Ovechkin was obviously a guy we didn't want to move and to be totally honest didn't think i would ever have to move. We liked our depth in all areas, loved the prospects we had coming in and only saw one hole in our team. That was in net and for this season alone. I felt price could get the job done enough to propel us to the playoffs and even home ice advantage. However I didn't think that he could win us the cup. Ever since my visit to the cup finals 3 seasons ago I wanted more. I built the team to win and each of the last two years we didn't get the job done.
My original plan was to watch teams fall out deal a few nice prospects for a veteran stop gap goalie and then use him for one year until Price is ready. However we feel that with this deal we gain a top 3 goalie in the world. Lundqvist is something Pittsburgh has not had since I was a GM. He is a step up on Nabby who is awesome, but couldn't do the job for us, and about 10 steps up from everyone else we ever had.
Ovechkin was supposed to stay, but we didn't feel we could compete with teams like Montreal and Philly to name a couple in a 7 game series without having a star goalie. I told Rob that Ovechkin was not going anywhere unless I instantly became a cup favorite. I think this deal does it.
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