News Article: Sour Grapes: Lou not happy with how he lost Tavares

[Gary Nylund]

you know, I suspect Lou has been long past his "best before date" for some time. I know Phaneuf and Andersson were good deals, but come on, Matt Martin for four years? Hainsey the best RHD he could acquire? The Zaitsev deal? We never fully know who plays what role in these things, but Toronto's d-core has been a mess for some time, and instead of going after someone like Demers who is a competent RHD and not too expensive, he adds Martin at 2.5 mil for four years. Patently stupid the day it was signed.
And now he's got him back at the Islanders, along with a rapidly declining Komarov.
Maybe he's trying to tank?

I'm not sure this is fair. Martin wasn't so bad, he provided some mentorship to the kids who loved having him around and we were able to ship him out so it's not like we were stuck with a bad contract. Hainsey played pretty well last season and Zaitsev , IIRC when he was signed many of us thought it was a good deal for us. He was injured, he could bounce back and and if he does, this could still turn out to be a very good deal for us.

Komarov I can almost understand (and bringing back Martin), they're starting over there and will be bad for a few years so having some guys who can protect Barzal and their other kids makes some sense. 4 years seems nuts though, agree with you there.

Bottom line - I do think Lou is past his "best before date" but to way he has been "long" past that is stretching it. I think he did a good job here, it was great having him for those couple of years and now (like Martin), it was time for him to move on.

 

[Bluelines]

Fundamentally - i get why Stamkos didn't choose us. and Fundamentally, anyone with sense should see why Tavares didn't choose The Islanders.

I didn't like Stamkos doing what he did (because it felt like he, like most players seem to do) throw Toronto in the mix see if you can get more money, and then bolt. (Tampa didn't, and the Leafs from what i heard didn't offer the big bucks, + with the presentation it kinda scared him out he went). that's fair. but he did what he felt was right.

"Reports" that came out before JT signed with us is the Leafs really blew the Stamkos presentation, like we did a nose dive into concrete bad. Stammer not signing with us might have more to do with our lack or preparation /execution of our plan than it did with Stammer leveraging the Leafs.

Only Stammer knows for sure why he didn't sign with us but in the end no real harm came to us so I don't have issues with Stammer using us (if that is what he did) to get more $$$ and or term.

 

[Trapper]

I'm not sure this is fair. Martin wasn't so bad, he provided some mentorship to the kids who loved having him around and we were able to ship him out so it's not like we were stuck with a bad contract. Hainsey played pretty well last season and Zaitsev , IIRC when he was signed many of us thought it was a good deal for us. He was injured, he could bounce back and and if he does, this could still turn out to be a very good deal for us.

Komarov I can almost understand (and bringing back Martin), they're starting over there and will be bad for a few years so having some guys who can protect Barzal and their other kids makes some sense. 4 years seems nuts though, agree with you there.

Bottom line - I do think Lou is past his "best before date" but to way he has been "long" past that is stretching it. I think he did a good job here, it was great having him for those couple of years and now (like Martin), it was time for him to move on.

You have to understand the reality of where your team is vs. where you would like it to be.
When we brought in Martin, we were the 30th place team. We had no idea how Marner or Nylander were going to translate into 82 game season. We had just lived through salute gate, rough management and jerseys littering the ice.
What Lou is good at is establishing credibility. He was tasked with moving out the old and embracing the new. He upgraded the offices to promote a more professional style. He held people to standards. They made it a place to want to be. NY has been a circus for some time. Management people laugh at, a horrible arena, constant trading away of players, etc. Lou is probably bringing in people he knows on ice to set an example. No they aren't the best players but they are professional in how the go about business. That needs to translate to the young Barzal, Ho-Sang, and everyone who is part of the future.
I didn't want Lou running this team long term, but I'd take him to get it up and running.

 

[mapleleafs34]

It's an interview window, he got interviewed. I'm not sure what Lou is talking about here. What would be different? Sounds to me like he's just bitter that he got outdone.

Bitter that the student took the professor to school

 

[Daisy Jane]

Yep. It's a lot easier to suck if you have a villain to blame for it, though, and I guess Tavares is an easy pick. Meanwhile, if management had built something halfway decent around him in the 9 years of cheap, superstar service he provided them, there's a pretty good chance JT's still an Islander today.

exactly.
honestly - i bet you if they had an arena for next year, he'd probably be an Islander today.

 

[Daisy Jane]

"Reports" that came out before JT signed with us is the Leafs really blew the Stamkos presentation, like we did a nose dive into concrete bad. Stammer not signing with us might have more to do with our lack or preparation /execution of our plan than it did with Stammer leveraging the Leafs.

