- Apr 27, 2005
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I know you hate Hall- that's besides the point.
And now you're dodging the question. Would you or wouldn't you have traded Larsson for Gaudreau? We needed offense a lot more than defense when the trade was made so don't give me this "I probably would have, but it's such a tough call to move our best D-man".
I think I would have done Gaudreau for Larsson. He can run entire offense and makes everyone he plays with significantly more productive. He's also got a competitive drive that pushes everybody else (per Micheal Ferland, he's never satisfied)
I don't really see how that's relevant to Hall, as I personally see Gaudreau as being at least 2 tiers ahead of Hall.
Hall is a better possession driver and a one man army skating through the offensive zone. His blend of speed, vision, and passing ability is greater than Johnny G's. Give me Hall everyday of the week. Not long ago their was a poll on this forum and I believe Hall won in lopsided fashion.
You can't be serious. Gaudreau flew passed Hall 3 times in the last game they played and is indisputably the better passer and playmaker. It's not even remotely close.
They also had a healthy McDavid for the whole season, that's kind of important.
For sure. But during the period McDavid was healthy they still weren't as productive. To be fair, McDavid was only a rookie and Draisaitl was just breaking out. But still, having those guys + Hall should have resulted in much more offense than having those guys + Larsson, but it didn't. The opposite was true.
Adding guys like Larsson and Russell to their D core was hugely critical in increasing their offensive output, despite those guys not having a bunch of points. Having a defenseman who is really good at getting the puck out of his own zone can be just as impactful to the team's offense as a 60 point winger.