Interview with Dallas Gm-Espn
Aug 11, 2016 13:27:31 GMT -5
via Tapatalk
Beans (BOS), bjernagris (PHI), and 2 more like this
Post by 41sniper (ARZ) on Aug 11, 2016 13:27:31 GMT -5
ESPN Dallas recently had an opportunity to sit down with Dallas Stars GM Jake Z after the 2018 iNHL trade deadline passed. Fans in Dallas
have recently voiced their anger against how their team is being managed and how that has, in their minds, led to poor performances. GM
Jake Z was calm as he responded to the criticisms that were coming his way.
ED: Thanks for sitting down with me for this. I’m sure it’s been a busy and exciting period for your group the last couple weeks coming up to the deadline.
JZ: Not a problem, with the deadline having passed I have a little bit of extra time now. Which is nice.
ED: How would you rate you your team’s performance this year? Is it more or less what you expected going into the season or has the team underperformed?
JZ: It is more or less what I expected. We are a team in full rebuild at the moment, so we were expecting to struggle all year.
ED: Who do you think has been the team’s most valuable player this year?
JZ: The team's most valuable player has been Seth Jones. He has been outstanding this season. We were happy to be able to acquire him last offseason and happier
still that he has excelled to the degree that he has this year. The sky is the limit for that young man.
ED: You’ve only recently moved for 2nd line center, Nazem Kadri, and yet the word around the league was that you were trying to move him at the deadline? Is that true?
JZ: This rumor was not true, we were not shopping Nazem come deadline, but if an offer came up then I felt I ought to do my due diligence and look into it. But was I trying
to move him? Definitely not.
ED: Even if that is the case, still, you have, in the past, more and more shown a propensity to bring in players and then very quickly decide they’re not right for the team and move them on to other places, sometimes for less than you paid for them. Do you not worry that this will end up creating a negative stigma around this franchise making it an undesirable place for players, especially UFA’s, to come?
JZ: I'm not worried about this, although it has come up. Dallas is still an attractive place to play and we have a talented young core the I'm confident will attract the right players.
ED: Trading, for this team, frankly has been hard to keep track of. Players move in and out with great expediency, players that you’d think would be cornerstone players for a franchise to build around end up being moved for picks, which end up being moved for other players, etc. Do you think that this is good for a team? Do you think it engenders a culture of success and passion for this city, the fans, and this franchise?
JZ: I think it is good for the team simply because it has built the team that we have got today. I have done quite a lot of wheeling and dealing but if I had not done it, we would be where we were last year, which was not a good situation. We will have success in the near future.
ED: OK. Some might say where you were last year versus this year isn't very different. A perfect example of the confusion that your fans feel in seeing how this teams has fluctuated during your tenure are the two recent trades to bring in Corey Perry and to trade away Sergei Bobrovsky. The typical a lazy boy GM is going to look at that and say, what is happening here? Why bring in the star forward and then trade away the star goalie? If we’re looking to get younger and develop, then trade away Bob, but keep the pick that we sent out for Perry. If we’re trying to win, then bring in Perry, but keep Bob. Can you understand their frustration? What’s your response to these frustrations and questions?
JZ: I understand their frustration. No one wants to win more and be successful than me. But with this team, it has to be a guy that I want to acquire. I've had my eye on Corey for a while now; he is a world class player. So when the opportunity to acquire him arose, it was easy to make the move. Bob played outstanding here, but we felt that the package that we got back was worth moving him, and we wish him the best of luck in Anaheim. It's a simple as that.
ED: Let me summarize this, and I’m sorry for continuing this line here, but our fans are frustrated and they want to hear you’re moving forward with clarity and thoughtfulness. This team has been losing ever since that fateful trade, made by your predecessor, sending Benn and Seguin to Ottawa. You have now had almost two seasons at the helm of this team, and both seasons have been somewhat disastrous for fans. What is the next step for this team? What’s the way forward that our fans can look at and say, “that’s the plan, and we see that it’s being implemented?”
JZ: We have stayed the course of a rebuild this season and look set to get a really nice prospect in this upcoming draft. I won't say anything specific for next season, but it is likely that Dallas will try to compete next season, and whatever moves we make will reflect that.
ED: What are your plans for the rest of the season?
JZ: My plan for the rest of the season is to stay the course. To keep a watchful eye on a couple of players that I'd like to acquire, watch over the development of our young guys, and continue to watch the waiver wire to look for good value there if it becomes available.
ED: One last question. Do you have any comment regarding recent comments coming out from the management teams in Buffalo and Boston which have raised a lot of eyebrows? Do you think those sorts of things coming from a General Manager of an iNHL hockey team are a black eye for this sport and this league? Do you think that the league should step in with sanctions or league discipline?
JZ: Yes, I feel that both of the involved GMs ought to show greater restraint with what they say, as every player has value and is also a person. Trashing ex-players is equivalent to inappropriately commenting on another team's asset and should be disciplined by the league. You don't see many GMs do it, and for good reason, because it is very unprofessional. It is a disgrace to the league to see comments like that. Id also like to add that Dallas would have been ecstatic to get a player like Schiefele as we feel he adds great value to any team. It's unfortunate that he didn't fit into Boston's system and that these spurious comments were the result. Also... stupid beans.
ED: Thank you for your time.
JZ: Thank you.
- End -