Only Stammer knows for sure why he didn't sign with us but in the end no real harm came to us so I don't have issues with Stammer using us (if that is what he did) to get more $$$ and or term.

see, again, that's what I mean.
Fundamentally, that makes sense.

but emotionally as a fan - i don't care. this isn't Ivan Whomagonov from Russia, this is a guy who played in the NHL for 9 years, who lives in Toronto, who knows people in the organization and what things are all about and ultimately it comes down to the #1 question

Do you want to be a Maple Leafs. Yes. or No.
do you want to be part of helping us be great and win.
if yes, then fine. if no, that's your decision and I respect that decision, but I don't have any more time for you.

so to a point, I get where Islanders fans are coming from. if I were an Isles fan, JT would be dead to me too but it's the everything else that's just not making sense to me.

 

[mix1home]

From some quick trips through the Isles Board over the past couple weeks, I would suggest that that's exactly what their fans believe happened.
I don't personally think it was a done deal until he was forced to really think about everything, which likely happened during the interview process, but I, too, am just a blowhard on the internet, so what do I know?.

Cherchez la femme, pardieu! Cherchez la femme!
He might have given promise or hint that he would stay with Islanders to their then management team, but I bet his fiance wanted to be close to family for help with kids, etc. And final word might have been hers that tilted the decision Leafs way. And there is nothing wrong with it. She was radiantly smiling at the meeting with Leafs bras. Happy wife - happy life, you know...

 

[Stephen]

I guess at the end of the day Lou is just creating an "Us vs Them" mentality.

 

[Ari91]

I'm not bothered by his comments but I do find them ironic that he would care so much about contravening the spirit of the CBA when he's he same guy of who negotiated the Kovulchuck contract, lol.

I wonder if he didn't like the fact that due to the high demand for JT during the interview period, the Isles had to take part in the interview period as well. I guess the spirit of that interview period is to be able to see what else is out there, not have the 'home' team have to prove themselves to you in the same vein as every other team trying to win your services.

 

[ULF_55]

Kyle will pay for this.

Yep, with a better line-up.

Oh go shave you old goat.

 

[Ari91]

I will say that the interview process isn't supposed to yield finite deals. I mean, Jack Johnson had agreed to a contract on day one, all details included. That's not supposed to be allowed.

I agree but there were quite a bit of contracts that were reported before July 1st even hit. In those cases, I would find it hard to believe that numbers weren't discussed prior to the player saying 'yup, I'm going to sign with you'. With the JT case, it doesn't seem to have shaken down the same way (and based on the behind the scenes and pressers to date), it seems on the Saturday night, JT informed the Leafs that he was leaning toward choosing them and at that point, the Leafs began working on formulating a contract to present on the Sunday. Maybe they did push numbers back and forth between the Saturday and Sunday (prior to official FA), BUT it doesn't seem like the Leafs presented optics that would support the argument that they were negotiating during the interview period when they weren't supposed to.

 

[IBeL34f]

I'm not bothered by his comments but I do find them ironic that he would care so much about contravening the spirit of the CBA when he's he same guy of who negotiated the Kovulchuck contract, lol.

I wonder if he didn't like the fact that due to the high demand for JT during the interview period, the Isles had to take part in the interview period as well. I guess the spirit of that interview period is to be able to see what else is out there, not have the 'home' team have to prove themselves to you in the same vein as every other team trying to win your services.

I mean, if that's the case, take it up with JT and his agent for making them interview, not the process.

As far as I'm concerned, Lou doesn't have a leg to stand on here - Especially if he won't come right out and say specifically what he's upset about.

 

[hullsy47]

I mean, if that's the case, take it up with JT and his agent for making them interview, not the process.

As far as I'm concerned, Lou doesn't have a leg to stand on here - Especially if he won't come right out and say specifically what he's upset about.

he lost out boo f....n hoo
an agent worth his salt has a red flag pasted all over the islanders organization
turmoil , lousy rink ,and yes anointing a 76 year old gm a job to rebuild or retool

 

[The Best Leafs Ever]

I would be happy to know the island drowned from all this salt water!

 

[Pocket Hercules]

To be fair, he lost the previous highest profile UFA superstar ever Niedermeyer and then a genuine star in Parise. Hes got burned thrice badly by UFAs

Plus Kovalchuk reneged out of his contract by "retiring" and left the Devils high and dry.

 

[Tall Morty]

He sounds like a vaguebooking teenager:

“So sad about how things went”

“What’s the matter, Lou?”

“I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT, LEAVE ME ALONE”.

 

[SniperOnTheWing]

In a way this whole situation is a metaphor for the way the league is trending. It's getting younger, smarter, and more skilled. Dubas represents the new wave of thinking with fresh new ideas and perspectives while still being outgoing, charismatic, aggressive and confident.

Lou represents the old fashioned way, where you seclude yourself from the outside world and keep doing the same old thing that worked back in the 90s or whatever.

Tavares sat with both guys and saw the two extreme ends of the spectrum. He chose the new wave of the future over the tired ways of the past. Good on him and too bad so sad for Lou.