Looking back he had 18G/38 points in 58 games when he was traded to the Pens. By all logic he should have been a huge boost at 3C.
I never know to believe the reports or not, but I remember reading he was disgruntled because he thought he'd be playing wing next to Sid or Geno.
- Rinosaur
Not necessarily that he should play wing, he was disgruntled because he thought he was a top 6 player and we got him to be a third line center. Yohe was adamant about that. That handful of games that we played him at wing was an attempt to appease him but he’s not a winger and it didn’t work (plus we still needed a 3C).
But also Brassard never really bounced back. I think he was slightly better at his next stops than the Pens but he was never even close to the player he had been up until that TDL. I know he had a somewhat significant injury coming here too that he was playing through so I think it’s possible that really it was the injury that cooked him and less about the circumstance even if he was unhappy. Plenty of unhappy players preform and don’t all of a sudden become replacement level as if by magic. It was a truly baffling situation.