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 Doug Wilson's failure
Inability to upgrade will prove costly
3/9/04 - by Mike Chen
Doug Wilson, your biggest test
as San Jose Sharks general manager was your first trade deadline. So far your
moves have been small, but solid: signing all of your players for camp,
bringing in Nils Ekman, bringing back Alex Korolyuk. Even the Miika Kipprusoff
deal wasn't bad. Yes, Kipper is playing ridiculously well in Calgary, but the
same thing could have happened with trading Toskala or Nabokov-and everyone in
San Jose remembers Kipprusoff's huge rebounds and soft goals. No one would have
offered up more than the second round pick that Calgary sent to San Jose.
Leading up to the trade deadline, the Shark Sandwich grade for Doug
Wilson is a solid B. Nothing spectacular, nothing bad.
But Doug,
seriously, how do you explain what happened?
Marco Sturm goes down
with injury. You're not going to trade the farm to replace him, but a deal for
both today and tomorrow makes sense. You've got a fine crop of young defensemen
available and two of the top scorers in the AHL in Brad Boyes and Miroslav
Zalesak as bait.
And you come up with…Curtis Brown?
For
those of you who don't know much about Brown, he's essentially an older Alyn
McCauley. Good speed, good on face-offs, a good checker, and in his late 20s.
Not a bad addition.
But for the cost of your top forward prospect in
Brad Boyes?
Let's look at some of the other deals that have occurred.
The Rangers were selling off all their parts for a prospect and a pick (see
Alex Kovalev, Brian Leetch, Martin Rucinsky). 2nd liner and former 25 goal
scorer Anson Carter went for a prospect. Hit-or-miss winger Val Bure went to
the Stars for a middle of the road prospect. Hall of Famer and 40 year old
center Ron Francis went for a fourth round pick. Steve Sullivan went for two
second round picks. Heck, the oft injured and overpaid Brian Savage went to St.
Louis purely on the condition that St. Louis could trade him back after the
season if they were unsatisfied.
Do you see what I'm getting at here,
Doug? Brad Boyes should have been the centerpiece in a blockbuster deal. He
was, in fact, the main reason Dean Lombardi traded Owen Nolan, in addition to
receiving Alyn McCauley and a first round pick. McCauley was considered a
throw-in (as Toronto had him buried in the depth chart), and first round picks
are unpredictable. But the organization-which you helped build-knew Boyes would
be good. And you've given him up for a 3rd line grinder, a guy who will help
out but is not a key player. He is an interchangeable part, a guy you could
have picked up for a third round pick or less.
I have nothing against
Curtis Brown. I'm sure he'll come in and fill out his role well. He was highly
regarded coming into the league, but never passed his peak of 51 points in a
season.
When I first heard that there was a three-way trade with
Boston, Buffalo, and San Jose involving Jillson and Boyes, I thought, "He's
done it. He's gotten his long coveted choice in Drury, or maybe got impending
free agents Miroslav Satan or Brian Rolston." Why?
Because you have to
give to get in this league, and Brad Boyes was valued enough to get a hefty
return.
Let's not forget that Andy Delmore was thrown in by Buffalo
and given to Boston for future considerations. Those future considerations
better mean in roads to a future deal for injured Sergei Samsanov or a player
of considerable worth. Yes, Andy Delmore was horrendous in his own zone but he
was a prime power play quarterback with a blistering shot. He would have
bolstered a hobbling power play unit.
Let's look at the Sharks
shopping list. Top six forward. Power play help. Veteran defenseman.
No, no, and no.
Spin this all you want to the media and the fans,
Doug. The numbers don't lie. The deals made by other teams don't lie. The truth
is a bitter smack in the face. Was there opportunity? Plenty, from a variety of
teams. Did you have the goods to pull off the right deal? Considering what
other teams paid for quality forwards and defense, yes, you could have done it.
And you didn't. In fact, the San Jose roster and farm system is worse off today
than it was 24 hours ago.
And because of that, Doug Wilson, you get a
grade of F for this year's trade deadline.
Contact
Mike at blurrypulp@hotmail.com
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