Tampa Bay Roundtable

CHAD – DudleyDudley gave more attention to scouting in three years than has been done for the Lightning in the previous seven.  He drafted 4 goaltenders in 3 drafts (Konstantinov, Eklund, Polukeyev, Lanicek).  In the previous 7, only 3 goaltenders had been drafted (Tyler Moss, Derek Wilkinson, Zac Bierk).  He also went in with an agenda, drafting first for size and speed and paying close attention to the European style of player development.  Murdoch seemed to draft with a dartboard.  Dudley spoke favorably about the European way of developing players — concentrating on practices, rather than the North American way on concentrating on games.  He gave the draft and prospects so much attention, it became a fault.  When he traded Adrian Aucoin to the Islanders for Mathieu Biron and a 2^nd, he stated the 2^nd would be used to obtain a much needed scoring winger for the NHL club.  A day later, the pick was in the hands of the Capitals, in order to move into the mid-2^nd round to pick up Andreas Holmqvist.  He became too focused on size and speed and ignored skill.  He leaves Jay Feaster with some long-shot prospects who are physical specimens (Artukhin, Bergfors, Femenella), hoping they develop their skills.  He also took a reach taking Nikita Alexeev early, and traded away a 1^st overall and a 5^th overall pick.  To show for it, he’s got a mash of picks and prospects and a back-up goaltender.

PETE – As general manager of the Lightning, Rick Dudley could boast three player transactions as his greatest accomplishments: 1.) The acquistion of LW Fredrik Modin 2.) The plucking of free agent RW Martin St. Louis from the Calgary Flames’ scrap heap. 3.) The acquistion of G Nikolai Khabibulin. In all three cases the Lightning were able to pick up valuable players at the expense of players who weren’t core members of the club. In the case of the third, and perhaps most important, trade it is important to note it was made possible by the great investment and expansion of the Lightning scouting staff during his two and a half year reign which allowed the team to absorb the loss of Mara and Zainullan without much adverse effect on their prospect system.

However, when consideration is given to Rick Dudley’s trade record as a whole it becomes obvious to even the casual viewer that he had to be dismissed. The most recent example is that of the trade of defenseman Adrian Aucoin for prospect Mathieu Biron and a 2n d round pick. On the surface, perhaps the trade makes sense on paper purely when market value is considered. However, Aucoin has since become perhaps the lynchpin of the New York Islanders defensive corps providing steady play and chipping in points while, at times, logging over 30 minutes of ice time a night. Yes, Aucoin’s trade was to dump salary, but when one considers that Matthew Barnaby and Brian Holzinger ($2.45M total) were kept on the opening night roster rather than Aucoin, who re-signed for $1.6M, it becomes clear Dudley mismanaged his resources. Transactions involving Mik Nylander, Chris Gratton, Darcy Tucker, and even the waiving of defenseman Bill Houlder also are major stains on Dudley‘s record.

MEGAN – Rick Dudley took a system full of half-hearted talent and has-beens and transformed it into one of the most solid in the league (ranked 6^th by Hockey’s Future).  While much work still remains, huge strides have been made.  A few years ago the future of the Bolts was in the hands of Matt Elich, Kyle Kos and Mario Larocque.  Dudley’s emphasis on youth helped prepare the team for the future, something no GM in the past ever focused on, opting for the win-now approach.  On the downside, with most of the team’s talent a few season’s away, loses continued to mount.  While some fans understood the Dudley plan, others grew weary of waiting to see improvements.

What were Rick Dudley’s ideological strengths? What were his weaknesses?

CHAD – He did focus on the cheaper young players with the goal of finding that diamond-in-the-rough.  That’s both a strength and a weakness.  It hadn’t been done with the same vigor before, but perhaps it was given too much attention. The upside to the deals were fantastic, the downside was the reality that the team needed to move forward now, not in 4 years.  The Aucoin deal was the final straw.  His vision for a team of big, fast players who held a “nasty streak” was commendable, but the current team was in need of more immediate help. 

