Evaluate the Sekac/DSP trade

[Bergevillain]

Sekac has zero finish. Ask Ducks fans. They see little in him. He skates well, handles the puck well, does absolutely nothing with it.

DSP shows he knows how to work on his game instead of being the definition of insanity, doing the same failed play every time.

At least DSP can crash while he's getting nothing done offensively. Sekac only skates around gingerly

 

[hototogisu]

Not sure why hototogisu is saying DSP has never been shown any leniency so why should Sekac? Sekac was a healthy scratch despite being one the bottom six best producers and never got time alongside Plekanec and Pacioretty. That's on the coach to find out the potential of his players instead of drawing conclusions. Even the biggest DSP supporters will tell you that DSP is not a top six player.

Among Hab fans. Those who threw the towel in on DSP after 15 games last year are the ones continuing to preach patience with Sekac. Feels like a double standard to me.

 

[HBDay]

**** it. Why not sekac-sekac-sekac while we're at it?

No chemistry there.

Maybe would try

sekac-sekac-sekac
sekac-sekac-sekac
sekac-sekac-sekac
sekac-sekac-sekac

sekac-sekac
sekac-sekac
sekac-sekac

sekac


sekac, sekac

 

[domiwroze]

No chemistry there.

Maybe would try

sekac-sekac-sekac
sekac-sekac-sekac
sekac-sekac-sekac
sekac-sekac-sekac

sekac-sekac
sekac-sekac
sekac-sekac

sekac


sekac, sekac

I think that Sekac is injured... so that makes a big hole to fill on our 2nd line RW. Maybe we could trade for Sekac there? Imagine our Lineup how good it would be.

sekac-sekac-sekac
sekac-sekac-sekac
sekac-sekac-sekac
sekac-sekac-sekac

sekac-sekac
sekac-sekac
sekac-sekac

sekac

 

[RandR]

I just noticed that Sekac is now playing for Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL. With his NHL career likely over, perhaps a post-mortem on this trade is in order.

Post-trade NHL stats:
Jiri Sekac
58 GP, 3 G, 10 A, 13 PTS

Devante Smith-Pelly
84 GP, 15 G, 13 A, 28 PTS, and counting

And that's comparing these two players on what Sekac was supposed to bring to the table (some scoring).

There was a lot of complaining about this trade, with many bashing Therrien for not giving Sekac a proper chance. However, Sekac played 50 games for the Habs in 2014-15, a team that finished the regular season 2nd in points. After the trade, 3 other NHL teams also gave him a shot, but not one of them saw fit to give him as many games as the Canadiens did.

Sekac is now gone from the NHL, while Smith-Pelly has signed a new contract with the Devils for the next 2 years and is projected to play on the 3rd or 4th line this year.

So I'd say that:
- Therrien gave Sekac more than a fair chance,
- credit goes to Bergevin for getting something useful for Sekac before his NHL stock declined, and finally,
- while it ended up being a fairly insignificant trade, the Habs clearly got the best of it

 

[Whitesnake]

I just noticed that Sekac is now playing for Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL. With his NHL career likely over, perhaps a post-mortem on this trade is in order.

Post-trade NHL stats:
Jiri Sekac
58 GP, 3 G, 10 A, 13 PTS

Devante Smith-Pelly
84 GP, 15 G, 13 A, 28 PTS, and counting

And that's comparing these two players on what Sekac was supposed to bring to the table (some scoring).

There was a lot of complaining about this trade, with many bashing Therrien for not giving Sekac a proper chance. However, Sekac played 50 games for the Habs in 2014-15, a team that finished the regular season 2nd in points. After the trade, 3 other NHL teams also gave him a shot, but not one of them saw fit to give him as many games as the Canadiens did.

Sekac is now gone from the NHL, while Smith-Pelly has signed a new contract with the Devils for the next 2 years and is projected to play on the 3rd or 4th line this year.

So I'd say that:
- Therrien gave Sekac more than a fair chance,
- credit goes to Bergevin for getting something useful for Sekac before his NHL stock declined, and finally,
- while it ended up being a fairly insignificant trade, the Habs clearly got the best of it

Yeah, I know I've overestimated Sekac....just like the Habs overestimated him when they signed him. Somehow, I still believe that this guy is at worst a 4th liner with his speed and forecheck but it is what it is.

