Great post.
I think it will come out at some point, but the biggest problem with this team probably is in the locker room. They finished with a positive goal differential so placing all the blame on an inadequate D doesn't explain it. They missed out because they came out flat too many times in the season. If they had taken care of a few of the games against lesser opponents they should have had they're coasting in. It veers into hot take territory, but Krejci appears to be the biggest culprit of inconsistent effort. I have no idea of their credibility, but it's been rumored that he isn't well liked in the room. There isn't enough cap room to do anything with the D without a major move. If they can get Loui back, Spooner can move to 2C. Loui covers enough of Spooner's warts to make it work. Czarnik looks to me to be a very capable 3rd line center. Him along with Belesky and maybe Connolly would be a high energy line that could compete well against other 3rd lines. None of that is ideal, but neither is treading water hoping for a few breaks to end up as the #8 seed.
There's nothing they reasonably could have done to build anything more than a team that got its ass kicked in round 1.
Who knows, but it's telling that when he was recalled this week, he immediately played over Trotman and Morrow.
Snap reaction much? Not even close to "entire basis". I know you have better reading comprehension than that. He provides the least production for the level of cap space he takes up. Given the choice of resigning Loui and any level of D upgrade versus keeping Krejci, I'd go with the trade. Either way you don't trade him on locker room issues alone, I'm not saying it would be an addition by subtraction. They need to figure out the locker room and who isn't prepared to play on a nightly basis. Maybe that's Krejci, maybe not.
Its my understanding that Seid's NTC is as big of an issue as finding a suitor. To my knowledge, this team has twice tried to move him. The last time, this offseason, there was an agreement in place and he blocked the deal.
Why not buy him out instead? Or stash him in Providence?
I think stashing him upstairs or in Providence may be the only way to get him to agree to a trade to a non-contender (purely speculative).
Well Dave, how about the biggest difference being that Nathan Horton scored with more than 10 minutes left to get back within two, preventing the need for such a desperate tact?
He stays on the cap for 4 years if he's bought out - trading while retaining max salary gives you 2 years commitment at a max of $2m AAV.
Everything you say is true, alas. Shit rolls down hill and all that. The most likely Neely/Sweeney approach would be "Claude is wonderful, but we're looking for someone to take rage team in a new direction...."
His criticism of Rask for getting sick yesterday is bullshit, though. Really surprised at that hot take, he's usually not one to walk that road:
This is a Felger argument and it's total nonsense. He later goes into "body language" arguments against him. That's not the Kirk I've read over the years.
Bergeron didn't pot the second goal off of Marchand's feed early in the 2nd, but for me he played an outstanding game and was one of the few B's playing with urgency all game. Marchand, Pastrnak, and Beleskey were the others that showed up IMO.
How does Neely keep skating on this? Was he not above Chiarelli on the masthead the last half of Chiarellis' tenure? This tack reminds me so much of the Lucchino/Epstein relationship. Once Lucchino/Neely established(in Lucchinos' case re-established) power, the organizations started pulling in different directions. Then they started sliding. Then the GMs left and every decision that didn't work out got left at their feet (Theo signed Crawford! Peter traded for Connolly!) ,as though the team president that had more power wasn't involved in those decisions. I think anyone that doesn't think Neely is heavily involved, if not directly responsible, for this mess is dead wrong.
Chiarelli had roster control until he was fired. It was in his contract. I'm still not confident that Neely can run an NHL team effectively, but I'm not blaming him for Chiarelli's roster decisions. Sweeney works for Neely. So any criticism of the front office from last offseason on starts with Neely.
I don't believe this. Neely himself said at last trade deadline he told Chiarelli not to trade their first round draft pick. Neely had influence on the roster, because he had influence on Chiarelli the day he became president. At that point, Neely was the guy who decided whether Chiarelli keeps his job or not. Neely was president when Chiarelli was extended in 2013. What do people think Neely has been doing as president? He just shows up at work like Cosmo Kramer with saltines in his briefcase, sits in his office with his feet on his desk and the GM just comes in once in a while and tells him the moves he's already made?
Ownership backed Neely and told Chiarelli he couldn't make the trade that he wanted to make at last year's deadline. I believe that's when he knew he was getting fired. I got this from hanging out at Ristuccia too much and talking to certain reporters and others off the record. It sucks for me that they're moving to Allston.
