Better-same-worse?

[Mike]

Now that NHL's silly season seems to have ended, what's your take?

The team is:
Better
Same
Worse: My vote is worse

Swapping out Drouin for Radulov, letting Markov walk, not getting any
centres - that is a step sideways at the very best. Add to the fact that
they've lost Markov's pp abilities and I see it as a small step back.
Price's contract in my books makes it much worse. They're now locked
into 8 years of mediocre hockey the way I see it.

The steady decline of this team under Bergy's tenure continues.

[Nyssa]

You forgot to mention the loss of the two kids, one for
Drouin and the other for a late pick. The future was
mortgaged for little to no return.

So I'd say, overall, worse. Especially with the stand-pat
of the poor coaching/(non)development team down at the farm.

At least they didn't trade my pet for a bag of pucks...yet.

Nyssa, who is wondering if her pet would be better off
somewhere else (sob!)

[Chuck]

My vote is for "incomplete". At this point Rather then saying the team is worse compared to last year. Right now they are just different. I do not think Markov deserves a raise. If he is trying to make up for being paid less then he deserved over the past few years, he should have had a better agent. The cap gets in the way of those efforts now. Maybe the NHLPA could come up with a way teams could reward there longest tenured players that doesn't impact cap space. Maybe the qualifier would be age 35 plus and 10 unbroken years plus with the same team

[Chuck]

Drouin is still young enough to have justified the trade. They need more offence now, Drouin helps. Impact on the defence? Maybe two or three years from now. Plenty of time to deal with it.

[Gerry]

Well, I would still have to wait before rendering a verdict. I'm definitely anticipating "worse" at this point, but I don't think we have the finished product yet.

Drouin in / Radulov out may be sideways (but it stings when it should have been very possible to have BOTH), Alzner and Schlemko for Emelin and Beaulieu may likewise be sideways... but there is no accounting for the loss of Markov and Sergachev in that tally. Maybe Markov will still sign.

I also want to see where he goes with Galchenyuk. After the failure to land a center (of any kind!) it seems to me this could be yet another chance to run the experiment one last time. Committing to a fair long-term contract to Galchenyuk would reassure me that maybe they'll finally commit to a fair on-ice trial as well. But I sense it may become something thornier, with another bridge or arbitration situation instead, and still possibly a trade. So the ultimate resolution of the Galchenyuk file will still be a major item in the judgement.

I'm happy with the Price contract. Some people don't seem to be, but I don't see any other way I'd have wanted them to go on that one.

I like the additions of Holland, Froese, and Morrow for Laval. I'm dumbfounded that they'd bring Lefebvre back to coach them again.

I would be interested in seeing whether Bergevin can resist further dumpster diving. I know there are "attractive" bargains out there on the leftover UFA market right now. But every one of these guys they sign pushes somebody else off the roster, and if they are going to roll the dice with bargain free agents at the expense of the very few internally developed prospects the team has, I won't be happy.

So still some data yet to be gathered, I say. I'm not optimistic, but at the same time it's only fair to wait and see what actually happens first.

l8r,
Gerry

[Chuck]

Markov's PP abilities last season. 1 goal 11 assists! The reasons I think MB is taking a hard line with Markov. His role will be reduced if he comes back and MB gave most of Markov's cap space for his 2nd year to Price