Panthers GM talks with the media

[Caged Great]

We sat down with the Panthers GM for an interview today with George Richards of the Miami Herald following the announcement of a trade that will send Daymond Langkow and Bryce Salvador for Patrick Lalime and a 1st.

So, it seems like you’ve been busy lately.

“Well, I have to be, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing my job. After our hot start, I figured I would at least make an attempt to improve the team overall. While that job was quickly accomplished, the results did not go in our favour so I decided to return to the initial plan which is building for next season. I will never skip an opportunity to improve.

It actually turned out to be an advantageous time to trade Polak, Niskanen, and Stralman as they are all struggling badly or are hurt in the NHL so their value would’ve been less later than it was when I moved them.”

What is the ultimate plan for the rest of the season?

“I’ve actually completed a large portion of the plan already. It wasn’t like I was wanting to trade off the veteran players just to trade them. I genuinely wanted to keep them to be competitive. However, my team would’ve been in the bottom 5 whether I traded everyone or not. Those players though have turned into a potential top 15 pick, 3 second round picks, as well as the prospects that were added to fill their roster positions.

So basically for no real impact in the overall standings, I gained four assets that will be a great help to further my team next year and beyond.

Sergei Samsonov Darroll Powe, Chris Thorburn and Derek Morris will likely be retained beyond this year, and I will still have about thirty or so million after that to add in all the other positions. It’s also not like I’m going to stand pat from today forward. If a trade makes sense to add a player or players, I definitely will.”

Are you going to do the same thing in the lead up to the draft this year as you did last year?

“No. Definitely not. Ha, no. That was crazy, but entirely necessary. When I took stock of my organization in the lead up to the end of last season, I saw a team that had a few exceptionally average players, a couple decent prospects and young players and nothing much else.

In my view, the only thing that would make the Panthers one of the best team in the league was to tear it all down to the bare bones and build. The draft craziness helped us indirectly to get solid players like Robidas as well as getting several really solid prospects like Jarnkrok, Spooner, McKegg, and Smith-Pelly. So the craziness was a rounding success in my books as it built a decent foundation of players in which to continue to build around.

I feel that the Panthers have a decent group of players in Rochester, and on our ECHL team, but some of those players are going to graduate onto the NHL team, like Gerbe, Martin, MacDonald, Nikitin, and Magnan-Grenier, and those guys will need to be replaced by younger players of equal or greater skill. Adding some high end talent in the upcoming draft will help increase the overall talent of our farm system, and that is how we are going to improve.

I’m an extremely patent person, despite my trading record, and am willing to leave players alone while they develop.”

Speaking of the draft, have you begun scouting for it?

“I’ve already compiled a list of about 150 or so 2011 draft eligible players from several lists that I could compile and already have narrowed the list down to about 35-40 that might be worth looking at drafting.

It’s one of those things, a lot can happen between now and then. Injuries, players fading, players improving throughout the year will change when those players will be drafted. I will definitely be looking at this again in February when I compile my final list.

I don’t really care where I draft with my first selection though as I can’t really go wrong with any of Larsson, Couturier, Nugent-Hopkins, Landeskog, or Murphy. I do have a preference, but it all depends where I’m drafting."

Would you consider moving your 1st if two players you like might be available at draft positions that another team may have?

"I doubt it. However, if someone wants to overpay by a ridiculous amount, I might consider it."

When do you think the Panthers will make a return to the playoffs?

“I know it’s not going to be this year obviously. However, I do firmly believe that we will have about a 90% chance next year and if we don’t, we’ll be close, in 9th or 10th. It really depends on what shakes out between now and then. I’m definitely not willing to stand pat, and am definitely not willing to accept mediocrity. It really does irritate me to be as bad as our pro team is. I hate losing, despite doing a lot of it since I took over. That stops following this season and we will not finish any lower than .500 from the 2011-2012 season forward"

You seem to have a reputation for doing things that are a little unorthodox. Is that planned or does it just kind of happen that way.

"Some things do come out the blue, like getting Halak last year, or getting Robidas this year, but the rest of it is following a loose plan. Random things do happen that may accelerate so aspects of it but basically what I'm doing is building from the bottom up over time and then keep building on that foundation. My methods may not be typical, but if you do things the same way as everyone else, you probably will get the same results as everyone else too.

Thank-you for the interview."