Wednesday 7 July 2010

DRAFT, FREE AGENTS AND WHAT TO DO IN THE OFF SEASON?

As the excitment of the previous years Stanely Cup finals starts to wear off and slowly a void begins to emerge...what is one to do? How should we spend this time without being able to watch the great game? meditating? preparing for the next season? watching re-runs of great Stanely Cup eras? I open the floor to suggestions on this topic, what is a hockey fan to do???

One way of course is to follow the endless deals and dramas of the entry draft and free agent frenzy. Although the quailty of this years prospects seemed a little low the soap opera style drama that played out between Taylor vs Tyler has been mildly entertaining. In regards to the SENS Brian Murray trading away the 16th first round pick, I do agree with the logic that the player the SENS need was not really in that range of the draf. So to trade it for David Runblad who in theory is going to be ready to peform for Ottawa by 2012, is a good decision I think. This quote from chief scout Pierre Dorion puts it quite nicely:

"We felt David Rundblad was going to be better than any player we were going to be able to get in this draft...That's why we did the deal. I know it's not sexy that we didn't go on stage and draft somebody into the organization. But, we felt whoever we take, this guy is going to be a better player. He's a top-four defenceman who moves the puck. He does a lot of things for us."

Agreed Pierre. Although I don't know if anyone has ever considered the Entry Draft sexy.

In the free agrent world, I am excited about Sergei Gonchar being signed so quickly and think that he will be great for the Ottawa D (and for 16.5mil over 3 years he better be!) But I do think that he will add some offence that is needed to balance out the play. I will miss the A-Train and his amazing shot blocking and heavy hitting capabilities though!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRM-oWqsKBc

1 comment:

  1. Nick,

    Which NHL team improved the most through the draft and free agency signings?

    Perry

    ReplyDelete