Or do we not think they have value and they actually do? Zidlicky was a good trade, Belanger was a good trade, Setoguchi and Clutterbuck were good trades. You then have the Burns trade, the Kobasew trade (but that was more of us giving things up for nothing essentially), the Barker trade. Not to mention the Powe trade and the Staubitz trades.
For the Burns trade, who knew we'd blow 3 players? Yup. That one sucks now. Powe was our best PKer and we got rid of him for the worst NHL player we've ever had, which I honestly believe. We gave up a 5th rounder for a semi-okay facepuncher in Staubitz. I'd rather dismiss low ranking moves for how relevant they aren't when all we needed was 3-4 guys to score 20 goals.
We haven't done really well in our mid picks. Late round have been decent but early to mid have been pretty mediocre. And if this is also on the scouting department and Brent Flahr, they should start replacing them and getting some different perspective. The organization has been pretty stagnant in terms of turnover, which I want to see this off-season because either the scouts or the coaches/GM (in Iowa) is dropping the ball big time. We're either picking the wrong players or we're developing them so they look like we're picking the wrong players.
What do we consider mid-round? I think 1-2 is high, 3-5 is mid, 6-7 is late? Fair?
Hits since GM CF has been in office.
2009
High-1 Leddy
Mid-0
Late-2 Kuemper, Haula
2010
High-3 Granlund, Larsson, Zucker
Mid-0 mid round picks
Late-1 Gustafsson will be an NHL goaltender at some point. Solid back-up.
2011
High-1, possibly 2 Brodin and maybe Lucia. Hope still for Lucia
Mid-0 Only mid round pick was Seeler. So far not looking great
Late-Too early to tell. Michalek finally putting things together and Graovac made an appearance and looked competent.
2012
High- Dumba.
Everything else too early to tell. For the mid-round picks, right now we'd be starting to see the return on 2 drafts in which we only had 1 mid-rounder. So, that is bad timing.
Our firsts have been pretty good. Extremely lackluster 2nds. I still think its how we develop. Iowa's team and their record is a good indication. And it clearly wasn't the coaching. They are the buffalo sabres of the AHL.
I'd think he could have handled the Stoner and Cullen situation better along with the Powe situation (you can't tell me someone like Powe wouldn't have had some value at the deadline. ). I really wouldn't be surprised if he let Brodziak walk.
Ultimately, Fletcher has been okay getting to the playoffs through free agency but I don't think he's done really well creating a sustainable or flexible organization. Crazy enough, some of his better moves have been because of Riser's drafting (Clutterbuck, Burns) or trades (Zidlicky). Furthermore, the depth on this team has been worrisome especially at defense but hopefully next year that gets better with another season from Dumba and Folin in the AHL and Labbe coming in. The flexibility on this team has been a concern as well (and you can see that in the trade speculation forum).
I think Cullen was such a locally popular player he didn't want to upset the fanbase. As for Brodziak, I think he is worth more to us if we attempt to make the playoffs. Unless its a first round pick or high 2nd, then pick for sure.
Honestly, I think the depth we have on defense is okay, just underdeveloped. (Blum, Folin, Dumba for the 5 and 6 spots.) I hate calling them 5 and 6s as that has a negative connotation of they shouldn't play many minutes. But on a competently coached team they'd be getting 15-18 minutes. Which is a hell of a lot. But all three of those have high offensive ability and are okay defensively.
I think we are at the point asset wise where we are passing our limit. After how many years of being far below what we need to be a solid team we are reaching the equilibrium of having a nice team and having extra to gamble in a trade.
I'm still of mind that GMCF has done the best with what he had and he was in a gigantic hole to start his tenure.
