Confirmed with Link: Ruutu out for hip surgery

AD Skinner

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Good thing they didn't give that expensive contract to Erik Cole. I still can't believe they let him walk only to spend that money on Ruutu.
 
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Joe McGrath

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Once again, stubbornness has taken a toll for this team. Aside from Ruutu's indecision to immediately act on his injury, JR's to blame by trying to control his fate. By no means am I inferring that JR injured Ruutu, but his stupidity has cost us. Rather than forgiving himself, he tries to compensate the loss of Cole through another grinder/sniper in Ruutu. Same with his impatience in the JJ saga where he downgrades to Gleason rather than waiting another couple years. Just to imagine that we couldve had JStaal and Sutter barring Gleason and an injured Ruutu is disappointing. (Pittsburgh wanted Ladd and Johnson prior to Sutter, Dumoulin, and 8th for Staal IIRC)

If Ruutu has been rehabbing since August you think maybe he went to a doctor and the doctor told him he could fix it through rehab, especially figuring he had more time to rest? If a doctor said he needed surgery I don't think he or the team would tell them to kick dirt we'll do it our way. If anything they would have done the opposite knowing the season wasn't going to start on time anyway.

The Ruutu contract is dumb dumb dumb, but playing the woulda coulda shoulda game with a potential trade of what amounted to 2 top 4 picks for 1 top 4 pick (all still prospects) is not something you should be highlighting to show how impatient or stupid a GM is.
 
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Joe McGrath

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Good thing they didn't give that expensive contract to Erik Cole. I still can't believe they let him walk only to spend that money on Ruutu.

While this is true, and it sucks, if he let Ruutu walk and Semin didn't sign here LaRose would be penciled into the top line from day 1. I'm sure no one here would be *****ing and moaning about that.
 
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If Ruutu has been rehabbing since August you think maybe he went to a doctor and the doctor told him he could fix it through rehab, especially figuring he had more time to rest? If a doctor said he needed surgery I don't think he or the team would tell them to kick dirt we'll do it our way. If anything they would have done the opposite knowing the season wasn't going to start on time anyway.

The Ruutu contract is dumb dumb dumb, but playing the woulda coulda shoulda game with a potential trade of what amounted to 2 top 4 picks for 1 top 4 pick (all still prospects) is not something you should be highlighting to show how impatient or stupid a GM is.

It probably was doctors orders to wait it out through rehab, and I guess 4 months before surgery isn't too bad. Plus, it gives Tlusty his earned spot in the top 6 and prospects a chance to play if the season starts anytime soon.

As far as stupidity goes, I think none other than JR would trade a 3rd overall pick waiting to finish college for scraps. There are exceptions though. I wouldn't have blamed him if we had been a failed franchise desperate to win a cup or an aging team with no promising future. But since we had just won a cup and we still had Ol captain Brindy, maybe Rutherford thought we could repeat as the champs.

Predicting the outcome of Jstaal, JJ, and Ladd was basically a crapshoot, but since Ladd was basically a godsend with that #4 pick and JR wasn't having it with JJ, trading for the acclaimed best Staal couldn't have been the hardest decision. (not exactly sure when it was that the staal parents called Jordan the best).
 

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Are we still going on about JJ? I would have thought his progression in the NHL would have ended that pining. Historically, we haven't had great defensive players. Why some are mad we missed out on one of the worst defensive players in the league is beyond me.

Now, we probably could have gotten a better return for JJ, but that's a minor thing (and Gleason isn't a bad return).
 
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Joe McGrath

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It probably was doctors orders to wait it out through rehab, and I guess 4 months before surgery isn't too bad. Plus, it gives Tlusty his earned spot in the top 6 and prospects a chance to play if the season starts anytime soon.

As far as stupidity goes, I think none other than JR would trade a 3rd overall pick waiting to finish college for scraps. There are exceptions though. I wouldn't have blamed him if we had been a failed franchise desperate to win a cup or an aging team with no promising future. But since we had just won a cup and we still had Ol captain Brindy, maybe Rutherford thought we could repeat as the champs.

Predicting the outcome of Jstaal, JJ, and Ladd was basically a crapshoot, but since Ladd was basically a godsend with that #4 pick and JR wasn't having it with JJ, trading for the acclaimed best Staal couldn't have been the hardest decision. (not exactly sure when it was that the staal parents called Jordan the best).

