So I'm about to destroy the last shred of any creditability I might have had on this board:
Depending on how things turn out with 65 between now and Jul 1, I only have a big problem with two of Dorion's transactions. That's taking into account what he was trying to accomplish at the time.
1. Anderson extension - As was pointed out at the time, it was completely unnecessary, and if Anderson holds at this past year's performance, really will hurt the team.
2. Burrows extension - This is as much a problem with deployment as with the contract itself.$2.5M shouldn't be crippling. Burrows on PP1 is. But if that's what it took to get Burrows, get someone else.
Every other transaction that I saw listed at the trade deadline made sense at the time. Today's move could make sense, if it leads to an EK extension, which I think it will. If it doesn't, then I'll change my avatar to the JerkStore tire fire and give up hope.
You're not totally out to lunch, but the hyperbole about Dorion needing to be fired because he's the worst GM to ever GM a NHL team is way out of hand. Seriously. Look down the highway at Montreal. Bergevin makes Dorion look like a MENSA member.
But I digress. Dorion has had his mistakes. Burrows trade and extension was a head scratcher for sure. The Anderson contract also. I'd add the Thompson contract (why the NTC?), but at least he got out of that one.
The one that really grinds my gears is replacing Methot with Oduya. That one really kicked the team in the arse, especially when EK wasn't close to 100% to start the year.
Other than that, he hasn't blown his wad on anything unforgivable. He was backed into one hell of a corner by Hoffman's (allegedly) psychotic fiancé. I really don't think he had many options there, other than to maybe try and trade him during the playoffs?
What's crazy is that the team isn't thaaaaat far from being respectable again. They have the 1C, 1RW and 1D (if EK stays) and backup 1D (Chabot). As long as they don't do something stupid, they can build on that. Name me one rebuilding team that has Duchene, Stone and EK as foundation blocks? Exactly. Find a #2D for Karlsson. Doesn't need to be a superhero. Filip frigging Kuba did the job. Find a Kuba.
Next is to find a skilled LW. Will that be someone from this draft? I'm not sure, but Duchene was best with Hoffman, so find Duchene a Hoffman-ish type of player.
Then all that's left is to either cut the dead weight or wait for dead weight contracts to expire and replace with youth and skill (Formenton, Batherson, White, Chlpaik, Gagner, Perron...etc). Give it a year or two to gel and boom. Speedy and skilled team that can skate and compete, and won't break the bank.
