Winnipeg coaching staff alluded to PLD being out of the room as a big reason for their improvement this past season.
Read between the lines of Doughty's comments during the Kings slide and subsequent firing of T-Mac and it is hard to believe he isn't speaking about PLD.
It is addition by subtraction and it doesn't matter if Keumper sucks. This is like getting married, immediately regretting it and getting out of it via a settlement that is much better than sticking out years of a marriage that will cost more in both dollars and emotional toll.
It shouldn't be this hard to get 63 points from a player which is his career best . 81 players scored 63 last season. Crude average, but that's almost three per team if all things were equal. 93 players scored 60 last year so that would be even closer to three per team.
If PLD is one of my Top 3 scorers, my team is most likely missing the playoffs unless I have an elite scorer and/or #1D/goalie. He offers nothing defensively, doesn't use the body enough, frustrates his teammates and still isn't that much of a scorer. Hell, Phil Danault supposedly has no offense and his high mark in points is only nine behind PLD.
I wanted it to work because I was also enamored with the playoff performance in the bubble and was willing to deal with some nights off for when the switch was flipped on. Guy got paid though, flipped the switch for his first game back in Winnipeg and then collected a check the rest of the season unless he was playing Chicago.
I will not be surprised if he puts up a career high in points next year but it will be empty calories.