We can't evaluate Drury until we give him another offseason to see what he does. He's got a highly difficult task of figuring out the Strome situation.
Brian Burke built a fantastic team in Anaheim that in many ways mirrored how Tampa is built now, ie he was way ahead of his time (or?). He had a D that moved the puck really well, led of course my S Niedermayer who was fantastic. But his centers, No 1 Andy McDonald (Gourde/Ty.Johnson copy), No 2 Samuel Pahlsson, No 3 Rob Niedermayer and No 4 Todd Marchant/Ryan Getzlaf did a great job carrying the puck up ice and giving Anaheims really heavy wingers something to work with.
That team beat a really really good DRW team in the POs before getting to the finals. I am 100% sure that Yzerman paid a lot of attention to how that team was construed.
ANYWAY, to my point lol, the year after, Burke just tore how that team was constructed apart and just added more PFs while dealing away the speed he had at center ice and won only one series in the POs the following 6 years. All Anaheim’s moves following the cup win were boneheaded.
This just goes to show that it’s very hard to evaluate a GM in the NHL. Anaheim had a golden ticket that could have led to many cups. Youngies like Perry and Getzlaf on the 4th line while winning a cup. But they replaced a really fast group of centers who were really comfortable with the puck with an old Dougie Weight who couldn’t skate, Ryan Getzlaf who never was fast and Pahlsson moved to wing next to Niedermayer, and went from being a team that couldn’t be contained and became super predictable to play against and easy to shut down.
So obviously, Burke built a brilliant team just by accident more or less. The first guy he dealt when he needed cap space was Andy McDonald, who were absolutely essential in getting them up ice.
I think Drury has done a great job so far, just acknowledging the need to build a team that has a good mix between take-out-the-garbage type of players and players that can make a difference but that needs support. Under Gorton we would have traded for someone with potential and that someone would have been on the 4th line just to build up value. Especially when you have a lot of kids on the roster, you shouldn’t have all your depth guys made out of players like Namestnikov and Spooner. That is a big mistake, and one Gorton repeated constantly.
But from my POV, there are still many danger zones that a GM must avoid in this league. Decisions can be made that really can cripple an organization. Looking at the POs, it’s very obvious that certain abilities pay of a heck of a lot more than others. You need that speed at center ice. That is what cannot be contained. The scoring wingers can (with guys like Kane, Panarin, Kucherov and co being exceptions). There is only so much cap space, you can’t invest a large portion of it in players that aren’t the most effective when it matters. You need depth.
The jury is definitely out on Drury, and could be out for years to come.
