Quoting: F50marco
Just to confirm, you mean his, right?
If so than I agree!
Quoting: greasy
none of this makes sense. from the trades to the reasoning and argument
Right. This is my counterexample after people said I paid too much to rent guys they could actually win with. They should make bigger trades and field a serious contender this year, that they can afford to keep together, long term:
https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/596439
As a Caps fan, McPhee's best days were the trade deadline in 1998, and the day he traded three prospects who never did anything in the NHL for Jaromir Jagr who, in the absence of a salary cap, with a billionaire owner, probably was not actually responsible for the bottom falling out of the Caps franchise a couple years later.
McPhee built a great team through the expansion draft. I'm not trying to tell him how to win a Cup with it, but if you think he shouldn't do anything at the trade deadline, just because he can make the playoffs without dealing, I disagree strongly. Fleury is not good enough in goal to do it all by himself. Schmidt is better on the left side than the right side. Getting him there requires adding a third right handed defenseman to the organization. This is pretty basic stuff.
The best options at those spots are Carlson and Holtby--guys McPhee found before, in the draft, probably has a good relationship with, and could keep, long term, to make Vegas a contender, not just this year, but for years to come.