In this edition of the hotstove, we discuss which off-season acquisition has been most disappointing thus far.…‹
Todd Cordell
…‹This one probably has more to do with the team than his play but I'll go with Karl Alzner.
…‹He ranks last among Canadiens defensemen in 5v5 Corsi For%, 5v5 Scoring Chance For% and, though he has a respectable four assists in 13 games, is unlikely to bring much of anything offensively moving forward.
I don't mean to dump on Alzner -- playing tough competition all the time doesn't help his numbers -- but the Habs overpaid for Alzner ($4.625M and a NTC is a lot for a defensive defenseman) even though he's already exiting his prime because they thought he'd be a useful piece to have on a good team. The problem is the Habs aren't a good team right now.
I still think they'll turn it around at some point but, if they don't, it's not going to look good having a slow, offensively inept defenseman heading into his 30s locked up at $4.625M per for the foreseeable…‹ future.
Matt Henderson I'm going to subvert this question by answering that Ryan Strome has not been disappointing based on my personal expectations. He is exactly what any reasonable person could have expected out of a 30 point forward whose "compete" has been questioned. The trade that brought him to Edmonton is thoroughly disappointing from every perspective. Even the whole inclusion of cap space as an asset in the deal is frustrating since the Oilers didn't need space this season. And it's not like Cap Space is going to score a bunch of goals on the PP.
The trade in general is disappointing. Not Strome. He is exactly what I thought he would be. Well, maybe a touch slower.
Jared Crozier I am not sure what was expected from these players but there are a couple of additions that didn't last a month with their new teams and those would be Mark Streit and Antti Niemi.
Streit couldn't find his way onto the blue line of a struggling Montreal lineup, playing just 2 games before both sides agreed to magically make the over-35 cap hit disappear.
As for Niemi, he was dreadful in a backup role for the Penguins, and the former Stanley Cup winner as a starter had a 7.50 GAA and .797 SP before he was waived and picked up by the Panthers. In two appearances with Florida he has a 5.08 GAA and .872 SP. And some people wondered why Dallas missed the playoffs last year.
Higher profile players have also struggled somewhat, but not lasting a calendar month would top my list of the busts.
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