Quoting: RWellington
You're putting words in my mouth and youre picking and choosing stats that you see relevant. You're painting a picture that sees Sekera as a 1 legged hobo no better than Karl Alzner, yet seem to ignore the fact EDMs D has been much improved since his return, he makes his d partner better and many of his linemates too. In his career prior to last 2 seasons Sekera was consistently healthy player. And 33 is not the end of an NHL career ( go to players and sort them by age see how many impact D are still playing above the age of 33 )
MTL's depth on LHD would factor in to them trading for a player like Sekera because either they really like the player and feel like he would improve their team or that the options in free agency arent what they are searching for (and no doubt there may be cheaper less risky options available in free agency) but no one said because they are thin on LHD that they want to deal for Sekera so dont be dramatic and delusional. They would "want" to deal for Sekera because he is a fit.
Forget the return if Shaw is too much of an asset loss, even though i remember MTL fans running him outta town last season. The point of the deal is i see MTL as a viable trading partner for a few reasons: they have cap space, lack LHD depth and could include a forward with salary and term in return.
What stats show "Sekera is not playing up to snuff"?
Not putting words in anyone's mouth? Only giving my opinion. Nowhere did I say he's equivalent to Alzner. I just think you are painting the 33 year old 5.5M Sekera to be a solid top 4 right now but frankly there isn't anything to support it. You saying he's making his line mates better is irrelevant. He's playing bottom pairing minutes, hasn't produced offensively, is at the age when injuries take huge tolls on players, is still paid a lot for services he more than likely won't be able to fulfill etc etc
Is he the worst player to ever live? No. Is he an AHL'er? No. Nowhere did I say this. But there is nowhere that shows he is what he once was and there is ample data to show that players at that age will decline, especially ones that are oft injured like Sekera has been for the past two years. Yeah yeah I know he was good when he was 30 but that is a long time ago and lots has changes since then. I love my Shea Weber but he is not the same Weber he was in Nashville. He has gotten significantly slower and its quite apparent. He has been through two bad injuries as well btu you know what he has? Data to support that he can still play at a high level. As high as he once was at? No but at least still a high level. Sekera has played on avg 16 mins a game this season and last. He hasn;t scored a goal in over two years. He was only worth his contract before he got injured, now? How can you justify it? You can't.
Injuries do play a huge part in ones value. Same thing for Tanev in Vancouver. Guy is a good player but he ALWAYS injured. What good is a player that doesn't play? What can Sekera do to prove people wrong? He can come back and prove he can stay healthy. If Sekera plays 75+ games next year and scores 20+ points, then he has shown that he still has it in him. Then we can talk turkey but until then..........not much to support the risk.
NOW, I have advocated for trading for Sekera. He's a LHD, yes but that isn't my grand objective. My objective is that EDM needs to trade Sekera more than Montreal needs Sekera on their team. Montreal has cap space to burn and EDM needs more cap space. Therefore we can help each other out but if you think I am actively going after Sekera because of his ability, think again. I'm taking him off your hands with a draft pick and in exchange I'd give you a roster player that no longer fits my roster but may fit yours and is also cheap so that you get the cap space you'd want. Which is the main goal for EDM in that deal. Otherwise, keep Sekera then. Any number of Reilly, Kulak, or any other free agent cheapish dman will be able to give the Habs what Sekera has been able to give these past couple years and the real bonus for us..... I don't have to lose Shaw for that risk. Who as I said is playing well. Increasing his value from what it once was.
"Forget the return if Shaw is too much of an asset loss, even though i remember MTL fans running him outta town last season. The point of the deal is i see MTL as a viable trading partner for a few reasons: they have cap space, lack LHD depth and could include a forward with salary and term in return."
You offered, I gave the response I would give if offered but since this comment rather irked me, lets play game then shall we? Let's go back in time and trade to 16-17 and trade Shaw for Sekera. Deal? Oh no?Didn't think so. Unless your completely naive to the fluctuation in values of anything in life, surely you can see that a players value can increase and decrease depending on his play. That's generally how valuation works. So yeah, Shaw is out of the question, not because he is an all star, but because he is giving the Habs
value right now. Sekera guarantees
nothing right now because there is nothing to ensure he lives up to his contract. His play wouldn't even get him into the Habs lineup right now. Reilly has been a decent habs dman this yera and he is a 7th dman currently. We'd have to take the risk that he plays like 16-17 again and stays healthy. Then we'll see the benefit of that trade. Now judging by ages and typically how players careers go, whose more likely to decline right now? Shaw or Sekera? This isn't rocket science. 33 isn't the end of a players career but it sure isn't his prime either. Generally speaking players don't get better after their 30's. That is compounded even more with a player who goes through two back to back big injuries during their 30's. It doesn't always mean they'll fall off the earth, take Weber for example. Still playing quite well for the Habs. Whats Sekera's excuse? Weber still plays top pairing minutes and produces. Sekera has been relegated to bottom pairing in both seasons.....
"What stats show "Sekera is not playing up to snuff"?"
Plays avg 16 mins a night due to his play. Hasn't scored a goal in over two years and the points the offense is non existent. Has played less than 30% of the games of the past two years. Etc etc etc Do we need to go any further? Is that completely indicative? No, but there's no beating around the bush, other players with injuries have come back and still looked like a shell of their former self. Sekera doesn't look like the 5.5M player he once was and I don't think anyone wants to risk losing an asset to find out if he ever does.....
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