"Heart and Soul" guys who were displaced

[Seath The Scaleless]

Dominic Moore

 

[LV*]

Tim Brent

 

[kingsholygrail]

Norstrom to Dallas from the Kings was sad.

 

[hototogisu]

Dominic Moore

Was going to be my pick. He's liked everywhere he goes by the fans, teams keep trading for him so obviously GMs see that he has value, yet he never stuck with a team for more than 2 consecutive years.

 

[MapleLeafs9]

Another one just came to mind...Darcy Tucker.

I honestly never understood why Tucker was bought out. 3 million back in 07/08 was a lot for a 3rd liner (sometimes 2nd liner) but just everything Tucker brought to the table was worth it. Goals, hits, fights, energy, leadership. Cliff Fletcher was just desperate to show that the Leafs were gonna change after he took over from JFJ, and IMO he bought out the wrong guy when players like Poni and Antropov, 2 of the laziest players I've had the misfortune to watch back in the post-lockout days, were still there.

 

[Marshall]

When Steve Konowalchuk and Ulf Dahlen both requested a trade (for different reasons) it killed maybe the best, most unsung 3rd line in the game. A lot of the ethic they brought to the rink was lost.

 

[FranksterQc]

Saku Koivu

 

[Skobel24]

Tim Brent

Such an underrated guy.

 

[dire wolf]

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.

That's absolutely true, but that's not the point of Mike Grier.

 

[CraigsList]

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.

^^^^

I want him back.

 

[Wolfpuck]

Chad LaRose

He was the perfect pest for the Hurricanes 4th line. Then he was overslotted due to injuries, changed his game and lost some of his grit and fiestyness, and doesn't even have a spot on our depleted roster now.

 

[Smelling Salt]

When Steve Konowalchuk and Ulf Dahlen both requested a trade (for different reasons) it killed maybe the best, most unsung 3rd line in the game. A lot of the ethic they brought to the rink was lost.

Ulf Dahlen was unreal along the wall, controlling the puck. Maybe the best I have seen.

 

[Zaddy]

I was surprised to see both Brandon Prust and Brian Boyle disappear from the Rangers. Combine that with Callahan and it feels like they lost a lot of their identity the last few years. I guess it comes down to money. When they have success they want to get paid. Now, I dont remember what Boyle and Prust earned before but they are now on $2-$2,5m deals which I guess is quite much for those type of players. But maybe it can be worth slightly overpaying Heart and Soul guys instead of throwing big millions on star guys who goes into a slump as soon as they get paid, idk. I honestly think these types of players are way more important than most people realize.

 

[RedBaronIndian]

Dave Bolland for the Hawks when he was not fighting injuries. He took his game to another level in the playoffs.

 

[Esq]

Ladd for the Hawks.

Historically, I still love the Brind'amour / Primeau trade. Two heard and soul guys traded for one another.

 

[Viqsi]

Don't even bring up Derek MacKenzie in the Jackets forum. Right now our letting him walk is reason for everything from the lack of fourth-line goals to the injury streak to the losing streak to some locker-room worries to the Johansen holdout, and he's the one player who will ultimately show just how hiring Kekalainen was a mistake, we never should have trusted a Euro, and Davidson is ultimately going to doom us all.

It's also supposedly just like Manny Malhotra's departure all over again (which was, naturally, entirely responsible for the decline to eventual last-in-the-NHL finish), only somehow worse because, y'know, because it is.

 

[Retire91]

Scott "Hart"nell

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

I was surprised to see both Brandon Prust and Brian Boyle disappear from the Rangers. Combine that with Callahan and it feels like they lost a lot of their identity the last few years. I guess it comes down to money. When they have success they want to get paid. Now, I dont remember what Boyle and Prust earned before but they are now on $2-$2,5m deals which I guess is quite much for those type of players. But maybe it can be worth slightly overpaying Heart and Soul guys instead of throwing big millions on star guys who goes into a slump as soon as they get paid, idk. I honestly think these types of players are way more important than most people realize.

Boyle was my first thought.

 

[THall4]

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.

How can anyone talk badly about a player who played a full season with 2 separated shoulders.

The guy would go down the tunnel with a shoulder hanging down by the hip and have team doctors pop it back in...wouldnt miss a shift. He couldnt even lift his arm up to celebrate a goal.

Oilers have had some tough players over the years (Semenko, McSorley, Laraque) but imo Mike Grier was the toughest..guy was a beast

 

[Captain Mittens*]

Luc Robitaille. Twice

 

[wej20]

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.

Yep, it was time for him to move on.

 

[Knotty Moog]

Boychuck

 

[SatanwasaSlovak]

The NHL is doing a great job at forcing Patrick Kaleta out of the Sabre's roster, the reason he had to spend a season in the AHL last year.

 

[Primary Assist]

The NHL is doing a great job at forcing Patrick Kaleta out of the Sabre's roster, the reason he had to spend a season in the AHL last year.

Yeah it's almost like his actions have consequences. And for the thread, Colby Armstrong I guess. He went from being a gritty bottom 6 Penguin who worked his way up to Crosby's wing to a decent member of the Thrashers to Colby... freaking..... Armstrong.....

 

[kook10]

I know he had bounced around in the past and it was his own doing, but when Shanahan bailed on the Wings I felt he was displaced on the Rangers.