People, I get it if many of you are upset because you view the Despres trade as a symptomatic problem within the organization. If you view the Pens as a team that does not develop it's own talent. If you question how they handle the injection of youth into the line-up. Those are legitimate objections. I do have two objections to all of this.......
1. Don't hold up Detriot as the standard for player development and youth injection. Babcock is worse than us in using his youth. He will play them only when forced and if he can acquire a vet to replace youth, he will do it 100% of the time. Seriously, he just traded for Eric Cole and Marek Zidlicky! Really?
Lovejoy is 31 and very capable for this teams style, just think of the outrage if Despres was moved for Marek Zidlicky!
2. Don't hold Simon Despres as the standard for player development, he is not that good. All 4 of the younger defensemen are better in their role as defenseman than he is or will be. He was never going to be more than a 5/6 here, primarily because the others fit the 1, 2, 3, & 4 roles better. Sure he threw body checks, all defensemen do. But he hits, and is physical, Ok, I get it. However, try being in position, try defending, skate and pass north and south and not east and west. Don't waste your youth arguements on Despres. Physical guys, MacNeill and Roupp are waiting in the wings. "Old Time Hockey, Wren Blair, Toe Blake!"
Wow, what would this be doing if Despres had been sent to Jersey for Jagr.......talk about Board and fan conflict!
Who held Detroit up as the model for incorporating young players into the NHL? Babcock and Quenneville, for example, are notorious for not playing young players unless forced by injury or cap issues. I think ANA and maybe LAK have been used as examples.
Also Rutherford kicked the tires on Zidlicky.
I seriously question your assessment of the young defensemen.
First, MacNeill and Ruopp will never be more than AHL call-ups in the NHL; they absolutely cannot even come close to replicating Despres's ability to skate, pass, and carry the puck. They do not have even close the same vision. I am the absolute last person to advocate for "old timey hockey" and to suggest that Despres was in a similar vein is ludicrous.
Second, none of the defensemen who might actually be fulltime NHLers replicate Despres's abilities to be physical, play solid defense, and be a PMD.
Third, Despres is better than Dumoulin and likely always will be. Despres is better than Harrington currently, and I believe that Harrington is further behind where Despres was two years ago. I was extremely disappointed with Harrington's play in the NHL, and I think he has a lot of developing to do. Despres is better than Pouliot with the exception of his PPQB, and I think Pouliot's offensive skill set is slightly more refined. I would need evidence that Pouliot is really playing well (statistics - passing, zone entries, etc) versus playing because the coach trained him in juniors. Pouliot's been impressive in some ways, but I don't think he's earned his TOI. I think Maatta is a better player than Despres based mostly on their decision making. Despres clearly has the better physical tools.
Fourth, Despres has not had a problem with defensive positioning. His 1v1 defending could use a little work but so could every other defender on the Pens. His decision making in the neutral and offensive zones could use refining but so could most other defenders on the Pens. In terms of passing and carrying the puck, Despres has been solely responsible for the breakout and covering Scuderi's deficiencies in puck handling. He's performed so well that I doubt any of the new players brought in, Maatta, Pouliot, or Harrington could do as well. I think Dumoulin could cover for Scuderi but would need a lot more NHL time to do so.
Your valuation of Despres failed to mention that he needs to work on his discipline and decision making. These are the biggest holes in his game deciding when to go for a hit, learning when he needs to get back to cover his partner, making less risky plays in certain situations. Not having coached Despres, I have no idea if he has the ability to adapt his decision making. Based on his improvements in every other area of his game including stupid penalty taking, I would guess that he is adaptable as long as he gets the proper coaching and motivation.
Also, in terms of struggles or whatever weird ass description Rutherford used yesterday, moving Despres away from Scuderi or resting him a game or two should have taken care of the problem. The team tried neither suggesting that they didn't care that much about his struggles or they didn't really care about his development.
Trading Despres is not the biggest issue. Trading Despres and not maximizing his value is an issue. Trading Despres and failing to develop another young player is an issue.
