Have you seen what Couturier is doing in Philadelphia? Hell he is outscoring Carter.
Of course that is shortsighted but Howson needs to be held accountable.
He is insulated there in ways that he couldn't be in Columbus. He has guys like Max Talbot and James VanRiemsdyk around him. He doesn't need to score, just concentrate on playing solid defense. He also has one of the best blue lines in the league, so his mistakes aren't as critical. It's a very different situation.
Oh I totally agree with you about Howson and accountability. I was just offering an option to what he might be doing. Lets be honest, Vermette hasnt been good, if you want some one with potential to thrive in a different situation, its Brassard. That being said, I dont care who he trades, whether it be Brass or Vermette, I just want a legit top 4 dman.
I agree, Vermette hasn't been great. He's picked it up a bit as of late, but pretty well the forward core spare maybe Prospal could do better. The other thing, is that Vermette has way too many years on his contract for other GM's to be comfortable I would think. Brassard is the obvious choice because of his offensive upside and age. He is being outperformed by a 19 year old.
Edit : Leek, I realize that. It wasn't meant to be taken entirely seriously, just to point out that Howson wasn't a mastermind on the deal. He paid for at least market value for Carter.
Either or both plus whatever, (within reason) that would give us Bobby Ryan seems like a no brainer to me. I wouldn't give up this year's number 1 pick but anything else would be acceptable.
Please explain. What issues are going to confront Anaheim next season? You've made several remarks that they are screwed up. I haven't followed them closely enough to know what's going on. Why is their future so bad?
Selanne will be retired. Koivu will either be retired or gone. Same for Jason Blake.
They'll need to re-sign, acquire or develop 3 defensemen as Beauchemin, Foster and Brookbank are UFAs. Some of which isn't a bad thing because outside of Fowler, Sbisa and Vishnovsky, they probably need a reboot on defense. And Vishnovsky probably doesn't have a whole lot left in the tank.
So, basically, they'll be Jonas Hiller, the big line and...whatever Murray acquires next off-season. Which, despite cap space, he may be limited in doing because (1) the Samuelis have been trying to run on a lower budget and (2) the following off-season (and more likely sometime after July 1) he's got to re-sign Perry and Getzlaf whose deals expire in 2013.
The Ducks have probably overperformed the last few years given the dropoff in talent, but that will come to an end next season. Unless Hiller can win every game 1-0.
I'm pretty sure Vermette hasn't been with the team for well over a year. Too bad, as he was once a pretty effective player.
IMO Brassard is a bust. I do wonder sometimes what players like Brassard would have become if they were nurtured in a better organization.
To what I eluded to in my first post of this, I think (outside of the obvious turnover in coaches) Brass's development was actually handled better than most of our prospects had been until that point... He was returned to Junior, played a season in Syracuse, averaging well over a PPG, then made it to the league.
like I said, outside the coaching turnover, which is pretty commonplace in the league and I consider only a small portion of the reason he never really did pan out, even when we try to develop the right way, the organization can't quite get it right.
If the Jackets were to deal Vermette, what would it take from a Devils standpoint? We need help down the middle, he has the wheels to keep up with either Kovalchuk or Parise, plays a solid 2 way game and he can finish.
If the Jackets were to deal Vermette, what would it take from a Devils standpoint? We need help down the middle, he has the wheels to keep up with either Kovalchuk or Parise, plays a solid 2 way game and he can finish.
Seems like a solid for our 2nd line.
Thanks
What we need it is a stay-at-home defensman with speed, very good defense and good work in the front of the net (for example Volchenkov, attention! it is only example) or a NHL g-man. But we can agree with 1st round pick (sorry it is only joke )
(sorry it is only joke 
)
