I hated the trade when it went down at the very last second on the deadline day.
Now, I'd have think this trade goes down as one of the worst trades that I can remember. Erat definitely showed some skill but between his age and the fact that the Caps will probably enter next season without a 2C (again) I'm back to sitting here thinking about how much I hate that GMGM made this trade.
I'm ready to send McPhee packing as much as the next guy, but let's deal with facts. The guy is 31; that is not old by NHL forward standards, not at all. Chris Kunitz at 33 says "hello". His contract runs 2 more years, not a few more years. He's been injured and has not had much time to gel with his teammates. I would withhold judgement on whether we got screwed or not until next season. I would also withhold judgement until we see more of Latta.
A projected top 10 pick of any draft will always be more valuable than a 2nd line forward, especially in a shortened season. Especially in a shortened season where the team making the god awful trade didn't even play well enough to have made the playoffs without other teams going on long losing streaks.
The press conference to announce the stupidity made me think McPhee wants to get fired. It's like everything he does is done to hurt the franchise on purpose. Signing players that don't deserve more than $1,5M to $3,5-4M 4year contracts. Getting rid of top prospects and failing to get players to come over and play.
It is too early to grade the trade proper but early returns point to a loss in year one, as Erat was not even given a chance to skate a regular shift on our top line / did not produce. He was not here for an audition, he was brought here in a win now move. Year 1 of 3 failed.
He was brought here to fill a huge gap at scoring LW yet never clicked with Ribs for quality scoring chances. And was tried no where else, had no outlet to contribute.
Part of making trades is actually putting the guy into a position to contribute. We traded for a scoring winger who never scored, yet never tried him anywhere else.
It is too early to grade the trade proper but early returns point to a loss in year one, as Erat was not even given a chance to skate a regular shift on our top line / did not produce. He was not here for an audition, he was brought here in a win now move. Year 1 of 3 failed.
He was brought here to fill a huge gap at scoring LW yet never clicked with Ribs for quality scoring chances. And was tried no where else, had no outlet to contribute.
Part of making trades is actually putting the guy into a position to contribute. We traded for a scoring winger who never scored, yet never tried him anywhere else.
If that's true then it was a big failure...Erat is a setup guy, not a scorer....
Maybe if Kuznetsov comes over next year (doesn't seem likely) we can better use his talents, but he is not a goal scorer.
Our lack of shooters was painfully obvious during the Caps limited power plays that the Rangers didn't want to let OV and Green shoot...and the rest of the team didn't scare anyone...
And.... Erat a setup guy only gets to play with Ribeiro? Scoring = Points. Goal scoring = Goals.
And... Erat is appearing to be injury prone
Latta the throw in is still a variable in deciding the trades winner.
Only, I do not see where he even fits in the lineup next year. Wilson looked ready to me. Beagle isn't going anywhere, nor is Volpatti. We are jack stacked at RW even without Kuz. Maybe if Ribs is not retained and MP moves up, Beagle moves up to 3, can a spot be created for Latta.
If that's true then it was a big failure...Erat is a setup guy, not a scorer....
Maybe if Kuznetsov comes over next year (doesn't seem likely) we can better use his talents, but he is not a goal scorer.
Our lack of shooters was painfully obvious during the Caps limited power plays that the Rangers didn't want to let OV and Green shoot...and the rest of the team didn't scare anyone...
actually for us Erat was as more of a scorer than a setup guy, but that may be reflective of our lack of other scorers to go with him.
If he stays healthy over an 82 game season he'll be a 20+ scorer with you guys, but he does get hurt a lot...
You may have noticed that we won both games in this series that Erat played in. We lost 4 of 5 he wasn't in. Was that the sole difference? Of course not.
But here's what Erat does that apparently nobody else in our top 6 does: he wins puck battles, he's strong on the boards, he's defensively responsible, he does not strand the D guys when they're trying to clear the puck, and he goes to the net.
The disgrace is not the trade. The disgrace is that we had to make the trade in order to have at least 1 guy in our top 6 who does those things.
Beyond that, do you guys really think that what this team needs is more skilled Swedish forwards? FFS, we have enough Swedes that are unwilling to shoot the fuggin puck.
Give Erat a season before the verdict is in. He was my favorite player on the Preds for a reason and I think he'll earn his keep in Washington. He is one of the most consistent players in the NHL points-wise (50-60P ~8 seasons in a row).
And Erat is not injury prone for the most part. His first injury after the trade was from a pretty dirty board from behind from that FLA player.
Beyond that, do you guys really think that what this team needs is more skilled Swedish forwards? FFS, we have enough Swedes that are unwilling to shoot the fuggin puck.
Good point. After this series 2 Swedes is enough for this team right now.
