Not gonna assign a letter grade, but
- I'm not a fan of Treliving's "sign vets long term to create competition" approach. Competition
should exist but it should allow for flexibility. Signing Derek Grant, Setoguchi and Trading for Shore/Hamilton were good examples of creating competition. Bringing in Engelland, Raymond were bad examples because they didn't make the team better yet held/have held back guys like Wotherspoon, Kulak, Granlund, and Baertschi from taking the next step (Granlund being a center I see as a direct consequence of that). No, I don't buy that Engelland is a better hockey player than Tyler Wotherspoon. He's just a "more veteran bad hockey player" than Tyler Wotherspoon. I also don't buy that Brandon Bollig is a better hockey player than David Wolf. The fact that the Blackhawks, who are not even "rebuilding" can churn out multiple NHL rookies on a yearly basis and our only non-top-5OA-pick-rookie this year didn't even last a 9 game audition says a lot about Treliving's philosophy. I honestly think this had some effect on Ortio's miserable season too, though I'm not going to get too far into the three goalie situation.
- I like the Gio/Backlund/Bouma/Ferland/Hamilton contracts. But we cannot afford to retain a guy like Russell and it will be crippling long term if we do so.
- The Brodie extension was by far his best move. The delay on extending Monahan is making me nervous, especially as I don't believe has shown he's worth a high AAV deal as a center.
- Treliving needs to make it clear that Bennett be developed as a center and Hamilton get top 3 minutes, because Hartley won't do so without some "guidance". I really liked that Treliving made it clear that Granlund needed to play with skill players like Hudler/Bennett rather than Brandon Bollig, otherwise Granlund would also be trending towards busting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil
Or Niemi for close to the same coin as Ramo.
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Niemi is older, signed for longer term, and has higher AAV.