Quoting: tea
I genuinely don't see how he's ruined the team, he's added grit, and in the process we lost Buchnevich, who was good, but not irreplaceable, and it means Lafreniere, Kakko, Kravtsov, and Chytil will get bigger roles in this team. We still have Panarin, we still have Zibanejad, we still have Kreider, we still have EVERY SINGLE ONE OF OUR YOUNG PROSPECTS. What have we lost this offseason? Howden, Buchnevich, a 3rd, and a 7th. Yes we're worse off cap-wise, but don't act like adding 5 players is gonna completely destroy this team...
I was all for trading Buchnevich to make room for Kravtsov, however the return was abysmal (Blais and a 2nd). I moved past it but today the organization chose Gauthier and Hajek over Krav, which is absolutely absurd.
Last time Krav refused to report, I disagreed; this time, I understand it. So now we've lost Buchnevich AND the player we traded Buchnevich to make room for. That's a failure on Drury's part.
Signing a fourth line winger for 6 years $3.6 mil a year to play on an offensive third like is inexcusable. And if six alternate captains isn't ridiculous enough, giving a newcomer one of those six A's simply because he played a minor role in a couple of Stanley Cup championships is insult to injury.
Nemeth was an overpay that will come back to haunt us as soon as next year, Reaves is still a goon and this obsession with "being prepared" for Wilson is embarrassing, and I cannot believe we now have 0 right wingers after Kakko (Kreider is not, and never will be, an effective enough right winger to be legit in the top 6... he couldn't even keep consistent on his natural left wing).
And the drafting... Lucius and Bolduc both available but Drury picks another winger? Hey, maybe at least now we have an eventual replacement for Krav AND Buch in Othmann.
I'm so frustrated with this team and with the direction Drury has taken it in. He was handed one of the most talent-filled teams and he squandered it. We're still going to be in cap trouble in the next two years regardless, we may as well have stayed the course and not stripped away half the talent in the process.