Fun with sentence construction: The Witt 'rumor'
by Dominik on Feb 3, 2010 2:26 AM EST
in Roster Manoeuvres in the Dark
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PrintSometimes you read long-time columnists and just wonder. Take Larry Brooks (please):
It will not be a giveaway, not at all, but the development of Andrew McDonald [sic] and Dustin Kohn would seem to free Islanders GM Garth Snow to move veteran Brendan Witt, just the type of crease-clearing defenseman whose value increases in the playoffs.
MacDonald [FTFY] has developed, yes. We're praising him. Botta is praising him. He's logging lots of minutes -- around 24 the last three games -- and handling them well. But Kohn? The coach has gone out of his way to shelter him, and temper praise. Kohn has played less than nine minutes in each of the last two games, leaving his five-game career average under 10 minutes per. He's not freeing Snow to do anything other than bring Witt off of IR, not yet.
Witt, tougher than a truck...
Yes, unquestionably, but...
... has one year remaining on his contract at a cap hit of $3M, with a salary of $2.5M.
Which is precisely why it would be absurd for the NHL's many cap ceiling-sniffing teams to bring him on, even for a "what the heck, it's good depth" playoff run. You're not just picking the clearance bin for this postseason, you're taking on a $3 million cap hit for next season, when the cap is expected to be about flat.
And for what, exactly? Witt is minus-18 (worst among Isles defensemen), even while facing the weakest competition. His relative plus/minus -- which takes into account minutes played -- is waaay below his teammates. Some of this may be due to Witt's square peg fit in Scott Gordon's round hole system. Certainly not all of it.
Two years ago, the Maple Leafs were able to get a No. 2 and No. 5 from the Penguins for Gill.
Two years ago was before last trade deadline, where GMs began to find Jesus about the relative value of draft picks.
If Snow can wrangle that kind of a return for Witt, who turns 35 next month, the general manager would be advised to make the deal.
Well, um yeah! If he could get half that he "would be advised strongly beaten over the head to make the deal." But that kind of return simply isn't happening. If you pour me some scotch, a couple of glasses maybe, then I might be willing to believe there are a couple of GMs out there who still see in Witt what many of us once saw -- what I once loved and will fondly remember -- about the tough defensemen who didn't make you feel cheesy tossing around the term "warrior."
It does not delight me to point out these numbers (and I'm hardly the first). But there they are. It's not fun to see a guy you like struggle. But struggle he has. It's unclear how many umpteen injuries Witt has played through the last two seasons, his most recent stint on IR being an apparently team-forced one. It's unfortunate he's not a great fit in Gordon's system while his contract makes him a highly unlikely trade target. Yet that is the reality -- there is no "wrangling" of value for him, no off-loading his salary commitment without it being a certain giveaway.
Then again, someone just willingly took Ales Kotalik's contract off Glen Sather's hands. I guess GMs still do the darndest things. If someone does this one, I'll be dining on some crow.
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I talked about it last year
and I still love the idea of Witt in Colorado. Foote and Witt on the same blueline would be tons of fun to watch.
A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day.
Because of all the opposing forwards scorching them with speed?
Sew up your heart, grow a pair, and watch hockey.
But at least when the play is over they'll catch up
and can knock them down over and over again. Gosh.
A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day.
Is it possible that there is some unpublished injury that has been holding the Yukon Slayer back?
And is it possible that he could flourish in another system? Kohn hasn’t been horrible and there’s always Westgarth in a pinch. If this season is a writeoff, get a second rounder for Andy and if you can even get a fifth rounder for Witt, do so. I doubt it too….but who knows? And there’s no indication yet that Boynton has cleared waivers. I don’t care what issues there were with him in the past. Get him in an Isles uni ASAP!!!
there’s no indication yet that Boynton has cleared waivers
No indication? Waivers is not a long process, its been over for a while. Nobody picked him up- I knew the Isles wouldnt, and apparently the entire NHL agrees with Garth. There were lots of indications though, BC- doing “Boynton Clears Waivers” as a google search should give all the indication anyone needs. :)
I saw Ducks fans themselves saying that nobody would pick him up and nobody should. For every fan like you who said [insert team name] has to pick him up ASAP! They kinda laughed about how people havent been watching him. IMO if we had Boynton and Bruno or Witt or Sim or whoever was on waivers from another team, everyone would want to pick one of them up.
