Washington has done an excellent job the last couple years acquiring assets and using them, and not gunking up their cap space which they used well this offseason. Pittsburgh did the opposite. Squandering good assets in Marino and Matheson, trading a first for Karlsson that ended up being pretty high.
Washington has had a lot go right like us last year, but they put themselves in that position. They got the assets and the cap space to really improve their blueline and goaltending, and the risky move for Dubois paid off.
That trade for Karlsson was just insanely stupid. The last thing that team needed was some hotdog point getter who doesn't play defence or for the team. He doesn't fit their mold. And the price tag/cap hit. They could have some very good support players for the price.
Really smart on Dubois. Grabbed a top level talent for peanuts after a crap year in a subdued environment. Yeah those defence and goaltending moves were master class.
The #LAKings have placed Arthur Kaliyev on waivers.
I haven't paid much attention to the Kings but I've liked some of his skills in the past. Didn't realize he was so big. 6'2 210lbs. Doesn't he have a real good shot, or am I thinking about someone else? I didn't think he was that aggressive or great defensively but again I'm not absolutely sure on that lol. I always thought he was dangerous and crafty though when we played the Kings.
I think this is an example of a guy who could succeed in a different system. We are quite defensive but not at all what Kaliyev has been used to with the Kings. I could see why a young guy might struggle in that situation. He was an absolute sniper and point getter in the OHL. 51 goals and 51 assists in 62 games, and 44/54 in 57 his last 2 years. I'd put in a claim but I bet someone else does too.
A year or two ago I thought Pittsburgh actually had a chance of re-tooling around Crosby etc. and that Washington was totally dead in the water, and the exact opposite has happened. That team looked totally finished and everything they've touched in the last 12-18 months has turned to gold.
Yeah, they completely turned that around. I think that's a good lesson in how easy it is to turn around a franchise in the mental state sense. It make take a year or two at times but the owner is usually still financially profitable and the fans will be back in droves if things turn around. A lot of people get real upset about the direction NHL teams take but unlike normal businesses there is a tonne of room for error and team direction can change for the better in an instant. A team can keep around a couple of older players and try to win. If it doesn't work, move to a retool. If that doesn't work try another one, or go full rebuild and suddenly the fans are back on board because the direction and future have changed.
Like look at Nashville. Thought they hit it out of the park
in the offseason but the results have been horrific. What will they do moving forward, can they do an about turn for next season? Trotz seems a little too narrowly focused but in the NHL it's entirely possible they make a couple moves and are back in the playoffs. In the real business world they'd probably dismantling the company as we speak. As a fun it's fun to have something to cheer for even if the chance of success isn't really there. I think it would be nice to half a billion laying around to try my hand a running a team.