I hate the trade because it's not rocket science to find guys you know can play in this league. Franson and Polak and a bunch of other guys were cheap free agents who at least you could insert into the lineup and play decently. Now we threw away assets to get a guy we can't send down and can't use.

I also hate the trade because it looks like another example of this club not knowing what it's doing defensively. Ray has been outstanding with the offensive moves but Lovejoy, Prout, Mueller, and Moore (not to mention Quincey and Schelmko which were just serviceable) and we should all be concerned. I won't even mention how we handled Mozik and Auvitu. Or how they needed to purge Scott (frank)ing Stevens for this garbage defensive system that's BLEEDING scoring chances among the most in the league.

Basically we threw down a 2nd and 4th for Seth Helgeson when we already had Seth Helgeson. And at least Helgeson didn't play soft.

And yes Butcher was a great add but he was more a gift from the hockey gods and a product of Will Butcher's self determination then some brilliant thing done by Shero.
- Queenie_5_hole

Those guys (Franson/Polak) would have been stop-gaps and signing some on the surface solid blue-liner doesn't always work out (Lovejoy). I think with Mueller Shero was hoping he'd be more than a stop-gap, he'd evolve into a legitimate part of the team's blue-line going forward. It might not work out but I get the idea of the trade and think it was always going to have some risk involved.

So Shero's pitch doesn't count for anything? Butcher could've went to 10+ teams
- Senor_Elias

No, it counts for something and I think how Ray speaks with people is an asset to the team. But Will Butcher himself attributes his decision to the type of D the team is running (being similar to his college system) the opportunity to make the lineup (which I guess you could credit to Shero since it's so weak) and very specifically from the time he spent with Coach John Hynes. He says they really saw eye to eye on a lot of things and hit it off famously. Although he didn't say 'famously'. I just like to use that.

So Shero's pitch doesn't count for anything? Butcher could've went to 10+ teams
- Senor_Elias

Shero has made some good trades, and extensions and hasn't handed out any dopey contracts yet, but I think the Butcher signing was more about the easy path to the NHL than anything.

Shero certainly has the forward depth, prospects, picks and cap space to get something done on D either through trade or offseason signing. Let's see what he does.

Those guys (Franson/Polak) would have been stop-gaps and signing some on the surface solid blue-liner doesn't always work out (Lovejoy). I think with Mueller Shero was hoping he'd be more than a stop-gap, he'd evolve into a legitimate part of the team's blue-line going forward. It might not work out but I get the idea of the trade and think it was always going to have some risk involved.
- MannySilvers

Completely agree. I just think after blowing it on his earlier D picks we needed more of a sure thing. Franson and Polak are agreeably stop gaps, but at 30 and 31 years old it's not like they could contribute for a few years. That would hopefully give us some time to develop players and if not you can replace them with other stop-gaps guys if needed. I mean we've essentially done that anyway between Schlemko, Quincey, and Prout.

Honeslty, if Mueller was playing well, I'm fine with the trade. I'm hopeful he can turn it around because he looked decent in preseason. It's just frustrating in the context of why is Schelmko the best defender Ray can actually get in here?

I wonder what will come of Bratt staying with the team..

I don't criticize the Mueller trade. That's one you have to make.

And it's just a 2nd and a 4th, big deal. Most of the time, 2nds are roster players in three years for your team.

You'll make 10 Mueller type of trades in five years as a GM, you'll win on 7 of them and lose on 3 of them. If Mueller ends up being bust, then that's one of the 3 losses.

The other side of it is that if you're a GM that wins all your trades, nobody will trade with you. Anyone who's ever played a board game will realize this unfortunate but little-known truth. So far, Shero's been lopsided in that regard.

A 2nd and a 4th was a big price to pay (the 2nd... I'd trade 4ths for roster lackeys any day of the week), but a small price to pay if the guy ended up a top 4 D, which wasn't that unreasonable considering the team he's on.

Additionally, let's use an example like J. Schultz... if almost anyone other than Pittsburgh would have picked him up, he'd probably have a dead NHL career, but because he went to a place like Pittsburgh and got his confidence back, he's now a 5.5M/y d. NJ's system was a good opportunity for Mueller to recover his career, and the opportunity is not gone, yet... just off to a slow start.

@coreypronman 52s53 seconds ago
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New Jersey prospect Nikita Popugaev has left the WHL for Russia for personal reasons http://pgcougars.com/arti...tement-on-nikita-popugaev …

@coreypronman 52s53 seconds ago
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New Jersey prospect Nikita Popugaev has left the WHL for Russia for personal reasons http://pgcougars.com/arti...tement-on-nikita-popugaev …
- tomburton99

WTF?

WTF?
- redmonsters

He finally channeled his inner Russian. I swear that they should completely avoid drafting anyone from that country. Always issues.

He finally channeled his inner Russian. I swear that they should completely avoid drafting anyone from that country. Always issues.
- SnipeDevil6

We still own his rights for three years. Means nothing for us in the present time. Just might mean it'll be difficult to get him to come play for us in three years if he even develops into an NHL caliber player.

@coreypronman 52s53 seconds ago
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New Jersey prospect Nikita Popugaev has left the WHL for Russia for personal reasons http://pgcougars.com/arti...tement-on-nikita-popugaev …
- tomburton99

Nice