Leading up to the Hamara trade, we were a top team in the league. Our D was deep and solid, especially once Schmidt was unexpectedly sent back to us. This helped the goaltending out and we were filling the net. All was good.
Andonovski. Brzustewicz.
Motew. Hamara.
Schmidt. Reid.
Campbell. Scott.
But it was decision time regarding OA’s. We were keeping Sop. Any two of Motew, Schmidt, or Martin was to be decided.
We could afford to move one of Schmidt / Motew out because of our depth on D as long as at some point we replaced that spot with a decent vet D.
Andonovski. Brzustewicz.
Schmidt or Motew. Hamara
(Decent D). Reid.
Campbell. Scott.
But once the Hamara trade demand entered the picture, all bets were off. Once Hamara was gone, the only way to make moving one of Schmidt / Motew logical, was if we brought in a comparable replacement for Hamara to go with the decent D we would need to acquire to compensate for the loss of one of the OA D. Two guys out, two guys in.
So we either had to look at option A or B:
A)
Andonovski. Brzustewicz.
OA D. Hamara replacement.
Decent D. Reid.
Campbell. Scott.
B)
Andonovski. Brzustewicz.
Motew. Hamara replacement.
Schmidt. Reid.
Campbell. Scott.
Option A would mean Sop, an OA D and Martin are the OA’s.
Option B would mean moving Martin. Not a popular choice considering what he is capable of bringing, but with our depth of scoring up front, and the fact we hadn’t missed a beat offensively after his injury, it could be a sound choice.
But in holding fast to not moving an ‘07 or ‘24 picks, we didn’t have the assets to go with option A. At the prices out there, no way we could have brought in two non OA D comparable to Hamara / Schmidt.
But MM went towards option A anyway. Schmidt was traded and Martin would be the third OA. But that’s when the wheels started falling off. By the time the deadline rolled around, MM had to know D was the top priority. We couldn’t afford a good non OA D so he should have revisited the OA situation again. Punnett was out there and went to Oshawa at an inexpensive price.
Our deal with Barrie should have included a Punnett / Martin swap whether Sale was going to be included or not. Just because Sale would only accept a trade to Kitchener did not mean we had to take him. He could’ve finished the season in Barrie. But to bring in all three of Sale, Savard and Punnett, we may have had to sweeten the deal by including Campbell instead of, or along with, Scott.
That being the case, our D would have looked something like this today:
Andonovski. Brzustewicz.
Savard. Punnett
Motew. Reid.
Dirracolo. Scott.
Nothing against Campbell. I like him and I think he’s going to be pretty good down the road. But our top six would look a lot better today with Campbell swapped out for Punnett.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Whatever Martin brings us better be good enough to make up for the void on D.
