Confirmed with Link: Pens hire Hextall (GM) and Burke (POHOP) - Part II

[HandshakeLine]

Didn't JR also vociferously deny that he was trying to trade Letang? One wonders if he really did try to trade Malkin too.

 

[orby]

Wonder if we'll ever find out what the return would have been.

I remember there were rumors back in the Shero era that the Pens and Flyers almost swapped Letang (and possibly something else?) for Simmonds and Voracek. That would have been a weird alternate universe.

Didn't JR also vociferously deny that he was trying to trade Letang? One wonders if he really did try to trade Malkin too.

If he was harassed into quitting for trying to trade Letang, I doubt he would have been allowed to explore a Malkin trade tbh.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Wonder if we'll ever find out what the return would have been.

I remember there were rumors back in the Shero era that the Pens and Flyers almost swapped Letang (and possibly something else?) for Simmonds and Voracek. That would have been a weird alternate universe.



If he was harassed into quitting for trying to trade Letang, I doubt he would have been allowed to explore a Malkin trade tbh.

I don't think he was harassed into quitting, though MiB can correct me if I'm wrong. It sounds like JR wanted to trade Letang, ownership didn't like the deal and nix'd it, and JR threw a tantrum and quit.

Either way, it's kind of hilarious that JR decided to fall on his sword over that.

 

[Pittsburgh1776]

Didn't JR also vociferously deny that he was trying to trade Letang? One wonders if he really did try to trade Malkin too.

His honesty was always overrated by media who wanted to curry favor. JR is effusive and talkative, not the same as honest. I’m not going to speak too ill of him, he was magic for two years and it helped saved the legacy of this era and this core in particular. But it was time to go. The jury is still out for me on this new crew though.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Yeah, I don't think JR was any more or less dishonest than any other GM we've had. That's just the nature of the game! Sometimes GMs tell you little white lies, sometimes they're cagey for no reason, and sometimes they try to trade your best players for really weird deals and then quit in a huff when they can't.

Well... maybe that last part shouldn't always be a thing.

 

[molon labe]

Didn't JR also vociferously deny that he was trying to trade Letang? One wonders if he really did try to trade Malkin too.

I don't wonder it. I'd put money that he wanted to.

Small things about him were always a bit concerning - the way he talked about the team - the way he addressed the championships- the way he criticized certain players yet lauded others. The dude became foolish. I can't agree that he was always the same person - I think maybe he thought he made gambles and that they paid off....but the entire community knew Scuds was toast so trading him for anything including a bag of pucks was a win....guys like JR look at that move as a gamble - trading a vet for a 'struggling' Daley. Flash forward to moves like the Pearson deal, Jack Johnson, Matheson - he looked at those like he couldn't lose (Pearson for a shakeup, Johnson for his relationship to Crosby, Matheson because some reason) -was just off his rocker. It was time for him to go in 2018 but he held on longer and longer. I think he would see big marquee move as a way to show the world that it was his show. Perhaps he thought Matheson was a way to ease off of Letang, who knows.

Had he brought Fleury back it would have just been par for the course. I certainly miss the willingness to make trades that we're not seeing in this management group - but I do not miss what JR had become for the past few years for a second.

 

[Mario_is_BACK!!]

I don’t have much more info beyond that, didn’t really press. If you read in to things you can guess Morehouse said no on this. I’m guessing as well Morehouse and he had other run ins or he wouldn’t quit just because of this one move. The way he still speaks glowingly of Mario but won’t discuss anything else makes you connect some dots there.

Either way, as I’ve said all along taking his ball and going home in a tizzy huff because he didn’t get his way seven games in to a season is indeed bullshit and unprofessional. But that’s also pretty well JR through his career.

 

[Pancakes]

I don’t have much more info beyond that, didn’t really press. If you read in to things you can guess Morehouse said no on this. I’m guessing as well Morehouse and he had other run ins or he wouldn’t quit just because of this one move. The way he still speaks glowingly of Mario but won’t discuss anything else makes you connect some dots there.

Either way, as I’ve said all along taking his ball and going home in a tizzy huff because he didn’t get his way seven games in to a season is indeed bullshit and unprofessional. But that’s also pretty well JR through his career.

I mean, I don't exactly blame JR for quitting if he did want to make a trade but was not allowed to do so. What GM would want to be a GM knowing they can't make the moves they want?

Now, that's not say I defend the thought of trading Letang. Especially trading Letang for Maf or whatever other nonsense JR would have thought up. I don't defend that idea at all. But if JR wanted to make moves but was not allowed to it makes sense that he would quit over that and I don't honestly blame him.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I mean, I don't exactly blame JR for quitting if he did want to make a trade but was not allowed to do so. What GM would want to be a GM knowing they can't make the moves they want?

Now, that's not say I defend the thought of trading Letang. Especially trading Letang for Maf or whatever other nonsense JR would have thought up. I don't defend that idea at all. But if JR wanted to make moves but was not allowed to it makes sense that he would quit over that and I don't honestly blame him.

What'd like to know was the timing of the supposed Letang trade-- was it something in the offseason that got nix'd, or did JR get a bee in his bonnet in the first week of the season?

 

[Ugene Magic]

Funny thing is...they fail this go around things could still happen on that front.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Trading Letang isn't the worst idea in the world (it's definitely not a great one if you're still looking to compete, but I digress). But JR was not a guy known for getting great deals on trades, so I have to ask myself how bad it actually was if ownership had to step in and actually nix it?

 

[CascadiaPenguin]

Didn't JR also vociferously deny that he was trying to trade Letang? One wonders if he really did try to trade Malkin too.

Yep. In the Yohe article he claimed the big 3 were untouchable. He was adamant. I bought off on it, shame on me, maybe? If MiB's source is right, I now say f*** JR, not because he was trying to move #58, but because of his self-serving, lying hypocrisy after the fact, now looking for work. I vacillate like that.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I wouldn't get too upset about JR telling us someone isn't on the block and, yet, still entertaining offers for them. That's to be expected. It's just kind of hilarious that it seems like JR was actively looking to trade Letang after publicly claiming he wasn't.

Just like there's a difference between JR immediately quitting because he tried to trade Letang 8 games in and it was veto'd, and JR stewing all summer over his rejected trade and quitting a few weeks into the season as a f*** you.