Gleason has been a legit top 4 defenseman since he got here so he's not exactly scraps. He was thought to be better than he wound up being but he's still a steady, physical defenseman who is an assistant captain. Belanger was just dreadful though.
 
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Gleason has been a legit top 4 defenseman since he got here so he's not exactly scraps. He was thought to be better than he wound up being but he's still a steady, physical defenseman who is an assistant captain. Belanger was just dreadful though.

Even if hes not scraps, it's trading a clear cut top pairing dman for a #4 dman IMO straight up.
 

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Are we still going on about JJ? I would have thought his progression in the NHL would have ended that pining. Historically, we haven't had great defensive players. Why some are mad we missed out on one of the worst defensive players in the league is beyond me.

Now, we probably could have gotten a better return for JJ, but that's a minor thing (and Gleason isn't a bad return).

We got more out of Gleason than the Kings got out of JJ. I don't feel like it's a coincidence that they traded him, got a highly useful piece for him, and then went from the 8th seed to a championship. For a guy that relishes being a "team guy", he certainly hasn't won much of anything to justify that. Plus, the fact that he didn't want to be here was the worst kept secret in the organization. At least we didn't get Shultz'd.
 
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Vagrant

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Even if hes not scraps, it's trading a clear cut top pairing dman for a #4 dman IMO straight up.

He has a .38 points per game average (31.16 per 82), is a career -85 in only 364 games, and was traded from a cup contender. How many clear cut top pairing defenders does that describe? He was a -12 on a team that won the cup last season. I don't buy him as a top pairing defender simply because he can skate and hit. He has the same disease that kept Ed Jovanovski from ever staying on top of his peak, he doesn't think the game well and relies upon his physical gifts.
 
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We got more out of Gleason than the Kings got out of JJ. I don't feel like it's a coincidence that they traded him, got a highly useful piece for him, and then went from the 8th seed to a championship. For a guy that relishes being a "team guy", he certainly hasn't won much of anything to justify that. Plus, the fact that he didn't want to be here was the worst kept secret in the organization. At least we didn't get Shultz'd.

Well, the Schultz situation didn't even cross my mind but it could of very well been the case here on Carolina. Had it not been, Pitkanen and Johnson would've been an excellent first pairing. With Johnson being a leader in Columbus, I expect a turnaround season coming from that team.
 

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Pitkanen and Johnson would be a disaster. Who's playing defense in that pairing?

I suppose they'd be fine in terms of keeping the offensive zone, but as soon as the puck heads down the other way, Ward would be on an island.
 
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He has a .38 points per game average (31.16 per 82), is a career -85 in only 364 games, and was traded from a cup contender. How many clear cut top pairing defenders does that describe? He was a -12 on a team that won the cup last season. I don't buy him as a top pairing defender simply because he can skate and hit. He has the same disease that kept Ed Jovanovski from ever staying on top of his peak, he doesn't think the game well and relies upon his physical gifts.

I dont blame the kings for trading Johnson. He has sucked up until that point and it was in their best interest to reunite the 09-10 flyers.

I just don't think we should exclude JJ just yet and he's always been obviously better than Gleason. He's like Gleason 2.0
 
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Pitkanen and Johnson would be a disaster. Who's playing defense in that pairing?

I suppose they'd be fine in terms of keeping the offensive zone, but as soon as the puck heads down the other way, Ward would be on an island.

Not like abandoning Ward is anything atypical of this team anyways. I think that Pitkanen's defense is a little under appreciated around these boards, but that pairing would surrender a lot of scoring chances nonetheless.
 
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Anton Babchuk

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JR would have gotten a much better return if he had traded JJ at the draft or midseason. Trading him at the end of training camp was the worst possible time to do so. Every team thinks they have a chance to win at the start of the season, so who is going to trade significant pieces off their roster for a prospect who wouldn't be able to play for them that season, at a point in time when there are no impact players in free agency left to sign to replace the players they dealt away?

So we got a #4/5D and third line center.
 
