As a Ducks fan, I applaud Pittsburgh for making this move, but man oh man does Bob ever have his head up his own ass.
Fowler, Beauchemin, Allen, Souray, Sbisa, Lydman, Vatanen, Hendry, Guenin, Lindholm are all arguably unquestionably better.
Fixed. The other five guys are not great either based on what I know of them (which isn't much except for Allen who I know sucks), but your point stands. But hey, 5th pick? I'll take that every day over a waiver loss. Watch Shero get the next Hejduk with that pick.
True to an extent. Which is part of my criticism of Shero's philosophy. They were pushed out because of the emphasis of only drafting defense. Bad asset management, but you can not disagree with the choices made.
I still don`t think that is true. It was a problem with sustainable longterm planning in the last year, but not with the philosophy of drafting D just yet.
Shero should have tried to deal Lovejoy/Strait/Bortuzzo in some way, but the Dmen that were fighting each other for the bottom pairing, we were lucky to have turn out this well and it was not at all by design that no 3rd or later round F picks really took in that time.
If Shero fails to turn the recent first round D picks into either Pens players or some return because of a similar logjam situation, then he shot himself in the foot.
I'm watching the Anaheim game, and the announcers just mentioned the trade. They said they added a bunch of "toughness and beef on the backend, Lovejoy's not a guy to shy away from throwing his weight around or dropping the gloves."
Really?
I'd imagine they probably just confused Lovejoy with Engelland. At least I hope that's what it is and not a real evaluation of Lovejoy.
Soo, Reese was recalled, is that so we can carry 7 D while Niskanen is on IR? Or is he here as the 8th defenseman and we're still questioning Boychuk staying.
If we waived Lovejoy for nothing back then and let Strait play some games, he would probably have fetched more than a fifth one year from now.
I just don't think he would have played here. He was behind Martin, Orpik, Letang, Niskanen, Engelland, Despres, Bortuzzo. He would have been the #8.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rowdy Roddy Peeper
I dunno Cole...swapping Strait as our 7th defenseman for Reese plus a 2014 5th rounder looks like a net loss to me.
Bortuzzo will be the 7th D now once Niskanen returns. Reese will be back in the minors.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eyes of Orpik
Soo, Reese was recalled, is that so we can carry 7 D while Niskanen is on IR? Or is he here as the 8th defenseman and we're still questioning Boychuk staying.
Wait, what's wrong with Boychuk? I think he is doing great so far. Did we just get him for trade bait in a future deal or something? Because I think he is fitting in well. No need to trade him away again at this stage.
Wait, what's wrong with Boychuk? I think he is doing great so far. Did we just get him for trade bait in a future deal or something? Because I think he is fitting in well. No need to trade him away again at this stage.
Boychuk isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I think that's part of why this move happened. Shero clearing a roster spot to keep him around.
Glad they traded Lovejoy, but it really makes losing Strait look even worse.
Why? Was Strait going to beat out Despres or Bortuzzo for a job?? And it looks to me that Ray Shero probably shopped Strait around and got no decent offers and probably Lovejoy as well and that resulted only in a 5th Round Pick in 2014.
Bortuzzo will be the 7th D now once Niskanen returns. Reese will be back in the minors.*
*provided no other defensemen get injured.
The bottom line is that we lost quality youth/depth when we didn't have to, and considering the hits we took to our defense last year, there's hardly any guarantee that our 8th won't see meaningful NHL ice time this season.
Kinda wish Lovejoy had played better in the games he dressed for this season. We might have gotten that bumped up to a 4th round pick.
I'm surprised he actually yielded a pick, to be honest. I honestly thought at most he'd get a conditional 7th rounder, with the condition being he has to play like 50% of Anaheim's games this year.
Kinda wish Lovejoy had played better in the games he dressed for this season. We might have gotten that bumped up to a 4th round pick.
I'm surprised he actually yielded a pick, to be honest. I honestly thought at most he'd get a conditional 7th rounder, with the condition being he has to play like 50% of Anaheim's games this year.
A 7th got the pens the right to TV so getting a 5th for Ben is great IMO.
I dunno Cole...swapping Strait as our 7th defenseman for Reese plus a 2014 5th rounder looks like a net loss to me.
Meeeh.. I don't look at stuff like that. You have to think these owners were smart and thought we were going to drop defenders eventually. They weren't going to pay and maybe that's why Strait got out of here for free. I'm being an optimist.
But I can't take an off-season signing, a waiver situation, and a trade and work it into one thought. I'll separate them:
- Signing Reese: No problem. He has NHL experience and is VERY hockey smart. Worst case scenario he's a WBS guy. No gain/loss.
