Everyone in here crying that Kravtsov was "beat out of a spot." Please.
First off, he didn't get a full crack at the preseason. He was injured. Tough to compete for a spot when you're literally unable to play preseason games.
Second, Sammy Blais was brought in here to play. I can promise you that nothing pisses off players more than when the GM goes out and signs/trades guys that play the same position as you. Which, tough shit for the players because it's about the team but every interview you see when the media asks a guy about a player the team signed, I can assure you, is bullshit.
"yeah he's a great player, he'll bring so much to our club"
Which translated = f*** this GM for making my life 10x more difficult, not having faith in me in the first place, and creating an absolute log jam at the position that I play
Every elite organization has internal competition, sometime fierce internal competition. And it's managements job to manage how severe this gets. Do I have any proof to back up my claims that this is going on behind the scenes? No. But I've been apart of enough organizations like this to know with 99% certainty what's happening here.
Kravtsov is done in NYR, the blame squarely doesn't lie with Drury but management definitely could've handled this one better. You have to realize you're dealing with a kid.
Goodrow btw hasn't done jack shit in 3 games
Oh lordy,
In order:
1- Kravtsov played in two full pre-season games and part of another (the one where he got hurt). He also had ~a week of training camp before the games started, and practices between the games. He had an opportunity.
2- Sammy Blais can play either wing. He was brought in in exchange for Buchnevich--who
only plays RW. At the absolute worst, the team moved out a first line winger for a 3rd line winger who in a pinch can be moved to the other side. That move did nothing but improve Kravtsov's odds of making the team. The problem is that Kravtsov, in two and a half pre-season games, scored one goal, on the power play, with guys he was not likely to play with. Blais? He played in four pre-season games, scoring 3 points--one was a PP goal, just like Krav, but the other two were even strength (a goal and an assist) playing with guys who were likely line-mates. On TOP of out-producing him, Blais also brought a physical element, throwing ~8 hits per game on most nights. You tell me, in light of that info, in what way did Kravtsov not get beat for that 3rd line RW spot by Blais?
3- Most elite organizations don't televise their "fierce internal competition." The NHL does. We have game tape and stat sheets, and they make it obvious how Blais beat Krav for that spot.
4- I'd like to see more from Goodrow as well. He gets more leash because he spent the last two years as part of the best 3rd line in hockey for the best team in hockey and winning back to back Stanley Cups. Doing that will give you a bit more leeway than 4 total career points and a .25 ppg scoring rate. If Krav wants to be treated like Goodrow, I'd be thrilled to do so once he accomplishes what Goodrow has accomplished.
5- Nobody is "crying" that Krav was beat out for a spot. We're stating it as the fact that it is. The Krav boosters are the ones saying that he should have been handed a spot based on what they think he WILL do rather than what he's actually done. Try that in the real world--send out a job letter going on about all the great things you
plan to do rather than all the accomplishments you actually have--and see how far that gets you.
I need to go back and watch old episodes of The Simpson sometime, I like the show but my entire lifetime has been after it fell off. Love the Simpsons land at Universal Studios