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JR would have gotten a much better return if he had traded JJ at the draft or midseason. Trading him at the end of training camp was the worst possible time to do so. Every team thinks they have a chance to win at the start of the season, so who is going to trade significant pieces off their roster for a prospect who wouldn't be able to play for them that season, at a point in time when there are no impact players in free agency left to sign to replace the players they dealt away?

So we got a #4/5D and third line center.

Waiting a whole year after Johnson clearly stated he wanted to still play for Michigan didn't help out Rutherfords situation in the slightest. But when presented the opportunity to obtain a #1 center at the 06 draft, trading Ladd and Johnson was just too much.
 
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DaveG

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Waiting a whole year after Johnson clearly stated he wanted to still play for Michigan didn't help out Rutherfords situation in the slightest. But when presented the opportunity to obtain a #1 center at the 06 draft, trading Ladd and Johnson was just too much.

Yeah I honestly don't blame JR too much for passing on trading both Ladd and Johnson for Staal though. I do find it funny though that at the time a lot of us were saying that's an obvious non-starter (and it was), but that it would probably be doable with the Pens sending a defensive prospect back. The ironic part is that most of us wanted Welch or Goligoski, who none of them wanted to part with, but many thought that Letang would be a suitable replacement for them in offers, which many of us (including myself) balked at. Had that been the real life offer I'm sure most of us would be doing the happy dance right now.

We definitely should have gotten better for JJ though, even if Gleason has turned out to be a good 2nd pairing guy here. The problem is that JR wanted to offload Tverdovsky's salary in the process, and that combined with JJ's very obvious unwillingness to play here killed the trade value. To be honest JR should have been approaching the trade from the very second that JJ refused to sign with the team after his season ended at Michigan. Hesitating cost him and us.
 
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Anton Babchuk

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Yeah I honestly don't blame JR too much for passing on trading both Ladd and Johnson for Staal though. I do find it funny though that at the time a lot of us were saying that's an obvious non-starter (and it was), but that it would probably be doable with the Pens sending a defensive prospect back. The ironic part is that most of us wanted Welch or Goligoski, who none of them wanted to part with, but many thought that Letang would be a suitable replacement for them in offers, which many of us (including myself) balked at. Had that been the real life offer I'm sure most of us would be doing the happy dance right now.

We definitely should have gotten better for JJ though, even if Gleason has turned out to be a good 2nd pairing guy here. The problem is that JR wanted to offload Tverdovsky's salary in the process, and that combined with JJ's very obvious unwillingness to play here killed the trade value. To be honest JR should have been approaching the trade from the very second that JJ refused to sign with the team after his season ended at Michigan. Hesitating cost him and us.

Interesting that JR himself shut that proposal down so soon because the value lost from both of those proposals isn't that far off.

Usually to obtain a #1 centerman, it's ideal to trade away a #2 centerman and a 2nd pair dman. When he traded that top pair potential dman for an 2nd pairing dman, he should've got a #2 center as well. Instead, we unload a contract which is whatever and we get Belanger. The contract must of been the sticking point in that deal because we should of clearly got more for Johnson.

If JR would've traded JJ(with top pair potential) and Ladd for Staal, he would've lost similar value as he did in the Gleason trade. Adding Letang wouldve been gravy.
 
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bleedgreen

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Anybody suggesting we win on gleason for JJ needs to step back from jr's punch bowl. Regardless, this is an issue even I have tired of arguing about. We panicked and traded a top prospect for an average joe who could play now, with a couple other pieces thrown in both ways to make it more "even". It was a risky trade, and impossible to say how things would be different.

I personally hated both the JJ and Ladd trades. Neither helped us, and its always easier to root for our own kids IMO, and both of those players are guys we currently lack stylistically that would be nice to have. The players we got are likeable and valuable in their own right, but its hard to argue in either case we traded future for now. It is what it is. Jr has never been afraid to roll those dice, and did again this past summer. It's ok to slam jr for it, I've watched him do it since 95. It's painful. Still not all of them are bad moves, and defending them in the name of making the team better now is fair too. I just hate that style. Draft well, develop your kids. Don't panic. Still it's over and let's focus on the staal trade if we need to argue over potential risky trades. We could've had jstaal for free in 6 months. We knew a lockout was coming. Better to get your guy when you're sure you can? I'm ok with it. I like Jstaal and think sutter was always gonna struggle to develop here.
 
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