It will be interesting to see how the two teams do in the long-term. I can't help but think that Kekalainen is going to have another headache with Laine down the road, but at the end of the day, he traded a 'soon to be elite' centre for an already elite winger + depth centre. That's not bad. Texier HAS to work out as a centre for them. That team is very solid along the wings now, but fairly weak down the middle.
Winnipeg I thought did really well here. Maybe it was a bit of an over-payment, maybe not. 1st line centres that are just coming into their prime are a very rare commodity (so is anyone that can score 40+ goals, however!). Centres are so important because they are often the most effective play-drivers on the ice. Now Winnipeg has 2 1st line centres. You can count the number of NHL teams that have a comparable or better 1-2 punch down the middle on one hand. Pittsburgh, Edmonton... Toronto I guess if they ever separate Matthews and Tavares.
I do think that Winnipeg got a bit better today. For as good as Laine was when he was 'on', he is completely useless and invisible when he is not on (which you often see more of). I can see Torts pulling out his hair trying to manage Laine, and if he doesn't do a good job, I expect Torts to be canned eventually. I would say that his welcome is probably wearing quite thin as it is for the type of coach that he is, and getting this high profile, 'generational goalscorer' like Laine is going to make his job harder.
Jets will be more difficult to play and match-up against from now on, but that doesn't guarantee them anything. Oilers have a better combo, but they are still in the wasteland (though the Jets - even with their weak D - are still miles better than the Oilers in every other area on the ice), Pittsburgh hasn't won that many cups while having 2 of the top 3-5 centres in the NHL during their prime, and were a decently built team to boot.
I would be happy as a Jets fan. I would think that my team got a superstar (in the making) back and there will be less distractions from now on. I would be cautiously optimistic as a Columbus fan, thinking "I wonder what will happen with his contract negotiations??".
I think both teams did well here under their circumstances. I do think that Dubois is going to explode and become a PPG centre in the NHL that is very difficult to play against.
However, I still like Calgary's chances here and don't think that Calgary is going to suddenly start losing to Winnipeg. They are the better team still. Monahan - Lindholm - Backlund - Ryan (plus other players capable of playing centre), is a VERY strong group. Gaudreau, Tkachuk, Mangiapane, Dube, Bennett, Leivo - that's a pretty damn good base of wingers too. Calgary also has a really good defence corps, plus one of the best goalies in the NHL. I think Calgary will be fine. Some tough choices in the next couple of years. It isn't such a big 'loss' to keep Monahan - he continues to be underrated and underappreciated by people, but he is a bona fide #1 C on a team with really strong centre depth. Not upset at the slightest by not acquiring Dubois today.
|