YearlyLottery
The Pooch Report
I know people are anxious and there are definitely things that in hindsight maybe we could have had a better outcome, but overall, hard to argue with the results since BT and LL have been here. LL is not a moron, he knows we need some scoring help, but it has to actually improve the team. Trades are hard to make, especially when we dont have a deep system. We'd have to trade young, controllable players for expiring contracts and that might help us this year, but definitely hurts down the line. The move lou wants to make is one that brings in an elite scorer who will be here for the long term. he's tried multiple times to do so - Stone and Panarin - and likely others we dont know about.
The things that in hindsight i might have done differently -
1. Signing eberle. Money could have been better spent on others IMO
2. Drafting - have had some hits, obviously, but there are several glaring missed opportunities to draft centers, especially. There is still time, but early returns are that Ishakov and Holmstrom arent performing to the level of the centers we had our choices of in those spots.
cant fault him for Panarin, and he certainly can bring someone in like Toffoli for a minimal return but that'll only make the team marginally better. To really be on Boston's / WAS level, we need an elite scorer. We either have to grow one or actually pull thru in FA...maybe Hall comes thru this offseason, but i wont hold my breath....
I just want to add that I believe a portion of the reason we have not seen Lou pull the trigger with trading for an aging star is because he does not want this older team to become too old in a few seasons. Remember, we have not seen a Seguin type of player traded in Lou's tenure here, I believe if that were to happen we would see Lou pull the trigger.
Keep in mind, we do NOT know that Stone would have signed an extension here if Dobson were dealt. If you know this for sure please link it.
Also, Ryan O Rielly was dealt days after Tavares left when we were all expecting a top draft pick. At that point in time it was obviously not smart to trade any picks.