Ryan Wilson: Jim Rutherford has been wasteful and directionless Jim Rutherford has been wasteful and directionless

...Go Canes??

I just wish Oleksiak was never traded. This would mean that there would have been no need to trade for Gudbransson. Oleksiak also seemed to fit in perfectly on the 3rd pairing. Big guy with a deceptively good offensive game

Rutherford is entering the dangerous place where he was in while at Carolina. For a lot of years, he pressed a lot of right buttons and a small market team like the Canes won the Cup. However, then he started getting off the rails and became a guy with no real plan. He overpaid for a guy he could've had in FA the next year in Jordan Staal, he let pieces go from that 2009 team, and he wheeled and dealed for the sake of wheeling and dealing.

Flash forward to here, he made a lot of good moves. He had a slam dunk Kessel trade, he made some good FA signings and decent trades that brought good pieces here. The end result was 2 Stanley Cups. No one can argue that. However, past results cannot justify the present. He is a man with no plan and is hell bent on throwing pieces where ever. Maybe they land in the right squares, but they probably dont.

I dont think we need to blow this team up. I see this for what it is. With this core, you have 3-4 years left. One more Cup would be awesome. A core like this getting 4 Cups would be crazy. No reason to break that up. Even if you think this team needs blown up, I absolutely do not think Jim Rutherford is that guy to retool. I do not trust him making these big moves.

I think a Kessel for Subban move makes sense. Shipping out as many guys as possible in the Gudbranson, Johnson, Hornqvist, etc. camp, the better. Make some under the radar signings. Guys that offer high reward for low investment. Get your coach and GM on the same page. If Sully wants to play fast, no one told Rutherford.

The MAF stuff is pretty hard to complain about. We needed to sign him and it wasn't overly expensive. Key pieces of the puzzle often get movement clauses. It's not outrageous. Then Murary comes along right when the expansion happens. What are you going to do?

Not saying it was the singular best possible outcome but it's not worthy of looking in the rear view mirror over.

The other stuff... woof. My main concern with a Malkin and Kessel trade is you need those players and someone who can put together the roster behind them. It's throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Sigh.

Rutherford is entering the dangerous place where he was in while at Carolina. For a lot of years, he pressed a lot of right buttons and a small market team like the Canes won the Cup. However, then he started getting off the rails and became a guy with no real plan. He overpaid for a guy he could've had in FA the next year in Jordan Staal, he let pieces go from that 2009 team, and he wheeled and dealed for the sake of wheeling and dealing.

Flash forward to here, he made a lot of good moves. He had a slam dunk Kessel trade, he made some good FA signings and decent trades that brought good pieces here. The end result was 2 Stanley Cups. No one can argue that. However, past results cannot justify the present. He is a man with no plan and is hell bent on throwing pieces where ever. Maybe they land in the right squares, but they probably dont.

I dont think we need to blow this team up. I see this for what it is. With this core, you have 3-4 years left. One more Cup would be awesome. A core like this getting 4 Cups would be crazy. No reason to break that up. Even if you think this team needs blown up, I absolutely do not think Jim Rutherford is that guy to retool. I do not trust him making these big moves.

I think a Kessel for Subban move makes sense. Shipping out as many guys as possible in the Gudbranson, Johnson, Hornqvist, etc. camp, the better. Make some under the radar signings. Guys that offer high reward for low investment. Get your coach and GM on the same page. If Sully wants to play fast, no one told Rutherford.
- SuperHenderson13

It seemed like as soon as Botterill left that’s when the JR started his downfall. I read somewhere that Botterill was very much for a speed/skill game. Whenever there were trades, he looked at how it would affect the team in the future cap wise. I really feel Botterill had a lot of say during trades and signings and when he left, JR lost some of that insight. I don’t think the pens make the Reaves trade or sign Johnson (or at least For not that long) if Botterill was still here

I get all the first round picks being used, but when it works, it's called 'win now mode'.

Moving forward... meaning what's done is done... it would be encouraging to see signs that at the very least Sully and JR are on the same page. Marginal trades can be glossed over when your team wins in spite of them. But the Pens beat themselves in many ways along the way to being swept by the Isles, including player usage.

Really looking forward to see what happens this off-season, but maybe for all the wrong reasons. Something bigger than fringe players needs fixed, unless some of those overpaid ones can somehow be remedied.

One day, RW is going to tell us how he feels about Rutherford.

Didn't you win the Stanley Cup recently???

I get all the first round picks being used, but when it works, it's called 'win now mode'.

Moving forward... meaning what's done is done... it would be encouraging to see signs that at the very least Sully and JR are on the same page. Marginal trades can be glossed over when your team wins in spite of them. But the Pens beat themselves in many ways along the way to being swept by the Isles, including player usage.

