Evaluating the other trade
December 6th, 2009 | by kreeco |Last season at around the trade deadline, Bryan Murray acquired Chris Campoli in what I considered at the time to be a bad trade and nothing has happened since then to change my opinion. When Murray traded Dean McAmmond and a 2009 1st round pick to the Islanders for Campoli and Mike Comrie I was completely dumbfounded that a team that had next to no chance of even making the playoffs, let alone doing any damage there, would trade a first round pick.
The pick was originally San Jose’s and had come to the Sens in the Andrej Meszaros deal so it ended up being the 26th overall pick, eventually being used by Anaheim to select Kyle Palmieri. I know next to nothing about Palmieri but that’s besidethe point as it was considered a relatively strong draft class and to give you an idea of just how strong it was, Colorado selected Ryan O’Reilly 33rd overall, seven spots after Palmieri, and he already has 17 points and is a plus 13 so far this season for an overachieving Avalanche team.
The point I’m trying to make is that you don’t just trade away first round picks anymore unless you know for sure that you are getting a bona fide NHLer in return or you have the team to make a deep run in the playoffs but are missing that one last piece. Campoli is a decent defenseman but he was not worth a first round pick to a team that desperately needs to restock their prospect cupboard. Only two first round picks changed hands at last season’s trade deadline, the other one being Calgary’s in the Olli Jokinen deal, a sign that high draft picks are much more valuable these days under the salary cap system.
Bryan Murray failed to grasp this concept last season and when he is eventually fired as GM of the Sens, he can look back at that deal and wonder why he made it. Campoli was a healthy scratch for the two games before last and has not provided the Sens with the vision and skill that they thought they were getting when they acquired him. Comrie was a complete bust in his second tour of duty with the Sens and actually had negative trade value at the time of the deal. Owner Eugene Melnyk had to pay Comrie the last month and a half of his salary which was far more than McAmmond’s, knowing full well that he wasn’t going to lead the team to the playoffs and would probably be gone after the season.
This all gets back to the question of why Bryan Murray did this deal. I for one didn’t know then and I don’t know now. Let’s hope that Murray can atleast learn from his mistake and not make the same one this year when the Sens are clearly not going to win the Stanley Cup and therefore should be holding onto their draft picks and building for the future.
By Sacul on Dec 6, 2009
This one has been a head scratcher. I usually think BM is an excellent trader/drafter, but I didn’t get this one at the time and I still don’t. I guess it’s just a case of him seeing something in Campoli that wasn’t and still isn’t there. Comrie was playing injured and didn’t even get the chance to audition for another contract, which would have been tough in the best of circumstances and impossible with the Heatley fiasco going on. He was open about being willing to take a “haircut”, but he would have had to take a McGuire.
I was a big fan of McAmmond’s too, but it was clear he wasn’t the same after the huge shots to his noggin.
I know there are many Murray haters among Sens fans. I’m an ardent supporter. I think he was put in a heck of a horrible spot by Merry Muckler and Melnyk knew it, hence the firing after a good run.
Perhaps the Campoli deal was done with other “back room” reasons in mind…hard to say. Aside from this deal, can you point to other bad trades Murray has made as Sens GM? (No, the Heatley deal will never count. I mean real ones.)
As Sens GM, I’d say Murray gets a D on coach selection (barely bumped up to passing with the Clouston selection) and very good grades on everything else so far.
By kreeco on Dec 6, 2009
The inclusion of Comrie and McAmmond in the deal amounted to a salary cap era money dump. Both had no impact on their teams but Comrie made more than McAmmond so the Sens had to shell out some extra money as a result.
As far as Bryan Murray is concerned, the signings of both Jason Smith and Alex Kovalev have both been complete disasters. Say what you will about Kovalev but 10 million for two years is way too much for a player at this stage in his career. As for Smith, that was an absolutely horrendous signing and Murray is lucky he decided to retire last offseason.
I think Murray’s biggest weakness is that he has given way too much money for way too much term to players who haven’t lived up to their contracts. Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley, Filip Kuba, Chris Neil, Chris Kelly and the list goes on and on. Murray seems to be unwilling to give away players who have served him well, a thing that GMs must come to terms with under the new CBA. I think that Eugene Melnyk has had a lot to do with that as I suspect he is far too involved in personnel decisions with the team but that’s another discussion for another time.
I don’t like Murray as I think he has taken a good team and made it a marginal one at best. The Sens have yet to win a playoff game since Murray was hired as GM so the results speak for themselves. Luckily for Murray, he seems to have drafted well so far although it’s still too early to tell.