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on Feb 3, 2010 8:41 AM EST up reply actions
I’m not convinced that the Ducks fans who ripped him aren’t judging him by “former 1st-round pick!” or “he used to make millions!” rather than actual ho-hum performance of a non-descript defenseman. His rate stats aren’t bad. It may be a matter of expectations. But yeah, it’s moot; he cleared.
Lighthouse Hockey: Under contract through 2021, knees and hips be damned.
we need NHL-ready defensemen
unless Garth has already decided to write off the season….in which case, bring up Westgarth and Flood. And I saw nothing on TSN or NHL.COM about him clearing waivers or being sent to an AHL affiliate.
Play has free'd up another vet for a trade
The combined play of the other teams dominating him and himself being a horrible player has free’d up Jonny Sim for a deal… maybe we could get a player of equal value with a cheaper contract… I figure Ziggy Palfy still has a contract with the Pens maybe we could dust that off and pay him to do Sims role and contribute nothing. I really hate Jon Sim….
And Witt Stinks
Yeah, Sim has been just horrible! All he does is go to the high-traffic areas few on the team go to, takes abuse in front of the net, and draws penalties while getting underneath the other team’s skin (without embarrassing the franchise like some such Avery). We simply cannot afford a guy like that occupying a valuable spot on the fourth line.
Lighthouse Hockey: Under contract through 2021, knees and hips be damned.
and Sim scores goals
compare his score sheet with JT;s over the past month. If we are writing off this season, we should try to get a draft pick for him,,,so I guess I half agree with you.
Yeah, I’m fine with selling him if there’s a bidder. But to say he’s what’s holding this team back is to ignore just how few minutes he gets. Earlier in the year, when he’d be on the PP, now that’s a different story…
Lighthouse Hockey: Under contract through 2021, knees and hips be damned.
if anything he was one of the driving forces behind the recent surge
which may have cinched us getting a decent pick for him
I am not a Sim fan and I bleieve that they could remake the 80’s game Blades of Steel as Jon Sim’s Hands of Steel but the unfortunate side of this equation is that he has a VERY strong work ethic and is willing to do what it takes to stay in the lineup. On the flip side of this, the team doesn’t really have another player like Sim and they are usually hard to find come the stretch due to their invaluable presence during the playoffs ie. Kasperitis v Lemieux 1993 playoffs.
The most unfortunate part of this is that he has gotten in good with the coaches which puts him on the inside of their rebuild. Therefore it would take some serious consideration to depart with him and personally I don’t think Snow will let that happen. For no other reason other than he can’t get what he believes proper value for him.
Will work...for playoffs.
by metalcoconut on Feb 3, 2010 12:42 PM EST up reply actions
For no other reason other than he can’t get what he believes proper value for him.
a pretty good reason actually, Sim has been very effective this year. Trading him, Sutton, and Weight will signal that Garth is writing this year off. He cannot just dump them. He has to get reasonable value for them. Otherwise it simply is not worth it to trade them and he should wait until the offseason to do any restructuring.
can we sell it
Look the reason for Witt’s horrible play is the fact that he was playing with a torn ligement in his knee. Since then the Isles have put Witt in physical therapy and some well needed rest for the 35 yr old defencemen. We feel that Witt is now ready for any team who is goiung on a play-off run who needs a 5th or 6th defencemen with a warrior mentality. ……think it would work
he has yet to prove that he will be any better and
he has $3 mil in cap money coming at whoever picks him up. A team really needing abig physical D man could have picked up Boynton for free and no one did. I would love to get an asset for Witt, but I don’t see it happening.
Looks like Witt is being waived
according to Katie Strang:
http://twitter.com/KatieStrangNYI/status/8594614260
I guess I should have considered this a real possibility, but Im sorry- I am pretty shocked.
:(
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on Feb 3, 2010 12:42 PM EST up reply actions
It is a sad day but it was coming. Look at the bright side, at least this means that the Isles are improving. Besides, how many guys can you say,“he just wasn’t the same after the truck hit him.”
