Quoting: CMcAvoy73
Have a link? I don’t think that happened.
OEL has a bad contract. You can’t understand the bruins fans aversion to him? Seriously? You really can’t understand that? Well, allow me to enlighten you.
1. The contract. It’s bad. Bad bad bad.
2. The decline. It’s very obvious that he’s in decline. The eye test shows it, the numbers show it. Every time I see him play he looks worse. He’s an expensive non factor.
3. He’ll pitch in 50+ points? Why? What makes you think this? He has one 50 point season in his career (in any league) and it was 2015.
4. He’s soft. Minus player in the last seven or eight seasons.
Bottom line, he isn’t very good, and he’s paid like he’s elite. Retain half and expect maybe a 2nd and Moore back? Sure. Any sort of actual value is out of the question.
Yeah he’s overpaid. That’s out of the way. Let’s break down the rest of what you just said.
He was on pace for 43 points this season. On the coyotes, one of the most abysmal offenses in the entire league. You don’t think he can find a way to chip in 7 more points somewhere playing with Pasta, Marchand, Hall, etc? That’s a joke. 50 points would be his floor in my opinion.
You watch him play once, maybe twice a year. I watch every single one of his games every season. Has he declined? Absolutely. Is he still a second pairing sheltered offensive defenseman who can run the second powerplay unit? Yes 100%. It was blatantly obvious from day 1 that Tocchet was not playing OEL in the capacity in which he would thrive. Wherever he goes next he is bound to see somewhat of a renaissance for a couple of seasons. He probably won’t ever live up to the contract but for a team like the Bruins who only have a couple of playoff runs left in them with this roster anyway they just need him for the next 2-3 seasons.
Not sure how/why you ended up using plus minus as an indicator of a players “softness” but OEL is the ONLY player on the coyotes who would actually fight/stick up for his teammates. He is far from soft.
I’m willing to have an honest conversation about OEL’s worth in a trade. When you throw “Moore and a second for half retention” out there as a serious offer I’m done talking. That’s a joke. He’s worth more than that.