Now it's a little ironic that you are using DSP's play in Jersey to say how we "got the best of it" when this is actually the result of a DSP bad usage and bad trade for an even less useful player than Sekac in Matteau.....But yes, I got caught in the sweepstake and multiple interest Sekac had and still strongly believes though that we didn't use him at the best of his abilities. Why didn't it work for the other teams? Was he just finally not that good? Should we have never been interested in the first place? Or did he lose all of his confidence after and especially also with the Ducks.

But yeah, again, I was wrong.

 

[Habs100]

Yeah, I know I've overestimated Sekac....just like the Habs overestimated him when they signed him. Somehow, I still believe that this guy is at worst a 4th liner with his speed and forecheck but it is what it is.

Now it's a little ironic that you are using DSP's play in Jersey to say how we "got the best of it" when this is actually the result of a DSP bad usage and bad trade for an even less useful player than Sekac in Matteau.....But yes, I got caught in the sweepstake and multiple interest Sekac had and still strongly believes though that we didn't use him at the best of his abilities. Why didn't it work for the other teams? Was he just finally not that good? Should we have never been interested in the first place? Or did he lose all of his confidence after and especially also with the Ducks.

But yeah, again, I was wrong.

Obviously NHL GMs know more about hockey. But from what I saw, Sekac is the better player. He still had untapped potential. From what I've seen, he's a solid 3rd or 4th line NHLer who could score 17, 18 goals when he has a good year.

 

[jaffy27]

Obviously NHL GMs know more about hockey. But from what I saw, Sekac is the better player. He still had untapped potential. From what I've seen, he's a solid 3rd or 4th line NHLer who could score 17, 18 goals when he has a good year.

So much that he's in the KHL. Too bad his potential is cocooned by the hardest metals in the universe.......

 

[Burke the Legend]

How did you see that "potential" in his NHL stint where he was unable to generate any kind of meaningful offence at the NHL level? Cuz 4 different NHL GMs and their hockey staffs didn't see it so you must really be on another level.

The truth is that lots of guys in a lot of sports just can't make the leap the major leagues, even if they look really good in the minors, there is an ability ceiling to that next level and they can't get past it.

But hey this being hfboards, I am sure if he scores 30 points against other minor leaguers in the KHL again, we'll be arguing next summer about bring him back, cuz of 'potential'.

 

[Whitesnake]

How did you see that "potential" in his NHL stint where he was unable to generate any kind of meaningful offence at the NHL level? Cuz 4 different NHL GMs and their hockey staffs didn't see it so you must really be on another level.

The truth is that lots of guys in a lot of sports just can't make the leap the major leagues, even if they look really good in the minors, there is an ability ceiling to that next level and they can't get past it.

But hey this being hfboards, I am sure if he scores 30 points against other minor leaguers in the KHL again, we'll be arguing next summer about bring him back, cuz of 'potential'.

Well potential is what made the Habs interested in him in the first place and quite a few others teams. Potential is what made the Ducks get him. Potential is also what made the Hawks and the Coyotes got him too. I have no idea why we should be treated more harshly than the GM's....Some of us, as fans, did exactly what 4 other GM's did....think he had potential.

 

[scrubadam]

Well potential is what made the Habs interested in him in the first place and quite a few others teams. Potential is what made the Ducks get him. Potential is also what made the Hawks and the Coyotes got him too. I have no idea why we should be treated more harshly than the GM's....Some of us, as fans, did exactly what 4 other GM's did....think he had potential.

And then a good majority of fans maybe not you but others cried for months on how stupid of a trade it was and Sekac would come back to bite us, and MT ruined everything.

Looks like the right move was made. We got him for nothing, let him go before he went back to the KHL for nothing. DSP wasn't much and Matteau aint much but at least MB turned a free wallet into 2 former 1st rounders.

Didn't cost anything and at the end of the day if we never signed him or did we have almost the same results since I don't really expect Matteau to do anything on this team.

