Joe McGrath
Registered User
- Oct 29, 2009
- 18,463
- 39,636
I think it has more to do with the speed increasing in the league annually than his role. If he were faster he’d be a regular 4th liner anywhere. He’s not though, so to your point he is expendable unfortunately.He's not bad, his role is simply obsolete. Many teams have already figured out that, while having someone who drops the gloves is useful, having someone who can actually contribute offensively/defensively is better. If you can someone who can do that AND drop the gloves (or agitate to similar effect), that's who you make an effort to keep.
The game has simply passed Lemieux by. Not through any fault of his own, mind you, but the end result is the same.