Sure it is great to make the playoffs, but when a GM leaves the cupboard empty for next season, is he really doing his job?
I understand the emphasis NHL general managers place on winning now and making the playoffs. Or the, 'live for today' mentality.
What I don't get is how GMs can allow star players to walk away at the end of the season as unrestricted free.
If you are running a team that has a chance to win the Stanley Cup or, at the very least, go deep into the playoffs, I understand holding onto players that could leave for nothing in the summer. That was what happened in Pittsburgh last season when the Penguins acquired Marian Hossa for a run to the final and then watched as he skipped town to join the Detroit Red Wings. It was a calculated risk and one certainly worth taking.
What I am talking about is teams in the hunt for a playoff spot with little-to-no chance of winning the Cup hanging on to impending UFAs and then watching as they sign with other teams. Specifically, I am speaking of the Florida Panthers, the Minnesota Wild and the Montreal Canadiens. There are others, too.
It appears abundantly clear star defenceman Jay Bouwmeester has no intention of re-signing with the Panthers. One of the league's best young blue liners, Bouwmeester appears determined to test the free agent waters this summer. The dilemma Panthers GM Jacques Martin faces is that his team sits in seventh place in the Eastern Conference and has not made the playoffs in seven seasons. So you can understand Martin's desperation.
On the other hand, what good does it do the Panthers organization to make the playoffs, lose out in the first round (they would likely face Montreal, Boston or New Jersey) and then find themselves in the same spot or worse next season? You know darn well the Panthers will not get market value for Bouwmeester if they trade him, but something is better than nothing, isn't it?
Clearly there is a market for the 6-4, 215-pound defender who, with 12 goals and 31 points in 60 games is on pace for 16 goals and 42 points. Martin can play a few teams off against one another to drive up the price. And given the fact the Panthers stand virtually no chance whatsoever of winning the Cup this season, wouldn't it be better for Martin to put his team in a position to be a contender nest season?
The Minnesota Wild is in the same boat with goalie Niklas Backstrom and right winger Marian Gaborik. The Wild have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs the past two seasons so it is easy to understand why GM Doug Risebrough might be tempted to keep both players. Also, he is in negotiations with Backstrom and there is a strong possibility he'll sign the goalie to an extension before the March 4 deadline.
Gaborik is another story. He is unquestionably the team's most gifted skater. However, he is injury-prone and has never played a full season. The 27-year-old Czech has played in just six games this season because of a hip injury. In speaking with Risebrough Thursday I got the distinct impression he'll take his chances by keeping Gaborik rather than trade him.
Like the Panthers, I believe it is very unlikely the Wild will get too far in the playoffs. So I wonder about the logic of keeping Gaborik only to have him bolt at the end of the year?
No GM stands to lose more by keeping the soon-to-be UFAs than Bob Gainey of the Canadians. That's because 10 significant players on the Canadiens - forwards Alex Tanguay, Saku Koivu, Alexei Kovalev, Robert Lang and Tom Kotsopoulos and defencemen Francis Bouillon, Mathieu Schneider, Mathieu Dandenault, Patrice Brisebois and Mike Komisarek - can be UFAs this summer.
Now it hardly makes sense for Gainey to clean house, especially since the Canadiens are still very much a big part of the Eastern Conference playoff picture despite their poor play and recent controversy surrounding some of their players. Despite it all, the Canadiens could still go deep into the playoffs if its players start performing up to potential.
That said; it would be devastating for the team to allow Komisarek to walk away at the end of the season and get nothing in return. He is one of the best shutdown defenders in the league and is only entering the prime of his career.
Not only that, the Canadiens have lost star defencemen Sheldon Souray and Mark Streit the past two summers and got nothing back for them. Will Gainey actually allow a third star defenceman to walk?
Asked if losing Souray and Streit the past two years will affect his decision on what to do with Komisarek, Gainey said, "No." Well, that being the case, if he loses a third star defender for nothing it will certainly affect the way he is judged as a GM.
Gainey hoped keeping Souray would help the Canadiens make the playoffs in 2006-07. They didn't make it and Souray signed with the Edmonton Oilers. Gainey hoped keeping Streit would help get the Canadiens to the final. It didn't; and he signed with the New York Islanders. Gainey put today ahead of tomorrow and look where the Habs are now, fifth in the East some 29 points behind the Conference-leading Boston Bruins. I wonder how much better the Habs would be had Gainey traded Souray and Steit and got assets in return?
To lose Komisarek with nothing in return this summer would be devastating for the Canadiens.
Prior to the implementation of the salary cap, teams could keep impending UFAs knowing they'd be able to replace them if they decided to sign with a new team. That is no longer the case.
Because so many of the league's best players are being locked up with long-term contracts, what becomes available on July 1 is often a second tier of players commanding top bucks. Brian Campbell, Danny Briere, Chris Drury and Scott Gomez spring to mind.
Sure it is great to make the playoffs, but when a GM leaves the cupboard empty for next season, is he really doing his job?
