Quote:
Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan
Moving our leading scorer and a player who seems to be an important locker room presence for guys like Monahan, Hudler, Granlund, and now Frolik would be really foolish, especially on a team that has little depth on right wing (which happens to be his off-wing). Trading Hudler in the summer is stupid. Trading him near the trade deadline might be logical, but honestly, with the chemistry he's had with just about any linemate, he's an incredibly valuable player and someone we should look to re-sign to a shorter term contract. Highly skilled wingers with Hudler's attitude and experience are not easily found. More often you can obtain a guy with problems like Semin or Evander Kane.
TLDR: You don't trade your best players at their peaks.
|
I agree the biggest loss is the potential leadership and chemistry. But your argument has two flaws, one, the fact he was our best player is not relevant on a rebuild team given his age. If he's still our best player two years from now, even if he stays, we have problems that Hudler himself won't be able to solve. Two, do you honestly think we are realistically a contender this year? We've had a good offseason to date for sure, but I'm still not convinced even with Hudler we are anything more than a playoff team next year. With the growth of our young guys, 2 years from now might be a possibility, but Hudler's contract is up, and the only way he's still here is if we give him more money and term than we can afford with our young guys coming up, so he's not going to be here anyway.
One could also argue that Frolik replaces Hudler's leadership, versus him requiring it. He's won as many cups and has as much playoff experience as Hudler, although I admit I don't expect him to have the chemistry with the guys Hudler clearly does.
Don't get me wrong, it's a good problem to have, but it is a bummer. But IMO keeping Hudler around is nothing more than being scared for the short term because we already know he's not going to be a long term fit. Hanging in to him just makes him harder to move, unless the team ####s the bed next season, and the. It doesn't really matter.