None of that changes the fact that Lou didn't improve the team.
Well, technically, the jury is out whether Varlamov will be an improvement on Lehner and Brassard will be an improvement on Filppula.
And the jury is also out on our new PP coach, who has quite the track record in comparison to Gomez.
We're only six games into the season.
BTW, I see plenty of teams who added a BIG name to "improve the team" who aren't benefiting right off the bat (i.e. Kessel in Arizona, Bobrovsky in Florida)
Even if we are a lottery team or tanking you still make transactions to fit the rebuilding process. Such as trading vets to get younger or aquire additional draft picks. At least make a move to remove some dead weight especially players who still have value like Leddy or Boychuk.
Who says all that?
Is that in that book "NHL GMing for Dummies"?
And since when are we rebuilding? Is that what it's called when the Face of the Franchise walks away for nothing?
Does getting younger mean getting better? I mean, we've added a center who is younger than Filppula. We've added Dal Colle full time (thus far) and the team has gone with Dobson over Hickey. And Wahlstrom already made his debut. Dobson and Wahlstrom aren't even 20 yet!
Did you think about how improving from within could be a viable option? We've got plenty of veterans to help mold those kids and show them where the wind blows, but those guys make us a bit younger.
And as for Leddy and Boychuk, what has you calling them dead weight? We are a MARKEDLY different team without these guys in the line-up. Sheesh, the record alone that this team has had with Boychuk in the line-up since his arrival in comparison to without is incredible. And I just can't get that picture out of my head right now, you know, where he kept the puck in the zone and then dove to push it to Barzal, who's pass ricocheted into the net for that 2-2 goal against St. Louis. The man is our purest warrior.
One thing I think all long-term NHL watchers have picked up along the way is that you don't make changes just for the sake of making changes. If you have something that works, you keep it together and just tweak it here and there. When you're close to the cup, that's when it may be wise to perhaps pay a good chunk to get that one guy who puts you over the top.
We struck out on Tavares and Panarin.
Indeed, and that kind of thing alone can put a team behind the 8 ball.
Lou probably tried to aquire other big ticket free agents and was turned away. He looked at the trade market and felt the price was too high to obtain what they needed. Or at least that's the speculation.
Or simply little more than conjecture.
Brassard as the best forward on you're free agent list is unacceptable. Theres a reason why every team in the league ignored him. Signing him isn't the initial problem its a short term deal for peanuts but expecting him to be a major contributor and having him play big minutes as your number three Center shows me Lou really isnt good at evaluating NHL players.
Oh, is that what the Brassard signing shows you?
Because it shows me that for a spit in the bucket, they got a guy with a strong career history of PP production and face-off capability who can play on the left as well while giving primarily Koivula and Jobst time on the farm to make themselves an NHL option.
I know you and many others wanted more high profile players as a sign of this team "improving". I wanted Panarin. And if he wasn't coming, I wanted a Johansson or Dzingel type for that LW side on line 2. But I'll tell you what was frigging handcuffing us - and would have handcuffed any GM in hockey. It's the fact that 4 of our most important players were UFAs. This team absolutely could not take the chance of missing out on many of these guys while hunting for other UFAs out there, perhaps ending up with none of them.
To get Eberle and Nelson to those contracts, and keep a huge part of our identity while bringing in a Lehner-comparable goalie whose deal basically wraps up Sorokin as well was nothing short of extremely astute.
And you can't forget that EVERY financial transaction made this summer was with an eye on the budget for resigning Barzal and Pulock next summer, hopefully long term.
We'll once again see what Trotz can do with the current crew and must hope that Lou will be able to get something done, if the situation calls for it.
was implied. Although there probably is a poster somewhere here who thinks Lou is senile because he didn't make that deal....
