Not sure how this is on Botts.
He tried to move him at the deadline....no interest.
He likely tried to move him before walking away from his QO....no interest.
What's he supposed to do? Make teams pay him for a bad goalie? Does he have a nephew that is a NHL GM somewhere?
I definitely felt like the team liked playing in front of Johnson more than Lehner. I felt the on ice product was better when Johnson was in net.
That being said....yes, Johnson is an average backup. Should not be used in a tandem role unless you can shelter the goalie.
Hamilton tends to draw his own conclusions from things he sees from a distance.
Lehner "refusing to do shootouts" could be as simple as Lehner nursing an injury and not wanting to aggravate it...and he was injured a lot. I remember the whole "Reinhart refusing to do the extra 'O'Reilly' practices" and used that to insinuate Reinhart was lazy. Basically he sees or hears something, doesn't do any legwork to confirm what he thinks has happened, and reports it as fact. And note he typically only does this of the less talkative players who will call him out. There's a reason he waited for Lehner to leave to report he "Refused to do shootouts"....he knew that Lehner would call him out on it immediately. Now that Lehner is gone...he doesn't have to worry about it.
Satan was pretty good thoughThis reminds me a bit of letting Satan go back in the start of the co-caps era.
Satan was pretty good though
He was shite, stop defending him. Called it ages ago and so many here were arguing that he is average league starter. Yeah of course he is, thats why Botts couldnt get anything for him.<hot take>
Finally! Might be the worst goalie (I've seen) in team history, down near Lalime & Shields at least.
<medium take>
It was nice of Botts to let him go clean and decide his own future this summer. Lehner needs a fresh start and that includes a contract reset.
<low take>
He played enough games to live up to the low 1st he was traded for and can't blame Botts if other GM's weren't willing to trade assets. His qualifying offer is probably higher than teams are willing to offer any goalie now.
Halak, Broisoit, Hutton, Khudobin, Ward, Bernier could all be cheaper as UFA's. Only Canes & Isles jump out as teams looking for a starter and no way of saying if they view Robin as a starter.
He correctly called out other players during postgames the last 2 seasons, but that seemed to make things worse for chemistry. They didn't play harder or they lost heart after the first goal against; this move could make everyone better simply because (my perceived) conflict has been removed.
I got him 100% wrong. I thought he would work, especially after losing weight.He was ****e, stop defending him. Called it ages ago and so many here were arguing that he is average league starter. Yeah of course he is, thats why Botts couldnt get anything for him.
I'm sure the team can find some good use for that $4m-plus they'll be saving.
Technically Vanek was wasted for nothing, Moulson and Lehner came from Vanek.Well now its official.
F you Murray for wasting the 1st round pick for nothing!
Technically Vanek was wasted for nothing, Moulson and Lehner came from Vanek.
Yeah I just had to dig that up but he's the last remnince of that trade at 51. Islanders chose to keep their 2014 2nd which deferred the 2nd to 2015 and we selected Guhle.Wasn't the Guhle pick from that trade, too?