Staios had no choice
Not sure Steve Staios is going to be thrilled with a comparison to either Donald Trump or Kim Jong Un, but he’s got something in common with that zany pair these days.
No, his hair is fine. We’re talking about being stuck in the middle of a nuclear arms race.
When the Hamilton Bulldogs’ general manager pulled the trigger on another barnburner of a deal Monday — sending promising rookie Connor McMichael and draft picks to London for Team Canada star Robert Thomas — he unquestionably improved his team. It’s now deeper, more experienced and more skilled than it was the day before.
But the truth is, he really had to do something big.
Earlier this season when he traded away 17-year-old Connor Roberts and draft picks for two veteran forwards who almost certainly won’t be back here next season, Staios made it clear he was going for it. He followed that up by shuttling a bunch of draft picks for a pair of experienced defencemen. Again, swapping tomorrow for today.
The plan has been effective. The Bulldogs are currently sitting first in the Eastern Conference with a seven-point cushion. They’ve won nine of their past 11 games, have the best power play in the league and a top-five penalty kill, and are one of the stingiest defensive clubs in the OHL.
But once you’ve decided you’re in, there’s really no point in going halfway.
So, when Sault Ste. Marie (already the class of the league with only three losses in regulation time all season) made a huge move to bring in two more stars the other day, the Bulldogs were put on notice. The degree of difficulty for winning a championship had just gone up. That was just the first problem. To earn the opportunity to knock off The Soo, Hamilton has to win the East.
Which looked quite doable until Kingston — a team that always gives the Bulldogs fits — decided to activate its own launch sequence.
In three separate deals, the Frontenacs picked up four NHL draft picks who are all impactful players in this league. Suddenly a team that has won two of its three meetings with Hamilton this season appeared much, much scarier.
At this point, Staios could have stepped back and decided he’d surrendered enough of his future. He had, after all, given up his past two first-round picks plus all those future picks. He could have decided to enter the playoffs with the team he had, hoping it could get hot and win but hedging his bets for the years ahead.
But, when you’ve gone this far, getting cold feet doesn’t make much sense. If you’re in, you’re in. So he pushed the rest of his chips into the middle of the table and gave up a guy who may be great a couple years from now for a guy who’s great right now. Yet who may only be here for the rest of this year.
Sure, it’s risky. Though no riskier than suddenly getting nervous and letting your rival blow past you.
Will it work? Who knows? The Bulldogs now have three forward lines as deep and talented as any in the league. They have a defence that isn’t star-studded, but has been effective. And they have a goalie who can win them games when he’s at his best. It’s a good team. OK, but is the future toast? It’s not as bright as it might have been but it’s not necessarily doom and gloom either. As the GMs in London and Windsor — the past two Memorial Cup champions — have shown us over the past couple weeks, it’s just as possible to gather a ton of picks to execute a rapid rebuild as it is to send them away. If Hamilton is not competitive next year, Staios can surely move some of his better veterans and restock the cupboard quickly. That’s just how the OHL works.
But this isn’t about next year or the year after or the year after that. This is very clearly about right now. It’s about winning the conference, getting home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs, getting to the finals and taking the best shot at the Greyhounds which, but for a miracle, will be there waiting.
Yes, getting drawn into an aggressive arms race has made the cost of admission to the penthouse pricey. Then again, it’s given this city its best shot at a hockey championship in over a decade. And if it works, it’ll feel like it was a bargain.