Funny how your rules work. Is it only positive analysis and praise is allowed in your books? Any critical analysis of the trade (not necessarily the player or his potential) is a scarlet letter to be branded on the Bad Fan, is that it?
I've said multiple times that I have no problem with people preferring Nazar (or Kemmel, or Lekkerimaki, or whoever else) to Dach, and that I just thought the level of hysteria was rather silly as if there weren't any risks associated with the alternatives. I think you would have to admit that the discourse around the Dach trade went well beyond "critical analysis" this summer and turned into some spirals of really out there concern about his wrist or his production and his Kotkaniemi-esque profile and so on.
To make it absolutely clear I do not think that simply preferring a certain prospect (or preferring to keep Romanov) over trading for Dach was a crazy idea worthy of scorn, I just think it is very funny that Dach's flaws and risks caused such a spiralling anxiety tornado all summer as if the alternatives were all rock solid blue-chippers. That does not mean I think anyone who was anxious about Dach this summer is a Bad Fan to be shunned, it just means I think it was funny and a bit silly in retrospect. That's all.
Did you pull the same chintzy stunts when Bergevin was running amok? Did anybody who criticized the Alzner or Drouin acquisitions face your scrutiny? What’s the difference here — we all react to moves as they happen. Some like moves and give their reasoning and others criticize moves and give their reasons too — it’s very fun when people don’t make it personal for some strange reason.
I was as big a Bergevin critic as anyone on here and I despised the Alzner move from day 1. I initially was fine with the Drouin trade on the day it happened but when he let Markov and Radulov walk I soured on it as the logic of it (supplement the team's offence immediately and gain long-term potential) no longer made sense. I also absolutely hated the Edmundson trade on the day it happened too and was very happy to be 100% wrong about him. I would not begrudge anyone for doing some ribbing about the level of anger I had about the Edmundson trade back then.
I would also not bedgrude anyone for ribbing me about the absolute despair and rage I felt about the Subban trade (I still hold that it was a bad trade given they could have traded Subban for an absolute haul of futures and retooled more aggressively + earlier in Price's career, but I was 100% dead wrong on the longevity argument of Subban vs Weber and absolutely wrong on my very pessimistic read of Weber's future at the time of the trade). Overall I'd say the Bergevin era comparison is a bit odd given this is the kind of move Bergevin would never make, so it's entirely logically consistent for someone to have been generally opposed to the vast majority of Bergevin's decisions while also thinking the extent of the negative reaction around Dach got out of hand.
Nonetheless, I will do my best not to engage in that kind of ribbing with you as it's clear you don't appreciate it, and that's fine. I'm sorry for being a bit of a dick on this topic, I wasn't initially intending to really single anyone out and like I've said the whole thing is more about the level of fear/anxiety with the Dach discussions all summer and not so much that anyone who had reservations deserves to be pilloried for it. Truly I just think it's kinda funny and something to laugh about, not some points-scoring affair as if I'm some clairvoyant savant declaring victory on the Kirby Dach affair after one game. Either way, I'll move on now.
