As it has been about a month since I took over the Dallas team I thought it would be interesting to look back at what kind of deals and progress has been made. This was originally more of a self-evaluation exercise but I thought I’d share it with everyone else since I did the work anyway…
So to start its probably important for me to outline where I thought the Dallas organization was when I took it over and where I wanted to (and am still trying to) take it.
• Last place in the west but a much better team than the standings indicated (I still don’t understand how Dallas was in 15th with the roster they had but…).
• Too old for my liking with too many large contracts. Specifically, players like Franzen, Kaberle, Timonen, Koivu, Antropov, Skrastins, Knuble were identified. While these are all great players they’re salary and value past this year didn’t make sense for a 15th place team.
• Very few picks in the early rounds for 2011 or 2012
• Decent, but thin prospect base (AHL/NHL)
• I was almost 2M over the salary cap for 2011 once my IR cleared.
My immediate objectives were pretty clear:
• Retool, don’t rebuild.
• Make moves for emerging but still improving assets under 28.
• Improve the prospect base
• Dramatically improve the draft pick situation. Especially for 2011
• Reduce overall Cap position to below the target salary cap for 2011/2012 allowing me to pursue one or two key UFAs if needed.
So, what have I been up to in the past month? Well here are the deals I’ve made:
The net result of these 10 deals breaks down like this:
For the most part I am pretty happy with how my moves have turned out. My team is significantly younger and cheaper moving into next season but I think I still have a very competitive team for the remainder of this season, despite the whole I’m in. My prospect base has been marginally improved while I feel a lot better about my potential at the draft now that I have a decent amount of picks, more specifically in the early rounds. I have a couple holes to fill and my defense needs some work. All and all though it’s been a productive 1st month and I’m looking forward to continuing wheeling and dealing in an effort to get this team back into contention, if not this season then next season.
Sorry if this is extremely boring to everyone but me….I found it interesting to look back.
1 month in - what's going on in Dallas?
