Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperMatt18
To me this looks a lot like how Jarmo Kekalainen handled the 18-19 Blue Jackets and he was applauded at the time.
He could have traded Panarin, Bobrovsky, etc, but instead they decided to try an win that season and cross that bridge of trying to sign those players that offseason.
Did it work out? Nope, and they are in the middle of a re-build now, but if the re-build is inevitable maybe it's fun to have one last hurrah with the group before it gets torn apart.
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They achieved the high watermark for their franchise. Which is a bit sad, but true.
The previous two years they had been knocked out by the eventual cup champions. They had Norris(ish) and Vezina(ish) players, and Dubois seemed to be taking the next step.
Not selling Bob or Panarin was totally reasonable, especially considering how cheaply they acquired each player (albeit not always the best way to rationalize decisions). Goalies rarely move at the TDL, anyways.
The mistakes they can rue were spending two 2nds and Duclair on Dzingel and ultimately just a 1st (19OA) for Duchene, but so far those assets haven't amounted to anything. OTT also sold Stone that TDL, but haven't managed to get much out of any of those deals yet. Their best result has been from turning Karlsson into Stutzle.
It didn't work, but they managed to get picks 5, 12, and 25 last year, and are sitting on a very juicy CHI 1st (top 2 protected) this year.