I get that GM's wanted to test the waters with Conroy as he is a rookie GM but NHL front offices aren't designed to be inept. Connie is surrounded with a wealth of experience with Maloney and Nonis and to think that teams could take advantage of that is a bit silly (although I get why they try). Also, he had tutelage under Brian Burke and Tre who is respected in league circles as indicated by being hired right away in a hot market like Toronto.
Rival teams need to make themselves better and a player of Hanafin's caliber is hard to find so at some point continuing to dangle "underwhelming" offers is not doing any benefit to their organization. I'm confident things will change and applaud Conroy and company for not giving into pressure and making trades for the sake of making trades.
Overall a good first showing at the draft. I know there is mixed opinions on the NJ trade but sounds like the market was tough to crack and teams were not willing to part with first rounders as evident by no trades. For now probably best to stay the course and wait for teams that are desperate to make upgrades and take advantage.
|