Quote:
Originally Posted by 868904
They hoped Gillies would at least be close in 2018 and would be ready in 2019, that's why they don't have a veteran goalie signed for 2019-2020.
They acquired Smith because they had faith in Gillies and gambled on him.
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I do think that Gillies is nowhere near where they thought he'd be by now, but I don't think anyone pretended to know who the 2019 starter was when going to be when they acquired Smith.
The way I saw it, they had Smith and Johnson that year with Gillies and co coming up through the system. At the time, the mindset was that someone as old as Smith would block development without being the core piece himself. The rational seemed to be that his 2 year contract looked would be a great window to have a proven starter, and someone to mentor the next group if they are ready to take over when that contract ends. If not, we'd have a capable starter that would likely sign short-term.
I don't think they looked around the NHL and thought 'who will best ease Gillies into the league?' which is what I'm assuming you mean
Edit: Now that I think of it, you might be closer to the truth than I'm giving you credit for. I think everything I'm thinking, but tailed with 'until X is ready' actually was batted around far more than patience through 2 years of Smith. Even at the outset.