PETE – From a prospect standpoint, one has to applaud the emphasis on speed, particularly at forward, which Dudley ushered in during his regime. In previous years the team had preferred to pursue slower physical forwards at the expense of the advantages mobility can bring in every zone. His pusuit of size and right handed shots on the blueline are also to be commended, although at present time these assets are wasted, to a certain degree, by the current coaching staff. What I don’t applaud from the Dudley philosophy is the almost laughable cronieism displayed in bringing in, and remaining loyal to, ex-Vipers and ex-Sabres. Furthermore the overemphasis on European prospects, specifically Russians, has created a logjam of prospects who have yet to tackle the cultural challenges of North America as well as the North American game. Finally, Dudley often bypassed hockey players in favor of specimens like Evgeni Artukhin and Nikita Alexeev who, while tantalizing physically, still need to be taught the game and thus may be as much as four or five years from having a fully positive impact on the big club.

MEGAN – Dudley’s biggest strength was his ability to find a diamond in the rough.  He paid great attention to throw-ins and throw-away’s, which landed him not only the team’s leading scorer, but one of its top defensemen. He has also gained much of the future through odd deals and draft pick swapping. 

Who now is the core of Jay Feaster’s team? Who is probably gone?

CHAD – Nikolai Khabibulin and Vincent Lecavalier.  Dudley’s philosophy of building from the net out and down the middle may be kept, or it may be forgotten, but these two will not be touched.  Brad Richards holds only a slight chance of being “touchable” as his game lacks in a few areas (size, physicality) and given the chance to pick up an equally talented player possessing those traits, Feaster may give a possible Richards deal some thought.

PETE – Ylonen, Ciger, Holzinger, and Neckar to be moved out slowly over time in favor of some of the grittier prospects in the system like Keefe, Svitov, and Kudroc who Feaster professes to value highly.

MEGAN – Khabibulin isn’t just the core, right now he is the team. Lecavalier is the ad campaign.  Anyone else is fair game, especially those making over $1 million.

What changes do you foresee in the Lightning’s drafting methods?

CHAD - Feaster will likely be more mainstream.  Dudley seemed persistent on making a point with his drafts.  Taking the high-risk Sheldon Keefe with his first ever pick, being the first GM to trade the #1 overall pick, taking a project like Alexeev early and trading anything to obtain more picks all point to a GM giving 100% to make his mark.  Feaster will listen to the mainstream and most importantly the people he’s hired around him, and make the safe decision.  Feaster likes the old-fashioned game, so physicality will play a part. He may not be so down on young, small, skilled players, as Dudley was. Had Feaster been in charge last year, Stanislav Chistov may have been given more attention. 

PETE – The stated philosophical shift for Feaster is that the team will begin to shift towards a more physical on ice product. That is all well and good, but as players like Svitov and Kudroc became full time players that likely would’ve happened under Rick Dudley anyway (Coach Tortorella and Ramsey permitting). What may be more appropriate to say is the the Lightning will now begin to shift back west in their drafting, perhaps not out of Europe altogether, but you will see a marked scaling back of the selection of Russians. I also suspect you will see the end of the Rick Dudley project picks as Feaster ops instead to find more mature well rounded players instead of big, raw skaters. Finally, in three drafts, Rick Dudley only selected two players who might be in any way considered pure “enforcers”. Aaron Gionet and Art Femenella were late round selections who Dudley took a flyer on, but frankly the position as a whole has not been emphasized since Jacques Demers dealt Sandy McCarthy. Under Feaster, expect the team to look to the Canadian Junior Ranks to groom more fighters capable of keeping Nikolai Khabibulin safe and to provide room for the marquee finesse players like Richards.

MEGAN - With the President of the team expressing concern over the size of the scouting department, I would expect to see a huge change in drafting.  We won’t be seeing no-names out of Siberia, rather over-hyped North Americans.  Dudley liked the chancy, rather unknown pick.  I feel Feaster will take the safe route, with the more known player.  Also, I think less emphasis will be placed on size.  Dudley was all for the big, fast Russians and didn’t draft a player under 6’3 last year. Feaster will likely take a broader range of talent, whereas Dudley’s all fit the same mold.