Sometimes, it’s good to be wrong!

JJ

And I’d be willing to bet Gagne ends up getting flipped for far more than that (if he is traded at all, that is).

Tanguay, for what it’s worth, actually averages 68 points per 82 games to Gagne’s 65 so, statistically speaking, he’s not anything near “a much better player”. And we all saw how he turned out last year.

The main point of all of this is that SO MANY LIGHTNING PEOPLE have overreacted to a rumor with little substance behind it and I am disappointed in their willingness to so quickly revert back to the free-wheeling, act-on-a-whim moves of the past two off-seasons. Simon Gagne is not a fit. Mark that down.

And mark down that, if he doesn’t end up in Tampa, SOMEONE will pay far too much for him as well.

JJ

JJ

$5.2 million for THAT is not at all methodical.

And if he’s the latest and greatest “fix” for Vinny and he comes up short of an 80+ point season for both, it’s (yet another) failure.

High time Vinny makes the players around him better… And, unless it’s for virtually nothing in return, Gagne at that price is an irresponsible investment.

JJ

I don’t buy that logic. Especially when you could make the case that acquiring a veteran top-6 winger IS adhering to a “methodical” approach by reducing the need to possibly rush one, or two, of the kids into action.

Of course, you have provided the caveat that it depends on what the return to Philly would be. I think we can emphatically agree that Yzerman should not, and probably won’t, sell the farm, but I think it’s disingenuous to dismiss acquiring Gagne as some ill-timed opportunity. Do you think Steve Yzerman coaxed Martin St. Louis into signing his 4-year contract extension with “Well, we’re really going to try hard not to finish in the bottom six next year but, gee, Marty, think how great competing in the playoffs will be a few seasons from now!”? Guys like Marty and Vinny want to win and they want to start winning now. Ownership and management wants sustained success. If Gagne can be acquired without compromising “The Plan”, then it’s well worth not playing linemate carousel w/ Vinny.

If Yzerman does not attempt acquire a top-6 winger via trade or free agency, you can all but pencil Purcell in along Lecavalier’s wing to start the season. Not the end of the world in and of itself.

You hope one is earned by this Niklas Persson fellow they signed out of Sweden (played in the KHL last year) and another, ideally, by Johan Harju.

That last spot then goes to whatever youngster has the best showing in camp. (And by youngster, I mean 19, 20, 21-year-old, a la Ashton, Tyrell, Wright – NOT Connolly, with only 85 games of major junior experience.)

As the season draws closer, that final spot on the top two lines goes to whichever player deserves it most/shows the most chemistry with Vinny. Could be a holdover or a young guy… Whoever wins it.

I like this approach far better than an investment in Gagne, for all of the reasons I’d stated earlier.

JJ

All that does is basically bring me back to my original thought which is, unless Philly so desperately has to move him that they’re willing to take next-to-nothing in return, the Lightning are better suited looking elsewhere.

JJ

I think that a Tyrell, Ashton, or perhaps Connelly would be a good fit to fill out the top six, though the learning curve would be steep indeed.

I am willing to wait another season if it means we throw a kid on the vacant top six slot. Meh, who knows, he may do well with the talent surrounding him.