^^
. This.
McPhee was clearly trying to hold us hostage pre-expansion draft. After all, we were the perfect franchise to shake down. Lots of nice prospects, and a key veteran we didn't want to lose up on the block. Dorion quite wisely called McPhee's bluff, and McPhee got stuck with a guy he never really wanted.
I recognize that this is not a universally shared view, but I think that we ultimately made out pretty well here all things considered. Losing Claesson would have hurt more than losing Methot. Here's my reasoning:
We just enjoyed the best years of Methot's career over the last few years. Now he is approaching 32 and has a lot of miles on the odometer injury wise. He was 0-12-12 offensively, not much point production given the ice time he gets and the fact that his partner is the best defenceman in the world. I love the guy as a stay at home, hard rock defenceman, but we already have one of those in Phaneuf, and we knew Phaneuf's contract situation when we got him.
We also got to shed $5 million a year in cap space for the next two years, space we will badly need next summer. Yes, Methot was a great contributor to the club, good partner for Karlsson and a solid guy in the community, but I'll argue that at $5 million a year he was starting to become a bit pricey for a guy who doesn't contribute much in the puck moving department.
Bottom line - I understand why people think Dorion looks like a donkey on this one, but I think that biting the bullet, accepting the Methot loss and not giving up significant younger assets to keep him was the right call for the team. I'll also add that George McPhee had better hope that he doesn't need a favour from us in the next few years...