 

[417]

Obviously NHL GMs know more about hockey. But from what I saw, Sekac is the better player. He still had untapped potential. From what I've seen, he's a solid 3rd or 4th line NHLer who could score 17, 18 goals when he has a good year.

From what we've seen...he'd be hard pressed to score 10 goals on a good year

 

[Paddyjack]

Obviously NHL GMs know more about hockey. But from what I saw, Sekac is the better player. He still had untapped potential. From what I've seen, he's a solid 3rd or 4th line NHLer who could score 17, 18 goals when he has a good year.

I pointed out in bold why the end of your statement would have never happened. You "saw" pretty skating and some moves. GMs see what makes a NHL hockey player.

 

[Harry Wong]

I thought he was gonna be a find for us. Big guy, skater etc. And thought they didn't give him a good enough look. I grew to like DSP too and was disappointed when we traded him. Always worry that the promise they show us will pan out with the new team. Thats my worry now with ELLER.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

We lost the trade because now we have Matteau, which is worse than having nobody.

 

[Price is Wright]

I thought he was gonna be a find for us. Big guy, skater etc. And thought they didn't give him a good enough look. I grew to like DSP too and was disappointed when we traded him. Always worry that the promise they show us will pan out with the new team. Thats my worry now with ELLER.

As I said earlier, he was the definition of insanity. He made the same play every time and it died every time. It looked great because he was a good skater with good stickhandling but he had no clue what to do with the puck while it was on his stick.

DSP was completely mishandled. It felt like every time he'd have a good game, he'd then have a bad game and be punished more for the bad game than the good one. Therrien refused to let him stick it out on a top nine line for five straight games. He'd be one up, one down, benched. I don't think his NJ stint is sustainable but the team struggled on the right side all year and Therrien still refused to have any faith in Devante.

Matteau will be a trivia question on canadiens.com

 

[montreal]

The Habs took a shot on an undrafted FA, it didn't pan out and most of them don't. At least they were able to get another asset back for him before he left for the KHL, which a few people at the time of the trade correctly said he would be back in the KHL in 2 years or so. I liked the trade at the time, defended DSP even when he looked terrible right after the trade and said to wait and see how he adjusts after the off-season. Was happy with how he played to start the year but grew more frustrated with him as the season went on. Did not want to see him traded, but now we have to see if Matteau can turn it around or not.

The Habs have had terrible luck with signing undrafted Euro FA's,

Andreas Engqvist (Swe), Janne Lahti (Fin), Mikael Johansson (Swe), Alain Berger (Swiss, OHL), Robert Mayer (Swiss, QMJHL), Diaz (Swiss), Sekac (Czech)

At least Diaz got us Weise which led to us getting a 2nd rounder and Danault. Sekac to DSP is a win, but DSP to Matteau is looking terrible so far.

Looks like Sekac is off to a decent start in the KHL along with Holloway and Engqvist.

 

[McGuires Corndog]

We lost the trade because now we have Matteau, which is worse than having nobody.

Yup.

I actually liked the trade, we turned an underperforming Euro FA into what was a relatively decent prospect in DSP.

I really thought he would have fit Therrien like a glove, but I think his lack of foot speed really put a damper on Therrible's ability to love the player.. I also think the fact he was close to Subban and Galchenyuk may have hurt his rep with Therrible.

The proof is in the pudding as he had pretty good success in NJ. The irony of it all is the fans *****ing about Sekac not being given a fair shot with Therrien, when it's more the player he was traded for that wasn't (DSP).

Matteau is more useless than Sekac was. We can only hope he managed to put it together because from what I've seen, he's barely an AHL caliber player let alone NHL caliber.

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

I'd still rather have him than DSP, but am just as content that neither is here anymore.

 

[Whitesnake]

And then a good majority of fans maybe not you but others cried for months on how stupid of a trade it was and Sekac would come back to bite us, and MT ruined everything.

Looks like the right move was made. We got him for nothing, let him go before he went back to the KHL for nothing. DSP wasn't much and Matteau aint much but at least MB turned a free wallet into 2 former 1st rounders.

