DBC had 2 years left on his deal, so he was one year away from being eligible to sign an extension.
That doesn't change how Dorion should've walked away if Chicago's GM/Cats agent didn't let Dorion talk to Cat about whether he'd want to stay in Ottawa.
He had one year left with a 6.4 AAV, and one more year of RFA status with a QO of 9mil before he could become a UFA. We could have signed him to an extension before he ever played a game with us, but he wasn't interested.
We had to do the same thing with Ullmark, I guess Staios is just as short sighted as Dorion?
Ya, that's fair, the risk is still there that he walks, but the impact is we lose a late first and don't have to buy out Korpisalo. Buyout cost I think was a little more than we retained, something like 1.3 x 8 years instead of 1 x 4 years of retention so not much in terms of cap flexibility gained, but its done and over with quicker.
You're presenting a false equivalency.
The overarching point is sometimes you need to convince a guy to actually sign, and if you don't, the alternative is you don't get that guy. The ramifications of it backfiring were of course lower with Ullmark since goalies inherently have less trade value so he costed less, but still existed.
Reason DBC backfired is less about him wanting to pick his destination and more of Dorion not being willing to pass on him given our stage in the rebuild. It's not that Cat is a player who wanted to pick his destination, but moreso that Cat is a player who Dorion couldn't talk to which should be enough to try taking a risk on someone else.
I get that sense as well, that it might take some time to get this done, if it is to happen.
I'm all for it cuz we're respecting each other. Hockey is going to end in a few weeks (I'm hoping every existing series goes to 7 so we have more to watch) and these endless back-and-forths is all I have when it's slow at work lmao
He backfired because he didn't want to sign here, not because of our stage in the rebuild, but my point is he would have gotten a much better return if he wasn't only willing to go to Detroit, mitigating the risk we took on by trying to convince him on Ottawa. Had we convinced him to stay he was young enough to fit the long term needs of the team, I don't really care for him as a player so I wouldn't have targeted him but you can't as a small market team only trade for players that will immediately extend, sometimes you need to accept the risk as a cost of doing business just like we did with Ullmark.
I don’t dispute that he could have secured a better return had Cat been open to more destinations beyond Detroit. I reject the necessity of taking such risks, given how often they fail for small-market teams. Dorion knows Ottawa faces the inherent challenges of a smaller market, yet instead of constructing the roster through the draft—a proven method for long-term success—he opted for a high-risk move, one that other small-market franchises deliberately avoid.
You don't build your roster exclusively through the draft, but when you have enough developed assets, you can make trades to fill out roster holes like the other small-market teams have done. We didn't build enough through the draft imo and having more picks that pan out/or show some potential to be able to move would've been nice considering the calibre of FAs we can sign. When you have situations where you have a steady pipeline of homegrown talent you can move to fill a need, you're operating from a position of less risk. It doesn't always work out, but it's a safer bet than swinging for the fences.
The latest on Giroux from Garricoh suggests that this deal could get done before free agency.
On a side note, it seems from this Garrioch article, that Andre Roy has joined the exclusive "league executive":
So here's the thing; if DeBrincat and Chychrun had panned out and instead of us flaming out last year we made it to the playoffs, maybe even won a round, would we still be saying we hadn't developed enough assets? Going into next year, we might look like this:
If Cat and Chychrun worked out, I'd be thrilled despite my initial doubts about the Cat trade. But sustaining talent would be a concern, given our difficulty attracting FAs.
Why not? CG knows he is in his declining years, he's made over $100 million in his career, the team is young and getting better and they need to add assets. $3 million per year is not poverty wages and he and his family get to remain in his hometown.
I'd say it's better to wait until then or at least the draft to see what's on the trade market. 4 million of extra cap space in the offseason can make a world of difference in the offseason.
So, I thought i was clear, I don't think either guy was the right fit for us, the point was more about whether trading high picks was a viable in our situation had we gotten the right fit (or had those guys found chemistry in the roles we were filling). It could have worked with the right target imo, those targets however aren't often available. Dorion's mistake imo was thinking a LHD and DBC were close enough. Maybe had he gotten Weegar and Fiala for example, (Weegar is a bit older so not a great alternative) it works, point is you fill the roles with guys that work out and are young enough to fit the core groups window and it's hard to argue you'd guaranteed be better off with the picks.
