Lancer wrote:Almost a certainty that Tinordi was the guy Gillis was hoping for. Too bad, because I was hoping he'd draft Tinordi as well.
Still, Keith fucking Ballard.... Keith... fucking.... Ballard. The guy is a plug who couldn't even shine on a basement team. I don't know how 88 PIM equals rugged, especially when he's only 5'11". At $4.2 mill a year, he had better be laying people out, putting opposition players on IR, score at least 30 pts and be a plus player. Hands up who thinks he can do it? I thought not.
Victor Oreskovich, who was cut every time he went to a Colorado camp and doesn't even go to their minor pro team, quits hockey and then gets a gift job from his old junior coach. How many points did he score in 50 games? How many did Grabner have in fewer games? Can we say "C-H-A-R-I-T-Y"? DeBoer took pity on the goof and now, for some reason that baffles me, coming from an erstwhile smart guy, Gillis throws some charity at Dale Tallon. Unless Gagner can work wonders on somebody who's developmental window is close to over, WTF?
So let's recap: We take on a $4.2 mill/yr habitual minus defencemen with more weight than height, a $650k/yr charity case who Colorado never wanted after they drafted him and got to know him. We give a $2.5 mill/yr sizeable fwd who Gillis already gave away high draft picks for even though it seems he may never reach his potential. A speedy former 1st-round winger who (IMHO) will score 20+ goals a season in a couple of years and the only pick Gillis has before things become an absolute blind lawn-dart game.
If Gillis didn't care to pick in the first round after Tinordi got scooped up, why not trade down for later picks? Why take on useless salary? Don't give me that "this is a win-now' move. How does tying up $4.2 mill a year on a grossly-overpaid plug, which ties Gillis' hands either signing FAs or trading for someone else's untenable salary? Give me 5 minutes and I could think of better ways to spend $4.2 mill. Ballard has played with nothing but basement-dwelling losers and hasn't helped them be anything but. Can someone put him on a speed-bike in the rockies and get this contract off our hands?
Agreed about Tinordi, in fact my gut says MTL caught wind of who the Canucks were targeting and moved up to scoop him.
I'm disappointed in this trade because of a poor return, very poor for the value we gave up.
First of all, Grabner is fast, VERY fast and will only get better. This year was just a tease. He's not going to be a superstar, and he doesn't even have very good hands...but any guy who can generate upwards of 7 shots a game WILL score goals. 20 goal scorer? Thats worse case scenerio imo; he will eventually bag 30 even if it takes a few years. That is nothing to take lightly, he's a former 1st round pick that we've been very patient with...and now he's traded only when we're about to get some returns.
Bernier? We gave up our SECOND round pick in this year's draft to get him from Buffalo. I maintain his injury is the reason he had such a rough season this year. He would have been better next year and would have been a solid 2nd or 3rd liner possibly filling that RW slot w/ Kesler & Burrows.
Don't take our 1st pick lightly either; at worst we could have landed a decent prospect that would have added to our cupboard which has been a tad bare in recent yrs.
Ballard. This is a blueliner who is an intriguing package of skill and toughness...but strikes me as a tad dumb. First of all he's high risk much like Special Ed was and his limited offence comes w/ alot of giveaways. Last year I swear he scored more goals into his OWN net than he put up on the board for the Panthers. Lets not forget about him taking Vokoun's head off in his ultimate act of stupidity. Obviously it was accidental but it was beyond stupid...you can see in the video where Ballard realizes something went wrong, stares at Vokoun and then skates off. Anyone who's ever used a hockey stick knows the difference between a fiberglass mask and a post let alone hitting 2 objects instead of one. A blind man would know the difference. If anyone doesn't think these two incidents played a role in Florida trading him you're clueless.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAdyZFfFehc&feature=fvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlW74VTq6yo
Now that said, I used to like Ballard alot early when he was a rookie w/ the Coyotes and I think he can still turn into a very good blueliner. Perhaps he needed a change of scenery and the chance to play for a team that doesn't suck. He won't be counted on to play roles he's not suited for so hopefully he can find a groove here. He's still young and full of upside; definitely improves our D core.
Oreskovich = WTF?!?!?
Was Gillis forced to take him? Sounds like a quitter to me, is that the character type guy MG talks about being a part of this organization? I have no idea what to think about this player, doesn't make me feel very optimistic about it.
Ultimately I wish we got more back....a 2nd or 3rd round pick would have been conceivable since they're getting 2 young players who were both 1st rounders plus the 25th...failing that I'd be much happier if the blueliner we were getting didn't have so many question marks surrounding him. If he was more of a sure bet I'd be more positive about it. That said we didn't give anything bluechip AND most importantly we got the best player in the deal. I generally agree w/ the theory that the team who gets the best player usually wins the deal so there ya go.
I'm not totally stoked about this trade and, while I don't mind that we traded them, do wish we got more in return for those assets. It depletes some of our forward depth...or is it making room for our top prospects like Schroeder & Hodgson? ...I'm ok with the fact MG is doing
something and happy to see our blueline improving with his moves. In the end this is probably a fair trade and if we land another like Hamhuis I'll be impressed.
