- Jun 13, 2010
- 40,104
- 18,216
Also as bad as Matheson's give away to take away ratio was Ekblad's was worse every year. So I think it was the system. I not passing judgement on this trade after 2 games from Matheson when our team was all playing terrible. I love his skating and skill package and think he can be a good player for us.
I always said this trade has nothing to do with what Hornqvist does. Whether we win or lose this deal all comes down to how well Matheson does. If Matheson turns his game around with us we win the deal and it is that simple. Matheson is one of they best skating defenseman in the league and has above average skills in all areas so if he learns to play in our system and plays to his potential then we win this deal. A 26 year old defenseman with his skill set that plays to his potential is worth much more than a mid 30's winger.
If Matheson doesn't turn it around with the Pens we lose the deal because of his years and contract. It was a win this year with the real money savings but if he doesn't turn it around like Niskanen, Schultz, and Daley did then it is a bad deal. I like the deal because it is a high risk high reward deal that has a ton of upside. Better than trading assets to get someone to take Hornqvist or have to retain part of Hornqvist's salary. Watching TJ go on waivers and nobody took him tells me Hornqvist had negative value. Matheson had negative value also but at least he has the upside and the age to actually have a chance to not have negative value.
Agreed but I think we have to be careful how much we read into guys like TJ going on waivers and not getting claimed. In a tight cap world I think that has more to do with a team not wanting to suddenly take on a $5mil player. I tend to think that if a team was interested they would rather send back salary to help absorb the cap hit. Not what Tampa would prefer obviously but then again, if TJ was a highly desirable $5mil player, he would get claimed.