My Special Purpose
Registered User
- Apr 8, 2008
- 8,151
- 21,787
I've been pretty critical of the Canes the past few years, and honestly, I think the team's lack of success shows that the criticism is well-justified. But the one thing that keeps happening over and over is that everyone is defending JR by saying that he did the best he could, and you just can't *force* things to happen. Then the next question becomes, "what would you have done differently?"
And when you take each decision from the point it's made, it's easy to see that maybe JR didn't have a whole lot of options. But generally speaking, the reason he doesn't have a whole lot of options is because of the crappy decisions he's made leading up to the latest decision. In other words, he's tied his own hands.
So, with that in mind, this is what I would do *from right now*. I can't go back and un-do the draft, or the Jordan Staal trade, or the long-term contracts with no-movement clauses handed out to Tuomo Ruutu, Tim Gleason and Jeff Skinner, or the $1 million, one-way contract Jeremy Welsh gets this year. But I also can't be responsible for the dumb-a$$ stuff JR is going to do next.
I'd set two goals. The first goal would be to establish an identity on the ice, and make all moves going forward according to that identity. The identity would be developed by a) applying "Moneyball" principles to hockey and seeing what types of players are undervalued and b) talking with the coach.
The second goal would be off the ice, where I'd try to create some cap space to gain some flexibility.
I'll start off with that second goal. I'd use a compliance buyout on Tuomo Ruutu. I don't care if he'd get $5 million on the open market. He's not worth $5 million to us. He's killed us since he's been here with his inability to stay healthy. And let's be honest, he hasn't been a $5 million player when he has been in the lineup. Not that I even remember what that's like. But most importantly, we just can't have a high-risk player like Ruutu on a team with a budget like ours. Just think of all the ways we could spend $5 million a year.
But I can't, because JR gave him a no-movement clause, which means he can't be waived and thus, can't be bought out.
See? This is why "what would you do" isn't a valid question. I can't do 90 percent of what I'd do because the other idiot did something dumb.
Yup, the Canes are in a jam right now. They can't do what a losing, small market club should do. They can't "go young and cheap" because they've locked up huge chunks of money on veterans. They can't do much of anything aside from hope for the best. And this is the single biggest reason JR should be relieved of his duties. He's done exactly what you can't do in a non-traditional, small market. *HE* made this mess, it didn't happen to him. The Canes are in this mess because of JR.
And when you take each decision from the point it's made, it's easy to see that maybe JR didn't have a whole lot of options. But generally speaking, the reason he doesn't have a whole lot of options is because of the crappy decisions he's made leading up to the latest decision. In other words, he's tied his own hands.
So, with that in mind, this is what I would do *from right now*. I can't go back and un-do the draft, or the Jordan Staal trade, or the long-term contracts with no-movement clauses handed out to Tuomo Ruutu, Tim Gleason and Jeff Skinner, or the $1 million, one-way contract Jeremy Welsh gets this year. But I also can't be responsible for the dumb-a$$ stuff JR is going to do next.
I'd set two goals. The first goal would be to establish an identity on the ice, and make all moves going forward according to that identity. The identity would be developed by a) applying "Moneyball" principles to hockey and seeing what types of players are undervalued and b) talking with the coach.
The second goal would be off the ice, where I'd try to create some cap space to gain some flexibility.
I'll start off with that second goal. I'd use a compliance buyout on Tuomo Ruutu. I don't care if he'd get $5 million on the open market. He's not worth $5 million to us. He's killed us since he's been here with his inability to stay healthy. And let's be honest, he hasn't been a $5 million player when he has been in the lineup. Not that I even remember what that's like. But most importantly, we just can't have a high-risk player like Ruutu on a team with a budget like ours. Just think of all the ways we could spend $5 million a year.
But I can't, because JR gave him a no-movement clause, which means he can't be waived and thus, can't be bought out.
See? This is why "what would you do" isn't a valid question. I can't do 90 percent of what I'd do because the other idiot did something dumb.
Yup, the Canes are in a jam right now. They can't do what a losing, small market club should do. They can't "go young and cheap" because they've locked up huge chunks of money on veterans. They can't do much of anything aside from hope for the best. And this is the single biggest reason JR should be relieved of his duties. He's done exactly what you can't do in a non-traditional, small market. *HE* made this mess, it didn't happen to him. The Canes are in this mess because of JR.
