Eh, I don't really subscribe to either point here.
The organization should have been playing guys like Holl & Engvall as a matter of philosophy until they outright failed and had to be replaced by a body outside of the organization. Giving your 27-28 yr old #1 AHL defender, and your 22 yr old, 6'5 breakout winger extended shots to stick on the NHL club should be SOP, not an outlier worth identifying and holding up as an example of good management.
this is where I think people don’t give Dubas enough credit for move
we believe to be SOP, like keeping the core 4 together….or giving guys like Holl & Engvall opportunities, but often weren’t around here previously, (and obviously we saw a hockey guy in Babcock, have zero interest in Holl).
Sometimes you just have to give credit to GMs for doing the smart things….especially given how common it is for NHL GMs to not do those smart things.
And to the 2nd point....I mean, he basically ends up trading everything young away and not all of it has turned out to be smart. Moore, Barabanov, 1st round picks, Durzi, etc, etc. He definitely hasn't shown some 6th sense in when to sell high on all the kids and when to hold them.
Durzi he trades within months of drafting him, in a package for a top four D of exactly the ilk we needed. The fact Durzi panned out just speaks further to his drafting. (Ideally tho we don’t even move him, so you’re right he didn’t have a crystal ball of who to never trade). but for a 2nd rounder its looking like a hell of a draft selection.
Obviously both Durzi for Muzzin, and Moore+ for Campbell were viewed as huge wins at the time, and panned out pretty great for us with both acquired players.
Barabanov I think we had agreed when he signed, that we’d trade if we weren’t playing him regularly….which I think was a good team philosophy for keeping that pipeline open for future signings. Does suck Keefe didn’t play him more/see the potential for something there. (Then again, maybe he needed to be on a bad team to get the kind of ice time required to get to where he’s at).
you’re right tho….there was no six sense with respect to keeping every last good prospect. I guess I’m just thrilled he kept Lil, and Knies and Sandin (until he didn’t)…