Mëds wrote: ↑Fri Apr 10, 2026 4:25 pm
First: I, and a few others, identified Petey as being a player that would never be able to carry the mail himself. Too hot and cold measured in stretches of games rather than stretches of shifts. He thrived behind (and on the PP with) Miller, who drew the heavy matchups. Horvat also was never leading an offensive charge. JT, warts and all, did that up front. Remove Millers point-per-game production and that’s a bunch of missing W’s in the standings.
Well, you may find this hard to believe, but I never said Petey could carry the mail by himself either. He has never had the patience with the media to withstand the constant attacks. HE will always be hot and cold in this market. This has always made him a complimentary player here. And I never said Horvat was leading an offensive charge (In fact I am on record as saying the best player CAN'T be captain in this market). If someone broke it down, I think there would be fewer missing "W's than you think. If you recall the rumors of the time, it was a much better haul for JT than Bo. (2x1st, a roster player and a prospect - heck, downgrate a 1st to a 2nd, and I still take that).
Second: I don’t know that Hughes was ever totally committed here beyond this deal. Maybe if the team had followed up in 2024 with another winning season and playoff drive…..hard to say.
Yup. Hard to say, but people who in in town, stay in town. especially when there is no cancer. 1/2 the reason Hughes wanted out is because he COULDN'T fix the room. There is no way a guy that competitive would want to stay after a failure like that. Look at Tocc.
Third: As a follow-up to the second, there was a subtle shift in the team when Pettersson was signed to that extension. I don’t recall teammates being super stoked when asked about the news, it was just very “diplomatic”. If I missed some ringing endorsements I’m happy to stand corrected on that. When Miller was dealt instead of Pettersson (who had no trade protection at the time) there was a far more obvious shift in a negative direction. “Heart and soul”, “You can’t replace a guy like that”, “We’re gonna miss him”…..hard to reconcile the idea that Miller was the problem and that keeping Bo over him was a better move.
When you turn your stud forward into Chytil and Marcus Pettersson…..well fuck…..
Turning Petey into Kotkaniemi, a pick and a prospect, (trade talk at the time) would have been a neutral move and freed up so much fucking cap…..creating more possibilities.
I am not sure I agree with your assessment of 'stud forward'. Look at his play the year he was traded, and this year. The team around JT made JT a better player, not the other way around. Miller has a history of being a cancer in dressing rooms. It followed him from the Rangers to Tampa, and the rumors lingered when he first got here (everyone was saying he had matured out of it).. As to subtle shift, the damage was already done and it was beyond repair. There was no ringing endorsements about Peteys deal from me. Pundits thought he took 500k less, fans though he got a million too much. If he stayed a 90-100 point player, nobody is bitching about the contract.
And yeah, the return was dismal. I have no idea what they saw in Chytl .. Marcus, I can almost understand they wanted a stay at home Dman, but they picked the wrong guy for Tocc's system. its just all bad.
Now, from a fans standpoint, I agree that Petey has to go, just to make sure all the toxic culture is gone. From a team standpoint, he is the closest thing to a 1C we have, and we cant get rid of him yet, unless there is one coming back.
