David, I agreed with the defensive prospects, and that list proves it. Ben and Beau the only forwards on that list (well, and Esposito but he's out of North America now). And I did limit my trade criticisms to last year and this.
Look, I was looking for a reason to fire the guy, and only the draft failures at forward stood out to me. Before someone pointed it out to me, I wasn't even aware of it as a problem. I, like you, was focused on the Despreses, Pouliots, Harringtons and Maatas in our organization.
Long term deals? Letang's stands out, but the one for my one-time fav, Rob Scuderi, who was just awful this post-season, was another bad one.
As for the lack of "grit" everyone complained about, trading FOR James Neal is certainly part of THAT problem. He is a liability defensively, and his unwillingness to improve that aspect of his game, and general unwillingness to work hard outside of the offensive zone concerns me.