Not some condemnation of your post in any way but there are few interesting thoughts in it to play off:
I think it's only a matter of time until Clark joins Dubas in Pittsburgh.
I agree with this. Brad Treliving is just managing currently as a conciliator between old and new who is temporarily working with the front office he inherited. Most of the Dubas hires will leave within the next calendar year as their roles in the organization are diminished if not eliminated. Some who aren't particularly ambitious could lump it and get bumped down to scouting and/or some glorified clerical work.
Makes me think Clark is just another executive with a "smartest guy in the room" attitude.
From limited exposure to the guy, he seems like might actually be the smartest guy in many rooms but he'll never be the most socially smooth guy in any room. From his social media, he seems more interested in basketball and tennis than hockey. I thought that was weird. That seems to be spreading someone's butter a little to thin when the road to excellence in most fields is usually an obsession with that field.
Because trying to beat the market is usually a fools game.
I agree it's a fool's game for anyone other than insiders and someone who has figured out a temporary strategic advantage. I don't know why this guy would have that advantage. The team's previous strategy of over-sampling undervalued small talented players was a colossal bust with zero home runs to date.
Minten and Cowen weren't undervalued.
Calling them undervalued is like marketing spin. What is an organization supposed to do when asked about its draft picks? Say that every earmarked player on their pre-draft list was already gone at their draft position?
Thanks for the response.
He hasn't had a lot to work with yet, so it's hard to say exactly what Clark's strategy is/will be, but I have a sneaky suspicion it will be similar to what we saw under Dubas.
A focus on scoring forwards in the first couple rounds. Then defensemen and goaltenders in the middle and later rounds. They don't draft for position, and focus on hockey IQ and skill over size and other intangibles.
I'm not sure how much I agree with this philosophy, especially since their top prospects continue to get injured.
Looking at Treliving's draft history and you can see the difference in the later rounds. Treliving looks like he takes BPA in the first couple rounds and then tends to focus on guys with size after. Dubas, of course, pretty much just drafted smaller guys regardless of round.
Clark's ass is grass and Treliving's the lawnmower.
It's only a matter of time before Treliving brings in his own scouts. I'm not sure about Mann, but if he isn't guilty of leaking documents to his brother, he might be an option. If you look at Ottawa's drafting the last five years and compare it to the Leafs the difference is startling.
I wouldn't mind seeing the Leafs drafting a few more big bodies again too.
