Agreed. Bill has done very well with the tear down, but the tear down for an obvious rebuild is the easy part. The real test for Bill is just starting, which is expected. Most of the results of any GM's decisions don't become apparent for multiple seasons.
He had cap space when nobody else did so he leveraged it. Good for him. But he hasn’t shown that he can build club. He might. But so far he hasn’t. Jarmo drafted well too and I wouldn’t want him as GM.I was ready to send you a wall of text how I disagree, but I'm glad @BlueDream already did that. Saves me a lot of time.
But just to add to his post, GMBA did all of that in some of the worst possible circumstances. First, he had to clean up Chayka's mess, you had the new stadium / relocation saga, playing in a university arena, players who don't want to sign for you due to all of this, etc. And he still stoically kept doing his job in a positive way while being a really good communicator. He gave the fans a realistic timetable and so far he is sticking to it. He does not try to rush things and above all wants to lay the best possible foundation for the future (rosterwise). The intention is that Arizona will start to play a significant role in the playoffs in 2 years. Until then, the team must take small steps every season; and they do, with BA continuously keeping fans informed of the plans.
Perhaps the biggest indicator of how GMBA is doing are the fans. After everything that happened (/is happening) with Arizona, you'd expect them to be ready to pick up their pitchforks and run everyone associated with Arizona out of town. However, when you read their forums we see messages in the vein of: "I will only support a team in Utah if BA stays with that team". Whatever the opinion is of him in the league, the fans apparantly are very happy with his performance in Arizona. And that in, probably, the most hostile environment in hockey.
Going from asset-acquisition phase in a rebuild, to perfecting a contending roster is a skill many GMs lack. We’ve seen examples around the league where they never seem to be able to climb out of the bottom half of the league regardless of the number of quality young assets.
I think you are wildly downplaying his trade history. The amount of draft capital he has accumulated is unprecedented.
Man, how great would Keller look on our top line with Robert Thomas?
aside from the Blues' side of this, how great would that be for Vegas to cough up this playoff spot after acquiring Hertl, Hanifin, et al...
I hadn’t seen this play yet you two were talking about so just went and watched it. Idk man, that definitely could’ve been intentional. He didn’t look that off balance to me.
Holier than thou for not wanting someone kicked in the groin with a skate? Listen, I don't care what you think of me. I love Oshie, but he should be sitting for doing that and the other crap he pulled during the game.
1. Agreed. Thompson didn’t even react to it. The melee started when Oshie got pitchforked in response.
