Okay hockey fans, the Washington Capitals have traded Peter Bondra to Ottawa.
Is this:
a) Unbelievably stupid, ruining what little goodwill the Caps still have in D.C. by trading one of their most popular players?
b) Unbelievably stupid, trading one of their best players for a questionable prospect and a draft pick?
c) A good idea, clearing cap room and getting rid of old, expensive players for rebuilding?
d) You care about hockey?
You can also come up with your own answers if you’d like.
After years of acquiring salary, dumping prospects and refusing to rebuild, the Caps are dumping salary, acquiring prospects and rebuilding.
The had a $60 million payroll and were in second-to-last place in the entire league. You can be that bad and be a lot cheaper (see the $22 million Penguins).
That said, yeah, Caps fans will be pissed. But they’ll get over it. Amazingly, Penguins fans have been remarkably understanding as the Pens start from scratch.
I meant to add that hockey fans are a very loyal, understanding bunch – moreso than any other sports’ fans.
alas, there’s just not as many of them.