I have plenty of patience for Gustafsson.
That said, pretty funny that Walman getting scratched a handful of games, clearly battling injury, was many posters’ justification for why he actually sucked and it made sense to ship a 2nd to get out of his deal. Then you take 2 of that 3.4 cap savings, sign another LHD, and scratch that guy after he looks rough game 1.
I myself would’ve just kept the guy we had as well as the 2nd. Alas.
Well first of all, it bears repeating that the 2nd in question was in the Wings' possession for literally a matter of minutes. We didn't really
lose anything.
And that's some real revisionist history about Walman's 2023/24 campaign. He was awful, and routinely left himself completely out of position and saddled Seider with the fallout (which happened to be Seider's worst season so far, doubt that's a coincidence). That's not to mention the hand grenade passes he would send Seider's way which often led to Seider 'giving away' the puck. Not exactly an ideal D partner. A few flashy goals doesn't undo that, it barely even mitigates it.
And the mistakes weren't even the worst part of it, it was the lack of commitment to the team's success. Pretty darn damning when no one mourns your departure and Larkin all but called him out by name on the lack of commitment. This team is better off without that influence in the dressing room and on the ice. He was moved for a pick that was gained in a swap of evenly-ranked prospects, it was a total freebie. So on a net basis, he was moved for nothing.
I really hope this nothingburger doesn't metastasize and become the new Hudler vs Hossa debate that we'll hear about for years on end. I stopped caring about it within roughly 5 minutes. Why dwell on shedding an underperforming defensive liability who lacks effort and commitment?
As far as Gustafsson goes, shouldn't we give him a little bit of time to find his groove with a new team before rendering a verdict?