"Heart and Soul" guys who were displaced

Belly

Registered User
Jan 7, 2012
31
0
Watched Penguins/Avalanche game tonight and started thinking about Maxime Talbot. Bottom 6 player, gritty, competes every night, and scored both Penguins goals in game 7 of SCF in a 2-1 win against Detroit. Yet he ended up going to the Flyers and subsequently the Avalanche in years since then. Why didn't the Pens try harder to keep a guy like that?

Same scenario with Darren McCarty in Detroit. I know he finished in Detroit, but he spent 2 years in Calgary before coming back. I always thought his stint in a Calgary jersey was just odd for him, the Flames, and even for the Red Wings.

I'm not really talking about top-end players in this topic, just mid-lower level guys.

I'm interested to see what other "heart and soul" guys seemed displaced in different jerseys.
 

StLHokie

Registered User
May 27, 2014
2,051
286
North Carolina
Sobotka. Wanted more money than he was worth though, and so far the Lehtera for Sobotka trade has been working out well for the Blues.
 

Tkachuk4MVP

32 Years of Fail
Apr 15, 2006
14,793
2,675
San Diego, CA
Mike Grier was pretty much the perfect bottom six player, and yet he bounced around a few different times. He was one of my favorite players when he was on the Sharks, and I don't remember hearing anything negative from the fanbases of any of the other teams he played for.
 

1972

"Craigs on it"
Apr 9, 2012
14,426
3,147
Canada
Mike Grier was pretty much the perfect bottom six player, and yet he bounced around a few different times. He was one of my favorite players when he was on the Sharks, and I don't remember hearing anything negative from the fanbases of any of the other teams he played for.

Pretty much the perfect bottom 6 player and one of the most respected players.
 

Big McLargehuge

Fragile Traveler
May 9, 2002
72,188
7,741
S. Pasadena, CA
He didn't even break 2 mil. Pens shoulda made it work.

The Pens didn't even have that...plus the Flyers gave him 5 years. Fourth liners with injury histories aren't guys that you give 5 year deals to. This was the off-season that our top six solution was a 94 year-old Steve Sullivan.

If this was happening this off-season, with the Penguins having some wiggle room, yeah you'd get that done...but he was a cap casualty. It sucks. It should be noted that his UFA year was also, far and away, his worst in the NHL.
 

nashpreds

Registered User
Sep 13, 2008
614
186
Toronto
Patric Hornqvist. The guy can't skate for beans but he never gives up and his net presence is the best in the NHL right now.
 

Anglesmith

Setting up the play?
Sep 17, 2012
46,442
14,718
Victoria
Brandon Prust.

The thing about these guys is they are only really useful to teams when they're cheap. Team success makes them look better than they are, and that's when teams realize the value isn't there.
 

Zen Arcade

Bigger than Kiss
Sep 21, 2004
20,308
2,216
Pittsburgh
Talbot got a bit complacent towards the end of his time here, he wasn't doing the things that made him a heart and soul guy to begin with.
 

The Head Crusher

Re-retired
Jan 3, 2008
16,710
2,064
Edmonton
Mike Grier was pretty much the perfect bottom six player, and yet he bounced around a few different times. He was one of my favorite players when he was on the Sharks, and I don't remember hearing anything negative from the fanbases of any of the other teams he played for.

I really didn't like Grier, managed to get sprung on so many break aways from Marchant and could NEVER find the net...most of his shots the goalie didn't even need to move on. I was glad when he left Edmonton.
 

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