While I agree it hasn't worked, there are two things here:
1) MSL and Yandle weren't rentals. We got an extra year on them. Staal is a rental, though I'm curious to see if they try to keep him. No idea what the plans are there.
2) I wasn't a fan of giving away Duke and I'm not a huge fan of giving away Saarela either but I do think they have to go for it, even if we all know it's highly unlikely we'll win (or even come close tbh), because you just never -really- know in this league. Anything is possible when you make it to the dance. Our window is closing. It's a business and the aim is to win. With where we are now you knew we'd be buyers. They're not selling when we're in playoff position with Hank still prime. "Kick at the can" and all that.
I certainly would have liked to see us move Yandle for Nichuskin (which was rumored to be an offer at some point) and make a few other moves, then go get Shattenkirk and bring in Buch, Skjei and whoever else for next year, but that's just not how teams think and act. Hank and others would likely have been furious with that kind of attitude. Let's sell now and prep for next year maybe because the Caps and Hawks are loaded. Eh.
I just hope Staal does well for us and doesn't take as long to acclimate. He's certainly something we needed and can use. If Nash comes back strong and our two, um, struggling (I'm being polite here OK? Lol) D vets keep up more of their recent play... dare to dream we make it deep.
I'm pessimistic but there's some hope and belief in me still!
Yeah. I see what you're saying. I'm always thinking long term. This trade works well if Staal gets on the ball rolling quickly. Even more so once we get Nash back. I think the Duke trade worked well in getting us to the SCF and the ECF, but now we are on borrowed time. I have Hank at least two-three more years. If we don't have a suitable replacement for him, we will be in the dark ages and will pretty much have to rebuild from scratch.