minority there so will be interesting to see how things play out.
The Mouth
Blueshirt Underground on You Tube
I think they were going to clear cap space in lieu of getting Eichel, when that didn't happen they looked like buffoons. After the term he got with the Blues it looks even crappier. The not waiting a year is more concerning of GM who has no clue.
The Mouth
Blueshirt Underground on You Tube
- Jan 18, 2012
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BPD
Registered User
Man, you've just seen multiple players on similar contracts with reasonable NHL caliber outputs get traded for literally nothing. The Vezina Trophy winner just got traded for literally nothing. Not Blais and a 2nd nothing. Literally - no return. Excepting whatever the Flyers are doing (god bless them and their propensity for having defenders that can't play defensive positions), this is the market and the likelihood of it getting better isn't strong.
The concept of Buchnevich taking a one year deal and getting dealt next TDL for more relies on a series of dominoes that are hilariously unrealistic. He's going to start his negotiations at a space of wanting multiple years and significant dollars - as he probably should (and got from the Blues). We say no. We got to arb. He can only take a one year deal. He could get awarded a number beyond our cap - then we've lost him for nothing or we've lost another player for having mismanaged the situation. He gets his one year deal at whatever the fair market rate is - 6m? Then what? You're going to trade him at the deadline in a year where we're supposed to be in the playoff mix? At a time where cap space is more valuable than actual players? Further down the cap crunch, after the free agency madness, at a time where 1st round picks will be increasing in value because of all that?
It's a fantasy. The return was underwhelming because the market is underwhelming.
NYRFANMANI
Department of Rempe Safety Management
So, you're telling me there is still a cherry to come on top?
NoQuitInNewMexico
Registered User
The discussion about Strome and Tony's arbitration deals was in the same vein, and I thought it was bizarre back then with a different GM and much flakier players than Buchnevich.
Talented players, good ages, no long-term commitment. Dolan spends up to the ceiling every year even when we're rebuilding. Look at every free agency period. What is an NHL GM going to do with that ~cap space~, sign another Brendan Smith?
Talented players, good ages, no long-term commitment. Dolan spends up to the ceiling every year even when we're rebuilding. Look at every free agency period. What is an NHL GM going to do with that ~cap space~, sign another Brendan Smith?
