Mielestäni ihan asiallista kritiikkiä Dorionia kohtaan Duhatschekin Notebookissa.
"On Thursday, in trying to defend the Karlsson trade, Dorion said the Sens decided back in February already that organizationally, they would be undertaking a rebuild – and that every subsequent move they made would be in pursuit of said rebuild.
If so, and there is no reason to dispute Dorion’s words, then why wasn’t Karlsson moved at the trade deadline last March? For that matter, why wasn’t Mike Hoffman? This is where the Sens veer from undertaking a reasonably prudent course of action to looking as if they’re a clown show."
"When Ottawa got cold feet at the 11th hour, some of the assets Vegas was prepared to surrender in a Karlsson trade were subsequently swapped to the Detroit Red Wings to get a far lesser player in Tomas Tatar. That was Vegas’s first real misstep – first, second and third-round draft choices for a player they flipped less than six months later to the Montreal Canadiens in the Max Pacioretty deal. But it gives you a clear idea of how aggressive Vegas was prepared to be to land Karlsson – right then, right there. I don’t pretend to know what exactly was in that final offer because I’ve heard several different versions and combinations, but I’d been led to believe that among their prospect pool, only Cody Glass was off limits – and they would have given up a young roster defenceman because Karlsson would have come in and gobbled up a lot of extra minutes.
Presumably, the Sens felt that by waiting until June to initiate another round of Karlsson trade talks, they could have engaged more teams in the proceedings. Once the season ends, there wouldn’t have been any immediate salary-cap considerations to worry about, which can limit the moves some teams make at the deadline.
That was a calculated risk and it backfired.
By standing firm and playing a handful of bidding teams off against each other, the Sens genuinely believed that somebody would eventually blink and offer an ‘A’ level asset in a Karlsson deal. But Tampa wouldn’t budge off Mikhail Sergachev, likewise Dallas with Miro Heiskanen and Vegas suddenly didn’t have as many premium assets to offer as they did back in March before the Tatar deal. As a result, nothing got done.
Ever since that storm passed, the Senators were trying to maximize their return on a diminishing asset, which is what eventually led to Thursday’s largely unloved deal – for two serviceable NHLers, who would have played down the San Jose depth chart this year; two future draft choices (not very high, given San Jose’s current roster); and two prospects that will likely play in the NHL, but never become difference makers."
"That 2018 pick turned out to be fourth overall and the Sens just flat out got greedy – and used it to land Brady Tkachuk. A lot of people believe Tkachuk is going to be a very good NHLer. If he’s anything like his older brother Matthew, who plays for Calgary, he will be a presence on the ice and in the dressing room. I get the attraction of landing a player of Tkachuk’s pedigree and character. But please. In the midst of this massive public rebuild, now the Senators don’t have their own first-round pick in 2019, which could easily be first overall.
If they had passed on Tkachuk and hung on to the pick, then at least they could have sold hope for the next nine troubling difficult months, in which their fan base is sure to take a massive hit. Had they hung on to their first-round selection in 2019, then with every passing loss this season, Sens fans could have consoled themselves with the knowledge that they might be
creeping one step closer to Jack Hughes, the consensus top player in the 2019 draft, and someone who projects as a cornerstone player – which, by the way, every successful rebuild requires.
Instead, every loss will sting even more. If the Sens stink and the lottery goes the wrong way, can you imagine the backlash if Colorado ends up with the piece that could have kickstarted Ottawa’s turnaround."
"But no. They couldn’t resist drafting Tkachuk and then they couldn’t resist signing him, which – again for purposes of engineering a thoughtful rebuild – wasn’t smart either. Better to leave him in a college for another year to mature and develop. Last time I checked, it didn’t hurt Jonathan Toews to go back to North Dakota for his sophomore season when the Blackhawks were faced with a similar decision many moons ago."