- Losing Strait for free: Yeah.. it hurts a little, but are we all so sure we'd get something for him? I'd like to think so. I can't be 100% sure. A small loss.
- Trading Lovejoy for a 5th: My thoughts were posted above: A decent gain.
But using your way of thinking... do we cut Lovejoy and trade Strait for a 5th rounder? Are we sure we'd gain or lose anything there? If we got a 5th for Strait, I'd be very happy... but Lovejoy was going to be cut. Soooo?
Meeeh.. I don't look at stuff like that. You have to think these owners were smart and thought we were going to drop defenders eventually. They weren't going to pay and maybe that's why Strait got out of here for free. I'm being an optimist.
But I can't take an off-season signing, a waiver situation, and a trade and work it into one thought. I'll separate them:
- Signing Reese: No problem. He has NHL experience and is VERY hockey smart. Worst case scenario he's a WBS guy. No gain/loss.
- Losing Strait for free: Yeah.. it hurts a little, but are we all so sure we'd get something for him? I'd like to think so. I can't be 100% sure. A small loss.
- Trading Lovejoy for a 5th: My thoughts were posted above: A decent gain.
But using your way of thinking... do we cut Lovejoy and trade Strait for a 5th rounder? Are we sure we'd gain or lose anything there? If we got a 5th for Strait, I'd be very happy... but Lovejoy was going to be cut. Soooo?
There are a few different decisions involved, for sure. I just think keeping Lovejoy over Strait was pretty dubious to being with.
Had we kept Strait, we could've maintained our defensive depth and let Tangradi show he couldn't hang with Geno and Neal and consequently get waived. We'd be 8 defensemen strong and still able keep Boychuk for his extended audition on Malkin's line.
I dunno Cole...swapping Strait as our 7th defenseman for Reese plus a 2014 5th rounder looks like a net loss to me.
Yup.
I thought nothing would infuriate me more about losing Strait, and of course this happens, which sets me off even more.
I understand Shero's thinking: Lovejoy has more NHL experience, and would definitely bring SOMETHING back in a trade while Strait MAY sneak through waivers.
However, what bothers me more is the talent evaluation. As Brooks said, Lovejoy simply was what he was, while there was still room for growth in Strait, as NHL ready as he already was.
We played two games against the Isles with Strait in the lineup, and all the guy did was play rock solid hockey. All this talk of potentially trading Nisky would be a little easier to swallow, and so would another injury - if Strait were around to be used as a stopgap.
I'm glad Lovejoy's gone, but it's about 10 days too ******* late.
Why? Was Strait going to beat out Despres or Bortuzzo for a job?? And it looks to me that Ray Shero probably shopped Strait around and got no decent offers and probably Lovejoy as well and that resulted only in a 5th Round Pick in 2014.
Strait was more NHL ready than either of those two.
Believe me, I'm happy that both are playing, but let's not pretend they haven't been making some glaring mistakes as they try to learn.
Strait was more NHL ready than either of those two.
Believe me, I'm happy that both are playing, but let's not pretend they haven't been making some glaring mistakes as they try to learn.
And Strait hasn't?
Why do we all of a sudden care about Strait? He's a depth defencemen who wasn't going to get his shot here. Bort and Despres passed him on the depth chart.
Another move on the way? Free's up an open spot on the active roster with Nisky on IR.
Bingo!
In all the joy, laughs and relief about Lovejoy being gone, it does open up an additonal roster spot. If Niskanen is still out for a few weeks, then what's the rusn? it could simply because Fowler is injured now, Lovejoy all of a sudden becomes of interest to them, but it could be something more, too.
We all know that a trade is going to happen sooner or later (and possibly sooner than later), so we're all waiting for that other shoe to drop. And like I said in another thread about not being able to one day dress 10 Dmen, we know it's only a matter of time before one of those guys gets shipped out. So there will be a lot of VERY interesting things going on with the Pens player-personnel moves over the next 7-8 months (which of course includes the trade deadline, but also the summer months and draft).
Strait was never going to get his shot here and he would have qualified as a Group VI UFA and had absolutely no reason to re-sign with a team that didn't have him in their long-term plans.
The only bad thing about Strait was that he wasn't traded back at the draft. The lockout killed any hope we had of trading him as you can see by the fact that there were no extra roster players dealt for picks leading up to the start of the shortened season.
I'm ecstatic to have Lovejoy out of the picture, just so we don't have to worry about him sneaking into the line-up in front of one of the youngsters anymore. I wish him all the best in Anaheim because he is a great guy...but relative to the other defenders here...he just didn't belong here.
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“The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile, but that it is indifferent. If we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death, our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.” - Stanley Kubrick
Last edited by Big McLargehuge: 02-07-2013 at 01:18 AM.
Really?
