There are some things that I simply cannot get on board with, things being mentioned a lot here:
- first of all, enough talk about keeping Mike Sullivan and recalling Tristan Jarry for tank purposes. Get that stuff out of here. Nonsense. I'd give up our first-round pick for the next decade if it meant moving on from the fossil behind the bench right about now. And Jarry should remain in the AHL until we find a chump (er, taker) for his services or his contract runs out, or he actually earns a promotion back to the NHL. We have the cap space to keep him buried. In fact, one of the reasons we should not retain salary or buy players out is so that we can bury contracts if we need to. Heck, I would not stop at Jarry. Heinen, Hayes, Acciari...bury them all if you cannot trade.
- secondly, we are a terrible team. I don't believe it. Our core is solid, if aging yes. I watched both weekend games against Wsh and NYR. We seemed in control of both games, out-shooting and out-chancing both opponents. True, we got no goaltending at all in either game, but it is more than that. This team is built for low-event hockey. So when events occur, we are like deer in headlights. And it has been this way under Sullivan for a very long time. And then they simply cannot reel it back in. That's on the coach. Sullivan talks about wanting more mental toughness. Well, that's coaching Mike! And then there is roster construction. We are a top-heavy team, and a bottom-heavy team. No middle class! We are like dating a girl with Dolly Parton's tits and Kim Kardashian's ass. And nothing in between.
- So this theory about Dubas always planning a full-blown tank rebuild, despite his public comments to the contrary, is an interesting one. Not really buying it, though. So, he tells us the plan is to be competitive for the rest of the core's careers, while getting younger with an eye toward the future, yet he in actuality decides to go into tank mode? Sorry, but how is he going to convince said core that this is the plan and they all buy in? Fans can be persuaded, sure. Fannies in the seats and all that. But, aside from knowing the competitive nature of these athletes, we have heard plenty of reports about them committing to this team. Crosby has reportedly said he does not want to go anywhere; Letang has reportedly said it's either Pit or Mtl; Malkin has reportedly stated his intention is to not play in the KHL, stay in Pittsburgh through his contract and possibly beyond (I hope we extend him, personally). Even Karlsson has reportedly nixed the idea that he wants to be traded, and there has been talk that both he and Rust would not waive. Would any of this be true if they were told by Dubas that they were going into a full rebuild? Are they that stupid not to realize that Danton Heinen, Cody Glass, Anthony Beauvillier and Kevin Hayes are not going to make them a playoff contender? The players were told what Dubas told the media. That is the only thing that makes sense.
- I am also not on board with the idea that we have to keep our top prospects in the AHL so that they can learn how to win together. What about Joel Blomqvist? Why is he in Pittsburgh, but all the others are down on the farm? Could it be because of Mike Sullivan? Sullivan could care less about the goaltenders. He just wants someone to stop the puck. He also has probably had enough of Jarry, like everyone else. I do not think it is a coincidence that the only prospect currently on the roster is the backup goaltender. This has Mike Sullivan written all over it.
- I don't want to trade Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell, at least not unless it is a really really good trade for us. Dorofeyev and a first-round pick? Sign me up. But salary retention should be a non-starter. No first-round draft pick involved should be a non-starter, too. Maybe I am crazy, but I feel that if we simply kept our good players, gotten rid of the bad ones and fired the coach, we would be right in line with that Dubas plan of an accelerated rebuild. The only two players I would trade who are actually good are Bunting and Grz. Bunting because I feel like his value is fleeting, and also because we have replacements in the AHL needing a chance. Grz because we need a defensive defenseman to play with Karlsson, because Pickering should be in the NHL right now because he is our best defensive defenseman, and because Grz has too many ties to Mike Sullivan and we need to be rid of any and all of that crap. The other guys who hold minimal or no value, move them for what you can get or waive them. Goodbye.
- Back to the prospects, there is a notion here that we do not have any blue chippers among our prospect pool. So this is why everybody wants to trade everybody away and try to get the top-tier guys in the next three drafts. Well, first of all, we don't know what our prospects will be yet. You have to actually play in the NHL to draw conclusions. But even if it is true that our AHL prospects are merely complementary pieces to a future core, why not have them complement the current core? At worst, they help Crosby, Malkin and company compete (the publicly stated goal, after all) for the here and now. At best, they develop into interesting pieces for the future. Win-win.
There is only one conclusion that can be drawn, in my opinion (and I have said this before): Dubas has no real power within this organization, as he has to answer to the people above him and the head coach "below" him. He cannot fire the head coach, nor can he mandate that the players HE has brought into the organization play in the NHL, play more minutes or play at all. When the organization decided to make a coaching change last summer, I am certain that Sullivan had a say, was not happy about it and insisted that we replace Reirden with Quinn. I am confident that Sullivan is in on trade talks, tells Dubas that he likes certain players, not so much others, etc. I am pretty sure that when reports surfaced on July 1 last summer that the Oilers had signed Matt Nieto, it was Sullivan who called Dubas to, "make it happen." Sullivan has his fingerprints all over this team. Dubas is made to look like a complete bumbling fool nationally because of this. But he is paid handsomely, has ridiculous job security and is a great salesman. So I suppose he goes along with it. Either this is true, or he truly is the worst GM in North American pro sports. I doubt that is true.
Mitch Marner represents a shift in the balance of power, in my opinion. If Dubas is able to land someone like Marner, then OK. Then I will buy into the idea that Dubas is actually running this show. Which probably leads to many more questions about his first two off-seasons, but OK. Because when he got this job, I was definitely expecting more players with Toronto ties coming on board. Instead, it's been what, Acciari, Bunting, Andreas Johnsson briefly, Filip Kral...not much. Now, is that because Shanahan tells Treliving not to talk to Dubas? Maybe. Or maybe Dubas is too busy trying to acquire every Boston University alum and Massachusetts-born player that he has no time to dip into his past.
In conclusion, everything within this organization is a mess. However, fire Mike Sullivan tomorrow and suddenly, things look a LOT brighter. Until that day, nothing matters.
