Quoting: IDKtbh
No one is signed long term? He’s signed 4 mediocre players to deals between 3-5 years. Holl, Chiarot, Copp & Compher. A combined nearly $20m “placeholders” for another 2-4 seasons.
U don’t have to sugarcoat it for anybody, this is what it is.
That's not really long term, mid term. Berggren should have been in the NHL yes, but that's really it out of the players this year. Edvinsson had surgery and was best suited to start in the AHL. Also going to need guys to help teach the young players when they come up. I have no issues with Chiarot, Copp, Husso or Compher.
Husso was coming off of some good seasons, he made a move to try and make our goaltending better, it didn't work out. It was the same with Ned but they screwed Ned around.
Chiarot was literally the best defenseman available in that free agency year. We needed a defenseman and we needed toughness, he addressed both. Would it have been nice to have a shorter term deal, sure, but he had to beat out the other teams as well. I've also never been a fan of him but I understand why he signed him.
Copp is exactly what they need him to be, he isn't any less than he was in Winnipeg. His time with the Rangers was a one off for sure. Maybe a slight overpay but we needed a centre and got a centre. I would actually argue he's been producing better since he gets about 15% less o-zone starts compared to his time with the Jets. He's a good leader and our best defensive centre. He will be a good mentor for Kasper.
Compher was decent enough at 2C. It's he the best option option available, no but he was one of the best options available in free agency last year. He was literally the second best centre available after ROR, but 4 years younger. Again we needed a centre and went and got one.
With Berggren being stuck in the AHL, that was just unfortunate circumstance for him. 22/23 season we got decimated with injuries and iced basically an AHL team. Last offseason he went and signed players so we actually had some depth, we didn't get decimated with injuries this year so he was the unfortunate one being waiver exempt to go to the minors. Then add Kane into the mix.....
Holl was a rough one, we needed RHD and he overpaid to get it. It didn't work out. The rest of the free agent signings have been exactly as advertised. Perron was good for us. Lyon was really good for us. Reimer was decent enough. Gost was great for the powerplay. Sprong did offense.
He was able to trade for Debrincat for cheap, great move there.
All of the players signed though, placeholders. They are all players that will help compliment our young guys when they come up. You can't just throw young guys on the team and tell them to figure it out. You need good veterans to shelter them. Look at Buffalo as an example of that.
All in all I would say he's done a pretty good job trading this team from being one of the worst a couple years ago to almost a playoff team with one of the better prospect pools in the league. Definitely made mistakes but show me a GM that hasn't.