its an ongoing trend of keeping run down vets over youth with some potential.
And getting nothing in return for them, which is the part that bothers me (in the case of Strait and Jeffrey).
Jeffrey did not look better than Glass this season, no.
Apples and oranges. Glass is a pure winger. Jeffrey is a pure centre who was asked to play wing, and wasn't bad there when he actually got the chance to string more than 1-2 games together, and had a solid pre-season, as well. I always envisioned Jeffrey being our 4th line centre (who could move up the line-up in case of injury), with some combination of Glass/Adams/Vitale on the wings.
I called this a long time ago, that Jeffrey would be Letestu 2.0. The way this team is coached and in this system, there's no place for Jeffrey. Not good enough to be a Top 6 regular, not grindy enough to be a bottom 6 regular. Especially since his natural position is C. He's not a better option than Sutter or Vitale by a long shot.
In the end, good for him. Hope he does well / fits in on a rapidly improving Dallas team. The problem is, Dallas now is a deeper, better team than Columbus was when Letestu went there so I'm not sure how well this will work out for him. He may get waived again before he ends up in his "home". Could see him in Florida maybe. [Not really an asset management situation as 0.0% of NHL teams are going to trade useful assets for Dustin Jeffrey. We might get a 7th rounder out of him or something but so what. How often to 6th and 7th rounders pan out? 1 in 20?]
That's fine, but even if Jeffrey was Letestu 2.0 (which I don't think is quite a fair comparison, but Jeffrey is superior), then why didn't we at least get that 4th rounder for him, or use him as a throw-in in a trade? That's why I said it's the very definition of selling low on a player. And I would care less if we actually had a blue-chip centre prospect who was close to being able to contribute in the NHL.
Regarding Jeffrey & Dallas: Jim Nill is known to be one of the smartest hockey people around, and Lindy Ruff was there in our conference when Jeffrey first got called up and showed what he can do. (I know he scored at least once on Buffalo, but I don't know why I'm recalling he may have had a few goals against them, or even a 2 goal game?). And it's not hard to remember that a few years ago, this guy was the best player, and the best PKer, in the AHL. Doesn't mean he will be a star at the NHL level, but I thought he at least had quality 3rd line C written all over him.
And Vern Fiddler has requested a trade from Dallas. Jeffrey would be a more than suitable replacement. Smart move by Dallas, and really shocked that the Pens couldn't at least get something for DJ, and that other, lower-seated teams passed over him on the waiver wire.