A Misperception
Glen Murray is a hot topic, in Beantown, right now. Trade or not to trade? Love him, hate him; everyone has an opinion. Well, here's my two cents...
Murray is a fan favorite and of course,many of us like his dedication, his team player spirit and the way he acted when JT was trade. Murray is a class act. But, in this new NHL' it's important to understand that hockey becomes a business; more then ever. Sentimentalism is not allowed anymore. Lots of fans says that the 30 goals of Murray cannot be replace and that's why we shouldn't trade him. Granted,the guy is a goal scorer but do Murray is a good fit for the B's, at this moment? The answer is no.
Let's face it. Past decisions and some bad decisions by PC make the team tight against the cap. That's why the B's were dead quiet in the UFA market. The team have holes, lots of them. The 4 per contract of Murray is hurting the team the same way as Ward contract. Until Murray stays on the payroll, nothing will change; roster wise. The B's need to deal Murray in order to progress. I already hear your objection: How trading a 30 goals scorer is a progression? Well, short term it doesn't help you but long term it will. It would be foolish from our part to think that the B's will contend, next year. Their better in the net but the task is colossal and i don't think the B's will be able to make the playoffs, especially when you look on how some teams, in our conference, improved. The B's need to shed salary and when you have to shed salary, you don't start with young players and cheap contracts. Murray is a victim. Victim of the situation,victim of this new Cap era.
I, for one, like Murray. But the fact is that the B's cannot afford him anymore. He will be older, slower and will not help the team long term. The B's need to look forward and get ride of the short term vision. Of course, short term is JJ mantra but when money is involve, JJ can be convince. I'm sure the perspective to save money on a trade involving Murray will convince JJ fairly fast...
posted by Latrappe at 6:57 AM
12 Comments:
Let's look at the logistics of trading Glen Murray. He is not the prototype of the NHL scorer anymore. He makes over 4 mil./yr. and is signed for 2 more years. He is at the age where his production will be steadily (hopefully gradually as well) falling each year. Dumping this guy is going to look like a clear and present salary dump to every team in the league. They know we'd just be trying to unload the guy, so they'd bleed us dry and give us crap in return.
For those of you who think we can package him with T. Thomas in a trade, I ask: Who wants a past-his-peak scorer and a 33 year old back-up goaltender?
We could maybe get something for Hannu in a package with Muzzy, but honestly, I think that would be packaging Hannu into a sour deal and our return on him would be unnecessarily small.
The only chance a team is going to seriously bite on Muzzy is close to the playoffs if they need a bit more scoring punch, but as a pre-season move, you just don't go for guys that are past-prime.
All that having been said, don't think I am saying Muzzy can't play anymore. I am saying that we gave him too sweet a deal to begin with and nobody wants to eat our salary brainfarts.
I think Muzzy can play, and play well, but he'll have to work very hard to stay where he's been (or return to where he was). He DOES have a world class set-up man in Savard (look at his assist totals). We need to keep Muzzy for the duration of his contract and our very new, very capable coach needs to find the best way to use maximize Murray's scoring potential. WE need to stop talking trash about a top-line guy so he can lead this team without being pissed off at his own city.
Whoever wrote this article knows just as much about hockey as he does grammer! Thank god the Bruins aren't run by a fool like you. Maybe it's time to keep your opinions to yourself and instead go back to school and take an english course!
To save money and get rid of a big contract it would be wiser to lose Chara - at least Murray can still be useful. We seen last year what a waste of money "Bobbles" was.
Are you kidding. Chara is a great defense men. last year he was put in a position where he was trying to do everyone else's job. Once he finds his role he will be great for the team.
I agree that Chara is a great defenseman. Last year he looked bad because they didn't just ask him to be a great defenseman, they asked him to be Christ hiself. "Hey, Bigman, can you do me a solid and go out there for 58 minutes a game and be the best defender in the league for every second? Oh, and Hey! While you're at it, we could really use some production in the offensive zone." Dave Lewis asked very unreasonable things of Zdeno Chara, and he, as the captain, tried his best to oblige. Unfortunately - and you never notice this as a player - he was a half step off all season long because he never had any legs left. A big man needs maybe more rest than a smaller guy even though his stick stretches roughly to Edmonton and back.
Both anonymous posts argue how good Chara is but yet they are making excuses as to why he played so bad. Why not just stop with the excuses and admit he is not as good a player as you would like him to be.
I agree that he isn't the best defender in the league. There IS a reason why Ottawa chose to keep Redden over Chara when we got him as a FA. However, Big Z put up career numbers on the offensive side. He absolutely can be the number 1 defenceman on this squad, but he isn't Nick Lidstrom or Chris Pronger. His minutes can't exceed 25 or so, or his stamina will be a huge issue. When trying to defend the best skaters in the world, that half-step/half-second delay because you can hardly move your giant overworked legs WILL make you look stupid.
Well said.
Whoever wrote this article knows just as much about hockey as he does grammer! Thank god the Bruins aren't run by a fool like you. Maybe it's time to keep your opinions to yourself and instead go back to school and take an english course!
Too bad that you were not courageous enough to sign your name.
latrappe: the best part about that anonymous post is complaining about "grammer". haha. oh the irony...
Maybe he meant Kelsey Grammer! He does have a point though, a little spell check here and there wouldn't hurt...
Chara is no Bourque. We have never been able to properly replace Bourque. When we can do that, I think we will find ourselves with a playoff contending/cup-winning team. I personally don't see any players on this team to be true leaders at this point. I see a lot of very good or great support players. The B's need a leader.
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