I’m a big Necas fan so this was my frustration too. I saw both sides. Necas doesn’t take care of the puck well, he’s been horrible at it most of his career. Ironically he’s doing better this year but by the time we got here the bridge was burnt. He makes loose decisions with the puck and he’s not strong on it when he has to fight for it. He was never going to play center for RBA.
A lot happened this summer which is why they were dead set on trading him. He came off last season like it was over, he and his gf said goodbye to the area publicly, his father and Canes management got into a public spat with the Canes side essentially laughing at his Dad in a press conference (I thought that was petty and useless) and it seemed obvious he wanted out for the seemingly obvious reasons of not fitting in and wanting more responsibility. RBA wasn’t giving it to him. They traded him to CBus for the 4th pick but Necas didn’t want to long term extension there so it fell apart. He signed short term for not outrageous money so he could be easily moved. They gave him more playing time and he ran with it this year but the decisions had been made from both sides it seemed.
There’s an upside and downside to RBA. He’s a great coach, there’s no question. Adding skill to his team is tricky, it’s not easy for a player to be good for the system and also offensive minded all the time. Guentzel fit in great. Necas always struggled and Rants wasn’t interested.
Jankowsky is a good fourth line center for the Canes, no one is expecting him to provide any consistent offense. The heater is weird but fun.
Apologies in advance for the lengthy post. TLDR version, Tulsky got a great return in the Rants trade especially given the situation. Canes dodged a bullet
You bring up an interesting point about adding skill. I’m an Avs fan and don’t know much about the Canes as I never get to watch them. First off, congrats to your organization for getting a great return on Rants. I wasn’t quite sure how to bring this up on the Avs forum but you think about the systems teams use and how players and their particular skills might fit in it and with other players while trying to maintain an appropriate salary structure, at least for the Avs.
I wasn’t quite sure looking at the Avs acquisition of D man Lindgren who I didn’t want before he was traded because of the issue of his poor play for the Rags. He looks great on the ice now and fits in very well in the Avs defensive scheme. Which also emphasizes the point about appropriate placement on the team. He struggled as a first pairing D man for the Rags but excels as a second/third pairing D man.
This brings to mind the situation either Rants and Jankowski. Fit. Who gives a
how skilled a player is unless they fit your system. From what I read about the Canes system under RBA is that you have a highly disciplined team and style of play that limits on ice time. In Rants case, that’s not a fit. But Jankowski is a great fit on the Canes and is excelling in the opportunity that he has been given. Canes are lucky to have him and for so cheap. That brings up a player’s value relative to their expected level of contribution.
My understanding is that Jankowski solidifies your fourth line. IMO, how you fill out your roster is just as important as having skilled players. Teams need to roll 4 effective lines to excel in the POs. So kudos to the Canes and Tulsky.
In Rants case, he has elite skills which everyone acknowledges. But I enjoy reading comments about players from fans of their team/former team. They tend to give you an unvarnished insight into the player. Rants has been criticized for his unmotivated play and his failure to drive play. What has been striking to me is how difficult it has been to pair Rants with a C that can allow him to flourish. This has especially been the case with the Stars. In retrospect, I can certainly understand why GM’s want an elite player like Rants but it isn’t a magic bullet to your team’s scoring ills. I don’t think you should automatically assume an elite player is suddenly going to go off once they’ve been traded. It makes me wonder how much their skills are either suppressed or allowed to flourish under their team’s system. I think Rants’ production was as much due to Bednar’s system as playing with Mack.
Now Rants is struggling to fit in with the Stars. He isn’t doing well with Hintz although the Stars coaches have kept him on the first line. I’m sure Rants will eventually get it going in Dallas. But Stars fans are talking about playing him with Duchene or Johnston for chemistry’s sake. So second or third lines? Is that an appropriate placement for Rants? At $12M I say no but who cares if he turns into a scoring machine. But what about the Stars salary structure? If Rants meshes with Duchene then great for the Stars. But Duchene is on a 1 year $3M contract. Rants is signed for 8 years. And given the number of teams looking for a 2C, I’m guessing Duchene’s value will rise.
Canes did great.