Really looking forward to see what happens this off-season, but maybe for all the wrong reasons. Something bigger than fringe players needs fixed, unless some of those overpaid ones can somehow be remedied.
- Cousinskrid

You keep saying this but it’s literally the fringe players that are the problem.

Didn't you win the Stanley Cup recently???
- BlackhawkMike

You’re a towel.

Would be nice to happen (trades):

Hörnqvist
Johnson
Gudbranson

Maybe:

Määttä
Kessel (if the return is awesome)

That’s about it.

Instead of spending 1st, 2nd, & 3rd round picks on useless veterans/rentals... spend them on some offer sheets. I would happily pay a 1st, 2nd, 3rd round pick for Mitch Marner (if we had all of our 2020 picks...). I think the NHL fixes the whole RFA thing for the next CBA. Teams should use offer sheets more. Hopefully this new brand of GM will start that trend. Would make things more interesting.

...Go Canes??
- FinnGod

I feel like RW has written the same blog 15 times already this off season.

"a huge win for the team considering the team was also able to shed horrible players like Brandon Sutter, Rob Scuderi, and Nick Spaling in the process."

Must be nice to publicly call people (yes they're actual people) who have reached the highest level in their profession "horrible" at what they do.

What word would you use to describe your blogging capability based on where you fit amongst all the bloggers in the world?

Instead of spending 1st, 2nd, & 3rd round picks on useless veterans/rentals... spend them on some offer sheets. I would happily pay a 1st, 2nd, 3rd round pick for Mitch Marner (if we had all of our 2020 picks...). I think the NHL fixes the whole RFA thing for the next CBA. Teams should use offer sheets more. Hopefully this new brand of GM will start that trend. Would make things more interesting.
- SuperHenderson13

Instead of spending 1st, 2nd, & 3rd round picks on useless veterans/rentals... spend them on some offer sheets. I would happily pay a 1st, 2nd, 3rd round pick for Mitch Marner (if we had all of our 2020 picks...). I think the NHL fixes the whole RFA thing for the next CBA. Teams should use offer sheets more. Hopefully this new brand of GM will start that trend. Would make things more interesting.
- SuperHenderson13

You think he'll sign an OS for $8M or less?

If he's signing an offer sheet. which means forfeiting the 8th year of his extension, he's getting paid McDavid money.

I feel like RW has written the same blog 15 times already this off season.
- mont23

Same here lol

"a huge win for the team considering the team was also able to shed horrible players like Brandon Sutter, Rob Scuderi, and Nick Spaling in the process."

Must be nice to publicly call people (yes they're actual people) who have reached the highest level in their profession "horrible" at what they do.

What word would you use to describe your blogging capability based on where you fit amongst all the bloggers in the world?
- maaddmike

What a ridiculous gripe. Do we really need to start prefacing with "bad for an NHL player" when we call out someone for being bad? They're an NHL player. They're better than almost everybody. Let's take that as a given and understand that when we call someone bad we know full well that they're better than a beer leaguer.

What a ridiculous gripe. Do we really need to start prefacing with "bad for an NHL player" when we call out someone for being bad? They're an NHL player. They're better than almost everybody. Let's take that as a given and understand that when we call someone bad we know full well that they're better than a beer leaguer.
- Victoro311

You know, I did play 2 years of semi-pro roller hockey as a #7 defenseman...

A lot of heat falls to GMJR for the personnel moves. It’s the disconnect with HCMS that has my attention. Can’t be good. Does Mario have much say on trades or is he only brought into the discussion when the core is mentioned?

Add me to the list of people that didn’t want Oleksiak moved. If we somehow could’ve ended up with him, Petts, and Ruhwedel fighting for spots on the bottom pair I think those would’ve been valuable and obviously leave us with cap space elsewhere. Jamie got the Sullivan treatment, didn’t he? Sully didn’t like his bad penalties as I recall. Hard to argue with much else regarding the blog.
Dumo-Letang
Cole-Schultz
Petts-Olekskiak
Ruhwedel
That could’ve easily been us
Happy to see Cole/Oleksiak’s new teams are doing well

You know, I did play 2 years of semi-pro roller hockey as a #7 defenseman...
- jmatchett383

Hey btw I was meaning to ask do you know of Jim Burcar? He played for the Salsa. He was easily the best coach I ever had. Really smart, big Stevie Y fan. I believe he owns the OC Hockey club now. Trying to remember my other coach’s name who played pro roller hockey too but the name is escaping me

What a ridiculous gripe. Do we really need to start prefacing with "bad for an NHL player" when we call out someone for being bad? They're an NHL player. They're better than almost everybody. Let's take that as a given and understand that when we call someone bad we know full well that they're better than a beer leaguer.
- Victoro311

Nope. Whenever I say a player is bad I mean that I am better than them.