Quoting: vr1995
what about devon toews
Quoting: Isles5513
A lot of isles fans defend Lou because they had cap issues. That being said Lou created those cap issues with the Lee overpay and the Komarov/Hickey signings.
Blaming the Toews trade on the Komarov/Hickey contracts ignores the fact that between the 2012 lockout and the beginning of the pandemic, there were 7 straight summers where the cap went up, usually averaging a hair under $2.5M. In a non-COVID world, Lou easily finds a way to get Mat Barzal, Ryan Pulock, and Toews signed for under $15M (the cap space they had that summer IIRC). Because the cap stayed where it was though, he had to choose between 2 of the 3 guys, and because the Isles weren't the only team with cap troubles, it's not like they could have a bidding war for a 26 year old D with a history of shoulder issues and one good season under his belt at the time of the trade.