Fletcher Makes No Trades at GM Meetings - Fans Shouldn’t Worry
Today was the last day of the NHL’s annual General Managers’ meeting and Cliff Fletcher left Naples, Fl with no deals made. “Maybe some seeds will have been planted, but there won’t be any deals” said Fletcher yesterday adding that talks were preliminary and no firm offers had been received.
Some fans might see this and start to panic. After all, the trade deadline is just days away and this is supposed to be Cliff’s time to shine! Shouldn’t he be saving the franchise with a flurry of trades?
Well yes, and no.
The nice thing about having Cliff Fletcher sitting behind the GM’s desk is that in a situation like this, Leafs fans should feel confident. Fletcher has a track record of being a good trade-man in the NHL and buds fans should take comfort in this.
If John Ferguson Jr. was still handling the team’s affairs, his general incompetence would make it a good time to be affraid. With Cliff making the phone calls, you can safely assume that if no deals are being made, it’s because the Silver Fox is waiting for the right offers and is unwilling to liquidate the team for bargain basement prices.
That really is the key. While a less experienced General Manager might have come into this situation and started pulling the trigger on whatever deal he could - something some fans would like - Cliff knows better. He isn’t going to sell off the team for less than they’re worth just to make changes and, while changes must be made, settling for less than fair value is pointless.
Expect Cliff to make at least one big trade by the end of deadline day, and expect it to be good, because that’s what Cliff does. But don’t panic if he isn’t in a rush to make trades if the value just isn’t there.
Stumble it!