Didn't cost anything and at the end of the day if we never signed him or did we have almost the same results since I don't really expect Matteau to do anything on this team.

Nah, I was thinking for sure that he would have been more than what he showed. Yep, I did that. And I was wrong. Better than most people who keeps waiting and bashing what other posters say. (Maybe not you).

But then, are you saying that the right moves were made all along? I have no idea how a team could stop looking for options and go and get a guy for nothing as a fine idea. 'Cause that's what we do....it's all great to say that we got a guy for nothing....but when you go and get a guy that you already pencil in a specific role, you stop looking for other potential options. At the time we signed him, Bergevin thought more of him than just a filler. So he had a spot for him. And clearly, he had to think that it would work out. So that didn't work out....but there were other teams interested in Sekac....so you surely had to be able to deal him for something fine...and we probably did in DSP...yet by mishandling DSP, we got ourselves Matteau. We could have done more. Whether it was by keeping Sekac a little more, whether it was to put DSP in a place to succeed....whether it was by NOT acquiring a deadwood in Matteau for DSP. But those moves aren't gamechanging moves....I know.

 

[Le Tricolore]

The best part about this trade is that I was on vacation in Mexico when it happened.

I want to go back.

 

[hersky77]

Obviously NHL GMs know more about hockey. But from what I saw, Sekac is the better player. He still had untapped potential. From what I've seen, he's a solid 3rd or 4th line NHLer who could score 17, 18 goals when he has a good year.

Sekac had zero desire to play a 3rd or 4th line role, and he wasnt good enough for a top six role.

 

[scrubadam]

Nah, I was thinking for sure that he would have been more than what he showed. Yep, I did that. And I was wrong. Better than most people who keeps waiting and bashing what other posters say. (Maybe not you).

But then, are you saying that the right moves were made all along? I have no idea how a team could stop looking for options and go and get a guy for nothing as a fine idea. 'Cause that's what we do....it's all great to say that we got a guy for nothing....but when you go and get a guy that you already pencil in a specific role, you stop looking for other potential options. At the time we signed him, Bergevin thought more of him than just a filler. So he had a spot for him. And clearly, he had to think that it would work out. So that didn't work out....but there were other teams interested in Sekac....so you surely had to be able to deal him for something fine...and we probably did in DSP...yet by mishandling DSP, we got ourselves Matteau. We could have done more. Whether it was by keeping Sekac a little more, whether it was to put DSP in a place to succeed....whether it was by NOT acquiring a deadwood in Matteau for DSP. But those moves aren't gamechanging moves....I know.

What I am saying is it was a good idea to take a shot on the guy and see what he has. It didn't cost the team any draft picks or players to acquire him. He wasn't anything special here and we traded him for a fromer 1st rounder. Again DSP didn't do much here I don't really put than on MT look at his conditioning it was an issue. We turned DSP into Matteau another former 1st rounder. Again probably won't do much. The whole string of events shows that MB took a "free wallet" that was esentially junk and turned it into 2 other pieces of junk so nothing was gained nothing was lost.

The only loss is like you said the oppurtunity cost of doing business. We could of maybe signed someone else or played someone else so that is the one thing that was lost but it was a worthwhile risk for a bottom 6 player. Now if Matteau gets a permanent spot in the top 9 and doesn't produce and a guy like Ghetto/Carr/Hudon etc are sitting on the sidelines then there will be a bigger cost to the whole transaction.

 

[Harpo]

Hated the trade at the time.

Turned out not so bad.

Then it got worse when they traded DSP.

Overall: Cost us nothing, got us nothing.

 

[Hackett]

I thought sekac would figure things out in the NHL because the tools are there, and if nothing else, he did show with the habs that he can be difficult to dispossess around the boards. He and eller had games where opponents were having fits trying to get the puck off them. On top of that, he showed enough skill offensively to believe he could become a top 6 guy.

But in the end, it never materialized into something significant, and he's out of the NHL in what, 3 years?

It just shows how much of an inexact science it is to try and predict how a young player will develop over time. I will openly admit that I was wrong about what I believed he was going to become.