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after taking a look at possible trades with Vancouver and/or Minnesota, it’s time to go back to one of Yzerman’s final deals in the COVID shortened season. The deal that sent Mike Green and Athanasiou to Edmonton for two 2nds and a 5th round pick (while retaining half of Green’s remaining salary).
back on July 20th I posted that Edmonton may well regret the deals that were made. In essence, 2nd round picks for A.A. Who only generated 2 points in 9 games. With the play in round behind us, he wasn’t able to produce scoring in that scenario either. Mike Green played 2 games and ended on IR. He then opted out of the playoffs and retired. Even with that information, I was still getting comments that I was “premature” in my assessment. My thinking had been, and still is, that Yzerman was certain that he wasn’t going to re sign Athanasiou. Getting 2 picks for a player that won’t be back is a good haul. Getting anything for Mike Green, whose contract was ending, was a bonus. Regardless of Athanasiou’s future contributions, it wasn’t going to be in Detroit. That, to me, was good asset management.
Fast forward to September 19th. Edmonton is now trying to move Athanasiou. He is an RFA who will require a qualifier of 3 million. For a once 30 goal scorer, that would be a steal. However, with the flat cap and internal budgets, A.A. Has to sell a team on ignoring last year and going back to his outstanding 18-19 performance. At one point, it seemed clear that A.A was going to garner 5 million + on his next deal. Now, he may have to take something at or below his qualifier on a short term “prove it” deal. He reminds me a bit of another player, Anthony DeAngelo.
John Tortorella remarked that Duclair was a gifted player, but he needed to find his spot. Last season in Ottawa, he certainly seemed to. In 66 games he had scored a career high 23 goals and could well have knocked on the door to 30. I believe that Athanasiou needs to find his spot, or needs to change his thinking.
Not every player can play “up and down” the lineup. Some freeze up on the bench if they’re getting 13 mins or less. Other players seem to show up wherever you place them. Jordan Staal was, possibly, one of the best ever 3rd line centers in Pittsburgh. He has the talent and grit to move up, and so he moved on. I still view him as one of the hardest working players, and no matter where he ends up he’s going to find a way to contribute. For Athanasiou, a lot has to be going in the right direction. Confidence, minutes, linemates, etc. all of it seems to have to be clicking all at once, and that’s going to make things tough.
A.A. Could well find that place, and I hope he does, this offseason. He has elite speed. He can, certainly, put the puck in the net. He needs consistency from within to earn those consistent minutes on a team. Knuckle down and decide to be the absolute best player in whatever position you’re in. It’s one of the hardest lessons players learn. I feel that Yzerman did right by Detroit in these deals, and Ken Holland brought in pieces with the potential to work out well. It just didn’t happen this time. Let me know what you think.
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