He said what he was supposed to say. It would be treacherous for him to say otherwise.
He’s also showed up injured to every developmental/training camp so far. Has he ever even been on the ice in Pittsburgh?
I’d send Eller out too…I like him but he’s going to be 35…ideally he’s a 4C but he’s overpaid for that on this squad…
Hopefully Sullivan inserts Carter in the lineup for the remaining 11 games if that leads to his firing…there are a number of coach openings this off-season so I wouldn’t worry about the money he’s owed as he’ll get a job…Dubas’ comments that Sullivan would be great for the rebuild working with young players has to be a joke, right? Lol
I'm more lenient on Eller. I'm much more okay Eller making $2.45mil next year (and then UFA) as opposed to Acciari making $2mil for the next 2 years after this. Eller has been a surprising player for me. He was much better than I thought he would be. He's never been an offensive powerhouse, but he's certainly held his own for a bottom 6 center. If you want a dedicated defensive line, Eller as the center is ideal. If you can toss Acciari and make him 4C and surround him with two cheap options like Poulin/Gruden and Puljujarvi, I'd be just fine with him making $2mil to do that especially if they offset with Pono at 3C and turn the 3rd line into a scoring line.
And Zohorna and even Nylander especially with how poor Carter, Harkins, Nieto, and even Bemstrom were. The problem there goes beyond this year as well. No doubt guys like Big Z and Hinostroza signed here looking to make the big club. Or at the very least, get call ups here and there. Their one chance and then poof (it may have been two but still - very limited, early season chances) likely isn't sitting well with them. It's not like WBS is a AHL top team either. It makes me HIGHLY doubt either will resign here and I think it hurts future options for similar players. A UFA next year on the same level might look at this and say "hey, Dubas and Sullivan aren't guys that bring up guys from the AHL much...they'd rather bumblef*** around with waivers and guys like Phillips and Harkins. f*** that, I'm not signing there". And honestly, they'd be right to do it if their goal was to use good play in the AHL as a means to get back to the NHL.
Dubas' job was to get Sully players. Sully's job was to choose who he wanted to use. I give credit for Dubas trying to pick up guys left and right off the waiver wire, and trying to restock the WBS pool (ie. Hinestroza, etc). If Pulju pans out, then that's a major win right there!
Agreed but Dubas is still the one that sends players up and down. So in the sense of "Sullivan plays the guys that Dubas gives him", well now they are both at fault.
I think TT would be an easy cap casualty if it means you sign Guentzel. They have Morrow and Smith that can be added to the NHL roster. It might more depend on what Necas, Drury, and Jarvis want. In the tradition of the Hurricanes, you can get that all three will give them a sweet deal. But I mean, if they go far this year and you can go back and say "hey, take a bit less so we can build the team", you might get them to do so. At the very least, maybe a 2-3 year bridge because by that time, they will be able to add Nikishin, Morrow, Nadeau, and Blake with Burns coming off.
It was Dubas’ job to sign garbage players for Sully? Way to try to deflect blame, but the crappy bottom six was because of Dubas.
I would suggest that Svechnikov is a much more consistent performer though. Necas seems to have had ups and downs. Could be why he was reportedly on the trade block this past month. I'm sure if they wanted to trade him out for a younger, cost-controlled winger, they could most certainly find a taker.
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