i think after watching the Devils last year with the McLeod situation, it only takes a very very tiny straw to break the camels back in this league.
its already hard to win as a team that totally fights for each other and has nothing going on negative in a lockerroom.
i think the trouba situation and to a certain extent the Igor and Goodrow situation being so public really took a toll on these players. i’m not sure they know who they’re even fighting for.
I believe if anything broke the camel’s back, it was Drury’s trade memo to every GM specifically naming Krieder and Trouba.
He didn’t talk to either of them before that went out and became public.
He shat on his Captain yet again, while leaving him wearing the “C”, which is pretty humiliating and threw Kreider in this time to make it worse.
Krieder’s been on the team for 13 years and is their most successful homegrown forward in decades.
He’s 10th in all time games played and needs 2 more to be 9th. There’s 4 forwards ahead of him and the latest any of them played was 1980-81.
Not saying you can’t trade him but generally you’re supposed to be more respectful to vets. One worst case scenario for a GM is not talking to a player beforehand about a very public failed trade attempt.
Kreider’s reportedly playing with an injury too. It’s hard to power through something like that when the message from management is 1) I tried to dump your ass 2) I don’t even have to feign respect towards you as a veteran.
Players are complaining about Drury in a way that’s very untypical even for traded players. Seems like he’s an abrasive asshole which is a problem if you work in management.
He might have too big an ego. The thing about management, despite the enormity of the position and pay, is it’s not about you. Management is a facilitator, you’re there to make others excel.
The memo was huge unforced error.