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Looks Like Lou's in it for the Long Haul


DevilinLA

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Didn't say Zubes was bad, but I've maintained that Lou thought he was getting more offense that he ultimately did with Zubrus. I've also maintained that he remained healthier than anyone had a right to expect. Like I said, I think Lou was hoping for 50-60 points, but would've taken 45 or so happily. At any rate, his deal is nowhere near the disaster that Gomez's was.

One thing this analysis fails to take into account is how offense in the NHL fell in general.

But it needs to be noted that Lou had basically never (at least not since I had been following the team) signed a guy outside the organization for more than 2 years. He changed that with Matvichuk and went from there.

One of the worst spots a GM can be in is where he has an average team that's aging. Lou has done pretty well with that, in light of how Dallas, Colorado, Tampa, and even Carolina completely bottomed out.

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I still think that Lou, as much as he may be past his prime as a GM, is still our best option. Look at who other teams have gone through in recent years. Glen Sather? Neil Smith? Garth Snow? Bobby Clarke? This General Managing thing ain't easy. Lou's recent moves may not have him in the Kenny Holland league anymore, but he's still among the best.

It's his job til he doesn't want it anymore, IMO. In Lou I trust.

Could not have said this any better myself to be completely honest. :cheers:

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Anybody that complains about the Kovalchuk deal is shortsighted. Of course Lou says that our goal is to win a Stanley Cup every season, but it's postering. Lou signed Kovy to set this team up for what it should be a few years from now. A fast, offensive minded team. We're not that yet, and we won't be for a little while, but he's compiling the pieces that he can. Kovalchuk, Josefson, Henrique, Hopefully Parise. You have great D prospects coming up on the back end. This team is going to be fast and totally different than it is now. He's doing the right thing in disguise.

Kovalchuk isn't meant to fit into the "Devils System". He's supposed to be the start of a new era, and those starts are often rough. I mean hell, he's a year and a half into a 15 year deal.

Edited by Baggy Spandex
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One thing this analysis fails to take into account is how offense in the NHL fell in general.

But it needs to be noted that Lou had basically never (at least not since I had been following the team) signed a guy outside the organization for more than 2 years. He changed that with Matvichuk and went from there.

One of the worst spots a GM can be in is where he has an average team that's aging. Lou has done pretty well with that, in light of how Dallas, Colorado, Tampa, and even Carolina completely bottomed out.

You yourself said, when I suggested that Zubrus would never put up more than 35-45 points in any given season as a Devil, that "Zubrus' upside is 60 points". (This was during Zubrus' first season here.) And you basically made it sound like that it was selling him short, that he would have seasons where he'd do better than that. Oh well.

Say what you will, but Zubrus has put up 148 points in 320 GP (.4625 ppg)...this is not what Lou was expecting when he signed him. If I was going to put a number to it, I would say Lou was hoping for something in the .50-.60 range, maybe even a little more...basically, a 40-52 point season. He's managed the low end of that once.

Has the signing been a complete disaster? When you compare it the Gomez-type deals, of course not...not even close. If I were to grade the Zubes deal I'd give it a solid C, maybe a C+.

Good point regarding the long-term signings of other teams' players...to me, also shows that he started getting away from what made Lou Lou...I know there were reasons (the poor drafts you pointed out), but I don't think Lou was ever comfortable building a team that way.

Edited by Colorado Rockies 1976
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Anybody that complains about the Kovalchuk deal is shortsighted. Of course Lou says that our goal is to win a Stanley Cup every season, but it's postering. Lou signed Kovy to set this team up for what it should be a few years from now. A fast, offensive minded team. We're not that yet, and we won't be for a little while, but he's compiling the pieces that he can. Kovalchuk, Josefson, Henrique, Hopefully Parise. You have great D prospects coming up on the back end. This team is going to be fast and totally different than it is now. He's doing the right thing in disguise.

Kovalchuk isn't meant to fit into the "Devils System". He's supposed to be the start of a new era, and those starts are often rough. I mean hell, he's a year and a half into a 15 year deal.

Kovy is in the thick of his prime (according to his age, anyway). Do you really think he wants to waste prime years of his career schlumping through a multi-year re-build/re-tool? Look at the moves Lou made last year...re-signing Kovy to huge dollars, bringing in Arnott, Tallinder and Volchenkov, and Hedberg...Lou thought he had added the final pieces to a Stanley Cup contender. I don't think he made any of his moves with a few years from now in mind (who knows if he's even here in a few years?)...he went for it last year, and thought he had groomed the right coach to take them there in MacLean. No one saw last year's crash-and-burn first half coming, and when you look at the on-paper talent, who really could have? That team seemed loaded on-paper.

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You yourself said, when I suggested that Zubrus would never put up more than 35-45 points in any given season as a Devil, that "Zubrus' upside is 60 points". (This was during Zubrus' first season here.) And you basically made it sound like that it was selling him short, that he would have seasons where he'd do better than that. Oh well.

Say what you will, but Zubrus has put up 148 points in 320 GP (.4625 ppg)...this is not what Lou was expecting when he signed him. If I was going to put a number to it, I would say Lou was hoping for something in the .50-.60 range, maybe even a little more...basically, a 40-52 point season. He's managed the low end of that once.

Again, you are using static measures for a fluid league. Zubrus received 364 minutes of power play time in 2006-07, scoring 23 points. In 2007-08, Zubrus saw his power play time cut in half, and his points cut even more to 8. Had he received 364 minutes of power play time, he may well have scored the points I expected. But yeah, I basically had no idea what I was talking about back then - I did not look at league-wide power plays as a measure. As offense crept back to pre-lockout levels, so too should've Zubrus's offense.

Has the signing been a complete disaster? When you compare it the Gomez-type deals, of course not...not even close. If I were to grade the Zubes deal I'd give it a solid C, maybe a C+.

Good point regarding the long-term signings of other teams' players...to me, also shows that he started getting away from what made Lou Lou...I know there were reasons (the poor drafts you pointed out), but I don't think Lou was ever comfortable building a team that way.

I think the Zubrus signing rates a B- or B myself when you consider everyone else who was signed that year (although I suppose the Briere signing would have to rate the same or better). Free agency is really hard.

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I never thought Zubrus would live up to the numbers most assumed for him cause Zubrus was only a 60-point player playing with Ovechkin at his peak. I don't think Lou really expected those numbers either, he just overpaid for a role player who at the time could slot in at a position of need.

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