He had some great years under Nolan and hopefully he will find a role with a team that can use him once he is claimed or moved. He deserves to play in the NHL.
Will work...for playoffs.
by metalcoconut on Feb 3, 2010 12:50 PM EST up reply actions
Probably not this year
he has to prove once more that he has some game left. Find his groove in Bridgeport, play a few games at the end of the season, play well the first half of next season and maybe we can get a decent pick for him a year from now.
what happens if noone picks him up
do we still owe him 3 mill next yr? Is he still apart of the team or do they buyout for halfprice?
He can’t be bought out until the offseason. I’m still a bit surprised to hear he’d be assigned to Bridgeport, if only because that’s quite a demotion for a veteran they’ve stuck with.
Lighthouse Hockey: Under contract through 2021, knees and hips be damned.
Other way around
Cash payout drops, but the cap hit (based on average yearly salary) remains $3M.
Lighthouse Hockey: Under contract through 2021, knees and hips be damned.
I’ve always liked Witt as a person, but not so much as a player. I thought it was totally reasonable for him to request a trade away from the rebuilding Caps to go play for a contender (how’d that work out?) and I had a lot of respect for how he played between his request and the trade (he requested the trade at the beginning of the season but wasn’t traded until the deadline; but the whole time he was a good teammate and worked hard). And I was baffled that the Caps got a first round pick for him (Semyon Varlamov). But at this point in his career he obviously doesn’t have much value. Hopefully some of the long time writers start to pay attention and this “crease clearing defenseman” meme can finally die. It’s not 1998 anymore. You have to actually skate.
Sew up your heart, grow a pair, and watch hockey.
Hopefully. I really do wish nothing but the best for him; and getting the Isles more picks can only help the rebuild, which can only help the efforts to keep them on LI. But I think he’d have to play absolutely great in order to get even a 3rd. Maybe he has been hampered by injury, or maybe he’s just old. Time will tell.
Sew up your heart, grow a pair, and watch hockey.
I wouldn’t include so many caveats for the injury possibility except for 1) him having a history of playing through them and inadvertently feeding the whole “warrior”/shark-wrestling/SUV-checking meme, and 2) Two years ago under Nolan (and before October 2008’s knee injury) his rate stats were still pretty good.
That said, either way I’ve little hope for him getting “it” back at this level.
Lighthouse Hockey: Under contract through 2021, knees and hips be damned.
I don't expect him to compete for the Norris or anything
but if he can get back to where he is a decent third pairing guy next year and is worth even a fifth round pick, that will be great.
Witter is one of the good guys in the game, always works hard on the ice, and always good in the community. True story, when a friend of mine and I took his then 10 year old daughter to a Caps fan event. Witt was one of the Caps there and when my friend introduced his daughter to Witt, Witt pulled out his wallet and started showing my friend’s daughter photos of his newborn daughter. It was awesome.
The guy is a class act. I understand why he wanted to leave DC, and when he left it was probably the right time. I know that if he wasn’t traded in 2006, he would have been traded at the deadline in 2007. He wouldn’t be playing a regular shift with the Caps right now. Still, I know if he ends up in Bridgeport, he’ll bust [Avery] there and do the best to make the team win. Just like he’s done everywhere else.
Let's go Caps!
Nice
Thanks for the anecdote and I appreciate the expletive use of [Avery].
Lighthouse Hockey: Under contract through 2021, knees and hips be damned.
Gervais
Is there not a game where Gervais isn’t seriously undressed by someone? In a season of development Gervais has regressed. With the development of McDonald and Hillen going nicely, I think you could get something for Gervais on March 3. Also, you have DeHaan and Kohn in the pipeline.
If Hillen hadn't been injured, maybe
I don’t think they can afford to shed Gervais now…assuming anybody wants him. Also injuries to Hamonic and De Haan have set them back as well.
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The victory justified the faith in coach Al Arbour who guided them from their second season to their first Stanley Cup seven seasons later. The Islanders would not be the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup, but they would be the only one capable of a dynasty.
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Four years, four Cups, 16 consecutive playoff series wins (a record that would grow to 19 until the rematch with the Oilers the following year). Mike Bossy scored 60 goals yet again, and Wayne Gretzky became acquainted with Billy Smith's crease.
