Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon Knights press conference.
Closing comments
Days like these hard for fans, but even harder for GMs. “I know these players better than fans”. “We didn’t trade these players.” “We made fair offers, and they had the chance to chase something different.”
“One of the big reasons why we won the Cup is because we had a lot of players outperforming their contracts, but when their contracts are up, there’s not much you can do.”
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I had said it months ago Miller, Joshua, Petey, Hughes, Hronek, Hoglander, Zad, Lindholm, Demko. I'd say all of them out performed their contracts last season. Clear raises and gone are Lindholm and Zad. Hronek and Joshua getting much larger contracts but staying.
Slippery slope for the next couple of years to find good ELC's and be able to afford to pick up what they need at the TDL.
We still have that though.
Miller, Hoglander, and Demko are all still here under the same contract. Then you have Boeser, who I feel you missed. And, to a lesser extent even Soucy.
Some of our re-signings and new players still have the ability to out perform their current contracts, I would put all of DeBrusk, Heinen, Blueger, Sherwood, Podkolzin, Forbort and even Desharnais in that category. Next year, a lot of those players are still signed under the same contract, and we will potentially have some ELCs coming in.
I really don't think we're in bad shape, it's just right now were still in that unknown category. This time last year, all of Hronek, Joshua, Hoglander, Zadorov, and Lindholm were all unknown quantities or not on the roster. Trust our pro scouting and trust the process, but I think overall our frame work has us in pretty good shape.