NorthCoast
Registered User
- May 1, 2017
- 1,250
- 1,167
Keeping Methot over Ceci would have been wrong on a number of levels.
Methot was a "top pairing" D man, only because he was parented with EK65.
Who even ever heard of him, while he was playing in Columbus? I'll bet a lot of people were wondering "who is this guy" he came to Ottawa.
As stated earlier, Methot benefited immensely from playing along side EK65 while he was in Ottawa. Being the "stay at home" partner for EK65 is the best job in the NHL, and recovering and passing the puck to EK65 so that he can start the defensive zone exit, probably helped pad Methot's point totals.
Methot while in Columbus was averaging .185 P/Ga, vs .224P/Ga while in Ottawa ( If my math is correct).
In Dallas, Methot has 3 points in 45 games ........ so obviously protecting Ceci, over Methot, as much as a lot of people hate Cody, was the right thing to do.
And I suspect, IF Dorion had done what a lot of armchair GMs wanted (keeping Methot and letting Ceci go for nothing) they's be slamming PD for doing so.
Agreed.
But with my 20/20 hindsight supervision, I would also say that the failure was not replacing Methot. Sure, Methot for what he was and what he would cost in 2017 was not worth it. But the decision that he could be replaced by Harper, or Boro, or Phaneuf, or etc. as a top pairing partner for EK was wrong.
And it is a little frustrating that they didn't do this because they had already identified the need for EK to have a specific type of partner in the past.
The move to get Methot was one of my favorite moves by the sens. Because they identified exactly what they needed for EK and targeted a specific player that they properly projected would grow into the role, and the cost was reasonable because young Methot's will never break the bank. This to me is a great example of getting value out of a trade, because for several years Methot was clearly a better fit/more valuable as EK's partner in Ottawa then playing 2nd/3rd pairing in Columbus, and of more value to the sens than Foligno.